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THE

FAMILY BOOK OF HISTORY

COMPRISING

A CONCISE VIEW

OF THE MOST

INTERESTING AND IMPORTANT EVENTS

IN THE

HISTORY OF ALL THE CIVILIZED

NATIONS OF THE EARTH.

COMPILED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES,
AND ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED.

BY J.' OLNEY, A. M.

Author of a Practical System of Geography, tk History of the United States, t^r. J^c.

AND JOHN Wt barber,

Author vf Connecticut and Massachusetts Historical Collections, Elements of General History, ifC. ^c.

PHILADELPHIA:
PUBLISHED BY G. N. LOOMIS

NEW HAVEN:
DURRIE AND PECK.

HITCHCOCK AND STAFFORD, FRI.NTKRH

ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE YEAR 1839,

BY DURRIE AND PECK,

IN THE clerk's office OF THE DISTRICT COURT OF CONNECTICUT.

3<?

PREFACE. C^ 2^

History has been defined by a celebrated writer as " Philosophy teaching by
example." Its value to mankind is now so obvious, that it is generally regarded
as indispensable to the enlightened progress of human society. It adds to our own
experience, the immense treasure of the experience of those who have gone before
us ; some of whom, probably, have been placed in circumstances similar in some
respects to our own. The great lesson apparent on the page of History, is, that
virtuous principles and practices are the chief cause of the happiness, and true
glory of nations. By its faithful delineations, vice appears odious, when stripped
of its mask, with which for a time it deceived mankind. It is a truth which will
apply to every age, that there is a difficulty in forming an impartial estimate- of
cotemporary characters and events : but when time has calmed the turbulent pas-
sions of the moment, the intervening mist between us and truth, will be in a
measure dispelled.

To an American citizen some knowledge of History seems almost indispensable
to the enlightened performance of his political duties. By it we learn to profit by
the successes and failures of others ; " It makes us acquainted with human nature,
and enables us to judge how men will act in given circumstances, and to trace the
connexion between cause and effect in human affairs. It serves to free the mind
from many narrow and hurtful prejudices ; to teach us how to admire what is
praiseworthy, wherever it may be found ; and to compare, on enlarged and
liberal principles, other countries with our own." " A knowledge of history has a
tendency to render us contented with our condition in life, by the views which it
exhibits of the instability of human aflfairs. It teaches us that the highest stations
are not exempt from severe trials, that riches and power afford no assurance of
happiness ; and that the greatest sovereigns have not unfrequently been more
miserable than their meanest subjects."

If the attention of the mind, especially that of the rising generation, can be
brought to take an interest in the study of History, a point of very great importance
is gained. The human mind is of such a nature, that it must be, of necessity,
occupied in the pursuit of some object ; if it has no taste for those subjects which
tend to elevate man in the scale of being, it will seek its gratification in those
pleasures which tend to degrade and brutalize. History, considered merely as an
amusement, possesses superior advantages over novels and romances. A large
proportion of these performances are little else than distorted views of human life,

6 PREFACE.

debilitating the mind by inflaming the imagination ; often corrupting the heart,
either by direct moral poison, or by a low and meager standard of morality. The
study of genuine History opens a vast field for the attention and contemplation of
the human mind. The rise and fall of empires ; the connexion of virtuous princi-
ples with public happiness ; the varied history of man in all the situations he has
been placed ; the causes which have produced his degradation, or elevation, all
aflx)rd interesting subjects for study and contemplation every way worthy of a
being destined for immortality.

In giving the history of the various countries, care has been taken to collect the
materials from the most authentic and approved sources. Great use has been
made of the New Edinburgh Encyclopedia, the most valuable work of the kind
which has yet appeared, but which owing to its nature and extent, is altogether too
expensive and unwieldy for general circulation. The history of England, Great
Britain, France, and some other countries, is mostly taken from the British Cyclo-
p(Bdia, a valuable work recently published in London.

In some instances, historical works have their usefulness impaired by the
introduction of too many names, dates, and other dry details, the multiplicity of
which is apt to confuse the mind ; in some measure, an attempt has been made
to avoid this evil, and insert those facts which would generally be retained in the
mind.

The compilers Avould state, that they do not consider themselves as responsible
for eveiy sentiment introduced into this work. As a general rule, when copying
from respectable writers, it is a matter of justice to let them give their opinions in
their own words, and let them stand for what they are worth. It is no mark of
wisdom to reject truth on account of the medium through which it passes. In
order to form a correct judgment, it is oftentimes useful to know the opinions, and
hear the testimony of those who differ from us in their religious and political
sentiments.

CONTENTS.

Page

Acre, siege of, by Bonaparte

639

Alfred defeats the Danes,

163

Alexander the Great,

426

Algiers, ......

Alps passed by Hannibal,

A^vn. duke of, oppresses the Netherlands .

4S6

.-i.raj, . (sec Chili).

Armada, invincible ....

217

Arabia,

Assassins, empire of .

658

AssyuiA,

Athens, ......

Austerlitz, battle of ....

304

Austria

Babylon,

Bajazet, defeated by Timur . . 632

,637

Bank of England suspends payment,

384

Bannockburn, Scots victory at

581

Barbarossa, king of Algiers,

Barcelona, siege of ... .

598

Becket, archbishop, murder of

176

Belgium, (see Netherlands).

Belgium, revolution in ...

498

Beresina, passage by the French

576

Beziers, stormmg and massacre of .

235

Birmah,

Birmans defeated by the British,

Boleyn, Anne, execution of . . .

204

Bonaparte, Napoleon ....

299

Bonaparte crowned emperor, .

310

Boyne, battle of the .

462

Boridino, battle of ... .

313

Brazil, ......

Bruce, Robert

579

Buccaneers,

660

Buckingham, assassination of the Duke of

344

Buenos Ayres, British attack on

Buenos Ayres, ....

Calais, siege of .... .

240

Canada, . • | •

Carnatic war in India, ....

450

Carbonari sect excommunicated, .

477

Caraccas or Venezuela, History of .

115

Caroline, queen, trial of . . .

400

Carthage,

Celts,

666

Caesar, assassination of .

552

Charles I, execution of . . .

352

Charles II, restored by general Monk,

357

Charles V, resigns his dominions .

597

Charles XII, of Sweden, killed, .

611

Charles, son of the Pretender, defeated .

375

Charlemagne crowned emperor, .

230

Page

Charlotte Corday kills Marat, . . . 295

Chili, 97

China, 105

Christians, ancient, persecution of the . 561
Cleopatria, death of . . . .141

Colombia, 114

Constantinople taken by the Turks, . 638

Crecy, battle of 187

Cromwell, Oliver 349

Crusades, 669

Curfew bell, origin of ... . 170

Licioiou tlie French revolutionist, . . 287

Danes invade England, . . . 162

Denmark, ...... 119

Domesday-book, origin of . . . 170

Druids, account of . . . . . 667

Duels, origin of .... . 255

Dublin insurrection, 1803, . . . 386

Egypt, 131

Egypt invaded by the French, . . 152

England, 158

Episcopacy abolished in Scotland, . 587

Essex, earl of, executed, . . . 222

Exmouth, Lord, attack on Algiers, . 25

France, cause of the revolution in . . 276

France, 223

Franks, 673

French defeated near Poictiers, . . 244

Gauls ...... 675

Georgia conquered by the Persians, . 515

Germans, ancient account of . . 329

Germany, 329

German confederation, notice of the . 337

Gibraltar, siege of, in 1780 . . . 600

GoTHs, ...... 679

Granada, conquered by the Spaniards . 594

Great Britain, ..... 338

Greece, 404

Greece, ancient, arts, sciences, &c, of . 408

Greece invaded by Xerxes, . . . 412

Gun Powder plot, .... 340

Hannibal the Carthagenian, ... . 93

Hastings, battle of . . .' . 169

Henry VIII, divorces his queen, . . 200
Hindostan, (see India)
Holland, (see Netherlands)

Hunns, 683

Henry IV, of Germany, deposed, . . 332

India, ...... 441

Inundation in Mexico, .... 479

CONTENTS.

Insurrection of Jack Cade, .
Insurrection of Wat Tyler,
Insurrection of Thomas Wyatt,
Ireland, ....

Irish rebellion in 1797,
Ispahan, dreadful siege of
Italy, ....

Jenghis Khan, account of
Jews, ....

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans
Jugurtha, the usurper of Numidia
Julian the apostate,

Knox, John, the Scotch Reformer,
Koran, doctrines of the
Kosciusko, the Polish Patriot,

Lamballe, princess, murder of
Leon, kingdom of, in Spain,
Library of Alexandria,
Leonidas at Thermopylae,
Lodi, battle of .
Lombards, ....
Louis XVI, execution of
Luther, Martin, the reformer, .

Magna Charta, .
Mahmood, example of justice,
Mahomet, the Arabian prophet,
Mahomet, death of
Mamelukes, origin of .
Mameluke Beys murdered
Marat, the French revolutionist,
Maria Theresa, of Austria
Mary, queen of Scots,
Mary, execution of .
Massacre of St. Bartholomews,
Mauritians, ....
Mexico, ....
Mirabeau, the French revolutionist
Mississippi scheme in France,
Moore, sir John, retreat of
Moors defeat the Spaniards,
Moors driven from Spain,
Morea, revolution in the
Moscow, burning of
Murat, execution of .

Nadir Shah, tyrant of Persia, .

Naples, {see Italy)

Netherlands

Norway conquered by the Danes,

Notables, assembly at Paris, .

Numantine war in Spain

Orange, Prince of, assassinated,
Ostrogoths, ....

Parliament dissolved by Cromwell,
Paris, revolution in, 1830,

Persia,

Persians defeated at Salamis, .
Peter the Great of Russia, .
Peter the Hermit, .

Page
193
189
209
456
465
511
468

623

686
247
548
559

584

522

289

594

413

692
293
335

181
507

37
147
155
287

57
211
216
257
700
478
281
263
391

42
595
429
574
474

513

484
124
271
591

489
702

355
324
498
415
568
670

Poland, . . . . .
Polish revolution in 1830,
Pompey, death of . . .
Portugal, .....
Porto Bello taken by the Buccaneers
Portuguese government, removal of the
Prussia, {see Austria and Germany)
Punic Wars, . . . . .

Quebec, battle of

Regulus, death of, at Carthage

Robespierre, denounced and executed

Rome, .....

Rome under the Consuls,

Rome under the Decemvirs,

Roman Commonwealth, corruption of

Roman Republic, fall of

Rome under the Emperor«!, -rt

Russia

Saladin, the sultan of Egypt,
Siragussa, defence of, in 1808
Saxons subdue the Britons,
Scotland, . . . ,

Scotland, reformation in
Scotland, rebellion in, 1715,
Sesostris king of Egypt,
Sobieski of Poland .
South Sea Company, .
Spain, ....
Strafford, trial for treason,
Struensee, count, execution of
Superstition in France,
Sweden,
Swedes defeated at Pultowa,
Switzerland,

Tamerlane or Timur crowned emperor,
Tartary, .....
Tell, William, of Switzerland^ .
Troy, taking of ... .
Tilsit, treaty of ".
Turkey, .....

Vandals, . . . • .
Venezuela, or Caraccas,

Venice,

Virginia, the Roman maiden, death of

Wagram, battle of .
Wahabees, sect in Arabia,
Wallace, William .
Wales, conquest of
Waterloo, battle of .
Wolsey, Cardinal .

Ximenes, Cardinal, regent of Spain
Zuinglius, the Swiss reformer,

Page
517
524
550
529
664

298
538
541
543
548
550
'553
564

144
604
161
578
583
371
132
519
373
590

242
608
610
612

624
622
613
406
309
635

Unigenitus, a bull against the Jansenists 264

United Irishmen, association of . . 464

United States, . . • . 643

Utrecht, treaty of 369

711
115
653
544

312

579

181

317, 491

. 200

595
619

THE

FAMILY BOOK OF HISTORY.

ABYSSINIA,

In regard to all ancient nations which
had no immediate intercourse with the
Hebrews, the Greeks, or the Romans,
the historical notices are extremely ob-
scure, or altogether fabulous. On this
account, we remain in comparative igno-
rance of every thing which respects the
origin and settlement of the kingdom
whose annals we are now about to trace.
Abyssinia was known among the Jews
by the name of Cush, or Ethiopia ; an
appellation which applied likewise to the
Peninsula of Arabia, or to the region adja-
cent to Egypt on the coast of the Red
sea, as well as to the country watered
by the Araxes. The Abyssinians them-
selves although perfectly ignorant of the
time and circumstances which marked
the settlement of their ancestors, have
insisted upon connecting their original
faith, their civil polity, as well as the
pedigree of their royal house, with the
visit of the Queen of Sheba to King
Solomon at Jerusalem. They tell us
that Makeda, their queen having heard
from Tameran, an Ethiopian merchant,
of the surprising opulence and wisdom
of Solomon, she resolved to ascertain in
person the truth of his report. Though
she had been a pagan before imdertaking
this journey, she was so struck with the
grandeur of the Jewish monarch, and the
extensive knowledge he displayed, that
she immediately became a convert to the
true religion. It is added that on return-
ing to her own country she had a son,

to whom she gave the name of Menilek,
another self. Some years after, Menilek
was sent to his father's court, where he
was carefully instructed in the learning
and institutions of the Jews, and crowned
king of Ethiopia, in the temple of Jeru-
salem, receiving from Solomon at his in-
auguration, the name of David. After
remaining for some time in Judea, he
was accompanied to Ethiopia by many
Israelites of distinction, and particularly
by twelve doctors of the law, chosen
from the twelve tribes, among whom was
Azariah the son of Zadok, the high priest.
These introduced into Abyssinia the re-
ligion of Moses, and framed after Jewish
models the civil and sacred institutions
of the country. Mr. Bruce supposes,
with great probability, that this princess
was queen of the territory named Saba
or Azab ; an opinion which coincides
more exactly than any other with the
description which our Saviour has given
of her, "as queen of the south, coming
from the uttermost parts of the earth."
She enjoyed the sovereignty for forty
years, and before her death, she bound
her subjects by three remarkable laws :
1st, that the crown should be hereditary
in the family of Solomon : 2dly, that, after
her, no woman should be allowed to in-
herit the crown, or to reign as queen, but
that it should descend to the heirs-male,
however distant, to the exclusion of all fe-
male heirs, however near; and that these
two articles should be considered as the
2

ABYSSINIA.

fundamental and unalterable laws of the
kingdom : Lastly, she enacted, that the
heirs-male of the royal family should be
imprisoned on a high mountain, where
they were to continue till death, or till
the course of succession should call them
to the throne.

Having established these regulations
in a manner not to be revoked, Makeda
died in the 986th year before the birth
of Christ, leaving her son Menilek to suc-
ceed her, whose descendants, if we may
believe the Abyssinian annals, have ever
since continued to occupy the throne.
In the reign of Menilek, the empire was
invaded by Shishak, king of Egypt, who
plundered the temple of Jerusalem, under
Rehoboam. A rich temple, which had
been erected at Saba, the capital of the
Ethiopian empire, underwent a similar
fate : and it was probably on this occa-
sion that Menilek removed the seat of
government to Tigre. Many circumstan-
ces concur to prove, that Shishak was no
other than the celebrated Sesostris, and
was the first Egyptian monarch who had
made conquests in Ethiopia. Scripture
indirectly ascribes to Shishak the sove-
reignty of this country ; and Herodotus
explicitly asserts, that Sesostris was mas-
ter of Ethiopia ; though neither in sacred
nor profane history is it elsewhere rela-
ted, that this empire was ever subject to
any other Egyptian.

From the death of Shishak till the
days of Cyrus the Great, there is a chasm
in the history of Abyssinia which can
only be filled up by theory and conjecture.
That conquerer is said ^to have subdued
Ethiopia ; but the inhabitants having re-
volted after his death, Cambyscs, his suc-
cessor attempted in vain to reduce them
to submission. Before he undertook this
expedition, he sent ambassadors to the
king of the Macrobii, under pretence of
soliciting his alliance, though in reality
he only wished to ascertain the strength
of the country. The Ethiopian monarch,
aware of his design, disdained the rich
presents which Cambyses had sent him ;
reproached the ambassadors with the in-
justice and ambition of their sovereign,
and delivered to them a bow, with these
remarkable words : " Carry this bow to
your master, and till he can find a man

able to bend it, let him not talk to us of
submission." This resolute answer so
exasperated Cambyses, that he instantly j
began his march, without taking time
even to procure the necessary provisions
for his army. A famine of consequence
ensued among them, which at last became
so dreadful, that the soldiers were com-
pelled to devour one another : and Cam-
byses finding himself in imminent danger,
marched back his army with prodigious
loss.

In the reign of Augustus, when the
Roman forces were drawn out of Egypt,
for the purpose of invading Arabia, Can-
dace, queen of Meroe, took advantage of
their absence, to make an irruption into
the province of Thebasis. As she met
with no force to oppose her, she pro-
ceeded, for some time, with great suc-
cess : but being at length apprised that
Petronius, governor of Egypt, was hasten-
ing towards her with a powerful army,
she retired with precipitation into her
own dominions. Petronius overtook her at
Pselcha, where, with not more than one-
third of the number of men which com-
posed the Ethiopian army, he gained an
easy victory over those undisciplined sav-
ages, who were armed only with poles,
hatchets, or bludgeons. He reduced the
most important fortresses in the country ;
but notwithstanding his success, was
obliged, soon after, to withdraw his sol-
diers, who were unable to sustain the
excessive heat of the climate. Candace
afterwards sent ambassadors to Rome,
who gratified Augustus with such mag-
nificent presents, that he was induced to
grant their queen a peace on terms of her
own proposing. The Romans, from that
time, accounted themselves masters of
Ethiopia ; and Augustus was congratu-
lated on having completed the conquest
of Africa, by reducing a country till that
time unknown. The conquest, however,
was merely nominal, for Meroe continu-
ed under the government of its wonted
sovereign. Queens, who were distin-
guished by the general title of Candace,
as the Roman emperors by that of Caesar,
had reigned in that country for many
generations ; and we learn, from the story
of the Ethiopian eunuch, in the eighth
chapter of the Acts, that it still continued,

ABYSSINIA.

in the reign of Tiberius, to be governed
by a princess of the same name.

During the reign of Abreha and 'Atzbe-
ha, translated by Mr. Bruce, Abraham the
blessed, who ascended the throne about
327 years after the Christian era, Mero-
pius, a philosopher of Tyre, by nation
and religion a Greek, set sail for India
from a port on the Red sea, taking along
with him Frumentius and CEdesius, two
young men on whom he had bestowed a
very liberal education. Their vessel was
cast away on the rocks of the Abyssinian
coast, and Meropius was slain by the
barbarous natives, while acting bravely
in his own defence. The youths were
conveyed to Axum, then the capital of
the kingdom and the residence of the
court, where they soon displayed the
superiority of a cultivated mind. The
Abyssinians regarded them as prodigies :
CEdesius was set over the king's house-
hold and wardrobe, an office which has
always been held by a stranger ; and
Frumentius was intrusted by the Iteghe,
or queen dowager, with the charge of the
young prince's education, to which he
devoted himself with the most faithful as-
siduity. Having imbued the mind of his
pupil with all the learning of the times,
he inspired him with a love and venera-
tion for the Christian religion.

After this he visited Athanasius, who
had been recently elected Patriarch of
Alexandria, related to him the progress
he had made towards the conversion of
the young monarch, and the sanguine
hopes which he entertained of seeing- the
Christian religion established in Ethi-
opia. Athanasius, delighted with the
prospect of such an accession of prose-
lytes, consecrated Frumentius bishop or
abunaof Axuma; who, returning imme-
diately to enter on his new office, found
his royal pupil completely disposed to
favor his pious design. He made an
open avowal of the Christian faith ; his
example was followed by the greater part
of his subjects ; and, amidst the numerous
heresies which then prevailed in the
East, the church of Ethiopia remained
uncontaminated, so long as it was super-
intended by its first bishop and apostle.

It is' said, that after the death of Abre-
ha, the court, and principal people of

Abyssinia, relapsed into idolatry, which
continued to prevail till the year 521,
when they were again converted by their
king Adad, or Aidog. That monarch was
engaged in war with the Homerites, or
Sabasans, in Arabia Felix, and, having
defeated their armies, and subverted their
kingdom, he embraced the Christian re-
ligion, in token of gratitude to its author,
to whom he ascribed his success.

When Mahomet promulgated his pre-
tended revelation, the Ethiopian gov-
ernor of Yemen became a convert to his
doctrines ; but there seems to be no truth
in the story so eagerly propagated by
the Arabian historians, that the king of
Abyssinia himself embraced the new re-
ligion. From this time the Abyssinians
lost all the power which they had for-
merly enjoyed in Arabia. The governors
were expelled by Mahomet and his suc-
cessors, and, taking refuge in Africa with
great numbers of their subjects, estab-
lished there the kingdoms of Adel, Wy-
po, Mara, Tarshish, Hadea, Aussa, and
several others, which soon rose to im-
portance for power and opulence.

The successors of Mahomet, in the
progress of their victories, had expelled
the Jews by violence or oppression from
their dominions in Palestine, Arabia, and
Egypt. Abyssinia, unsubdued by these
fierce enthusiasts, afforded an asylum to
the fugitives, the more inviting, as their
countrymen had already a powerful es-
tablishment in that empire. There was
one Jewish family which had always pre-
served on the mountain of Samen an inde-
pendent sovereignty, and the royal resi-
dence was on the summitof a high pointed
cliiT, called from that circumstance, the
Jew's Rock. Several other rugged and
inaccessible mountains were occupied by
that people as natural fortresses ; and
their strength was so much increased by
the numbers of their countrymen who fled
before the conquering Mahometans, that
they began to meditate a revolution in
Abyssinia, in favour of their own religion.
Many circumstances concurred to facili-
tate their desig-n. The Abyssinians, dis-
tracted by various heresies were more
inclined to embrace any other religion,
than to yield one disputed point to their
Christian adversaries ; the country, de-

ABYSSINIA.

solated by pestilence and war, suffered,
moreover, all the multiplied evils which
usually prevail under the government of
a minor ; and Judith, the daughter of the
Jewish king, a woman of unbounded am-
bition, and of singular talents for intrigue,
had lately been married to the governor
of Bugna, a small district in the neigh-
bourhood of Lasta, both which countries
were strongly prejudiced in favor of Ju-
daism. This artful and aspiring woman
had formed so powerful a faction, that
she resolved to usurp the throne of Abys-
sinia, and to extirpate the family of Solo-
mon, who had continued, since the days
of Makeda, to reign in uninterrupted suc-
cession. With this design she surprised
the almost inaccessible mountain of Da-
mo, where the royal princes were at that
time confined, and massacred every one
of them, with the exception of an infant,
who was conveyed by the nobles of Am-
hara into the loyal province of Shoa ; and
thus the line of Solomon was preserved,
and, at length, after an interval of some
ages, restored. Judith immediately took
possession of the throne, and removed
the seat of government to Lasta ; where,
after enjoying supreme power in her
own person, not less than forty years,
she transmitted it to her descendants, who
continued to rule over the greater part of
Abyssinia about the space of three cen-
turies. But as they were not of the line
of Solomon, and, of consequence, were
accounted usurpers, the history of none
of them is recorded in the annals of the
nation, excepting that of Lalibala, who
was revered as a saint, and who reigned
with great splendor, about the beginning
of the thirteenth century.

At that time, the Saracens, having con-
quered Egypt, persecuted the Christians
in that country with great rigor, and
particularly the masons and hewers of
stone, whom they detested as the pro-
moters of idolatry, by the ornaments
with which they embellished their works.
Lalibala opened an asylum for those
Egyptians, of whom prodigious numbers
resorted to his dominions ; and resolved
to render them useful to the country from
which they received protection. He had
long admired the caverns of the ancient
Troglodytes ; and the first work in which

he employed the Egyptians, was to hew
churches, after these specimens, out of
the rocks of his native country Lasta.
These churches still remain entire, hav-
ing large columns formed out of the solid
adamant, with every species of ornament
that can be executed in buildings above
ground.

From the time of lialibala, little is
known respecting the affairs of the coun-
try, imtil A. D. 1255, when Icon Amlac,
of the line of Solomon, was restored to
the throne. The events that occurred
during his, and the five subsequent reigns,
are entirely xmknown to us : and indeed,
we have no account of the transactions
of the empire till the days of Amda Sion,
who began his reig-n in the year 1312.
He Avas the son of Wedem Araad, who
was the youngest brother of Icon Amlac,
Amda Sion was his inauguration name,
by which he is generally known ; his
Christian name was Guebra Mascal.
The first actions of his reign were dis-
graceful to humanity, and very different
from the character which he ever after-
wards maintained. Not content with
living publicly with his father's concu-
bine, he soon after committed incest with
his two sisters. Honorius, a monk, who
was afterwards canonized for his sanc-
tity, first exhorted him to repentance, and
then publicly excommunicated him for
these infamous crimes. The refractory
monarch, instead of sinking under this
sentence, ordered Honorius to be whip-
ped through the streets of his capital.
That very night the town was reduced to
ashes by fire, arising, through the just
vengeance of Heaven, from the blood of
the outraged saint. Such, at least, was
the account which the clergy gave of
this catastrophe ; but the king, convin-
ced that they themselves were the incen-
diaries, banished them into those pro-
vinces, of which the inhabitants were
chiefly Pagans or Jews, where they
were extremely successful in propaga-
ting the Christian religion.

The licentious conduct of Amda Sion
had produced, in the neighboring na-
tions, such a contempt for his govern-
ment, that, while he himself was em-
broiled with Honorius and the monks,
one of his factors, who had been charged

ABYSSINIA.

with his commercial interests, was rob-
bed and assassinated by the Moors, in the
province of Ifat. Impatient to revenge
this outrage, he suddenly assembled his
troops, and ordered them to rendezvous
at Shugura, upon the frontiers ; while,
attended by only seven horsemen, he fell
upon the nearest Mahometan settlements,
putting all he met with to the sword.
He then placed himself at the head of
his army, and desolated the whole coun-
try, carrying off a prodigious booty.

The Moors astonished by the unex-
pected activity of this monarch, whom
they had despised as an effeminate vo-
luptuary, assembled in great numbers to
oppose him ; and hearing that he was
left with scarcely a sufficient number of
soldiers to guard the camp, they resolved
to attack him before break of day, ima-
gining that he could not possibly make
any effectual resistance. Fortunately
two detachments of his army had joined
him the night before : these he drew up
in battle array, and, when the Moors
presented themselves, he attacked them
with resistless fury, slew their general
with his own hand, and animating his
troops by his example, obtained a deci-
sive victory. He then commanded his
soldiers to build huts for themselves, and
to sow the adjacent lands, as if he in-
tended to continue during the rainy sea-
son in the enemy's country. Terrified
at the prospect of being totally extir-
pated, the Moors readily submitted to
the tribute which he imposed ; and the
king, already admired for his valor,
conciliated still further the affections of
his subjects, by distributing among them
his own share of the plunder. Even the
priests, whom he had so much offended,
now extolled his munificence to the
churches, and his zeal against the ene-
mies of the cross.

Scarcely had the Abyssinians returned
to their own country, when the Moors
prepared for another revolt. Amda Sion
having completely succeeded in quelling
the rebels, was preparing to return with
his victorious forces, when he was in-
formed that the kings of Adel and Mara
had resolved to give him battle. Exas-
perated by this intelligence, he prepared
to pursue his enemies with the most sig-

nal vengence. To give greater solemni-
ty to his resolution, he assembled the
principal officers of his army, and, sur-
rounded by his soldiers, pronounced be-
fore a monk of noted sanctity, and array-
ed in his sacerdotal habit, a long invective
against the Mahometans ; recounted the
unprovoked injuries which, at the insti-
gation of the kings of Adel and Mara,
they had committed against him ; enu-
merated the atrocities of which they had
been guilty ; disclaimed all avaricious
motives in undertaking the war, declar-
ing that he would appropriate no part of
the spoil which was stained with the
blood of his subjects, more valuable to
him than all the riches of Adel ; and
concluded with swearing on the holy
eucharist, that, though but twenty of his
army should join him, he would not turn
his back upon Adel or Mara, till he had
either forced them to submit as tributa-
ries, or had utterly extirpated them, and
annihilated their religion. The soldiers
were fired by his enthusiasm ; and, to
show themselves as disinterested as their
sovereign, took lighted torches in their
hands, and set fire to all the rich spoil
which they had acquired in the province
of Fatigar. Having thus satisfied their
consciences that they were the true sol-
diers of Christ, they set out on their
march, thirsting, not for the wealth, but
the blood of the infidels.

Their ardent impetuosity was checked
by the obstacles to which their own su-
perstition gave rise. The Abyssinians
believe, that the world is possessed,
during the night, by certain genii un-
friendly to mankind, disturbed by the
slightest motion, and implacable in their
revenge. To such a degree does the
dread of these spirits prevail, that an
Abyssinian will not venture, at night,
even to throw a little water out of a
basin, lest it should violate the dignity
of some vindictive elf. The Moors
deride these superstitious fears, and fre-
quently turn them to their own advantage.
Protected by a verse of the Koran, sewed
up in leather, and worn round their neck
or arms, they bid defiance to the power
of the most malignant genii, and engage
without scruple in any nocturnal enter-
prise. In their wars with the Abyssin-

ABYSSINIA.

ians, night is their favorite season of
attack ; and, in the present campaign,
they resolved to avoid a pitched battle,
and to harrass the king's army in the
dark. The troops of Amda Sion, though
they had always the advantage, were
soon wearied out by these nightly skir-
mishes ; and, on the commencement of
the rainy season, insisted on being al-
lowed to return. A prince of such a
martial disposition, naturally resented a
proposal which betrayed their deficiency
in steadiness and discipline. He there-
fore desired his officers to acquaint them,
that, if they were afraid of rains, he
would conduct them to Adel, where there
were none ; and that, for his own part,
he had resolved not to quit the field,
while there was one village in his do-
minions that did not acknowledge him
as sovereign. On hearing this remon-
strance, the army again set forward ;
but, being still harrassed by the nightly
attacks of the Moors, the spirit of mutiny
began once more to prevail. The elo-
quence of the king brought them back
to a sense of their duty ; but immediatelj''
afterwards he was seized with a violent
fever, which seemed to threaten his life.
While, in consequence of his illness,
the soldiers expected every moment an
order to return, they accidentally receiv-
ed intelligence that an army of 40,000
Moors was advancing towards them,
and was then at no great distance from
the camp. The king, though now free
from fever, was so excessively feeble,
that he fainted while his servant was
employed in putting on his armour. His
resolution, however, vv^as unalterable ;
and, after recovering from his swoon, he
addressed his soldiers in a speech full of
enthusiasm, exhorting them to confide in
the righteousness of their cause, and in
the continuance of that favor which they
had hitherto experienced from heaven.
Animated by this address, his soldiers
were now only solicitous, that, in his
present feeble state, he should not ex-
pose his person in battle ; and he pro-
mised to comply with their request. But
the whole army was soon thrown into
consternation, by a report that the Moors
had poisoned the wells, and enchanted
all the streams in front of the camp.

Though a priest of great sanctity was
employed to disenchant the waters, and
a river was consecrated by the name of
Jordan, the soldiers not only refused to
advance, but resolved immediately to re-
turn home. The king rode through the
ranks in the most violent agitation, and
conjured them to remember their former
valor, and the solemn oaths by which
they had repeatedly bound themselves to
remain true to the cause of their sove-
reign and their religion. Finding that
his arguments produced no effect, he
begged that those who were unwilling to
fight, would only stand in their places as
spectators of the bravery of their com-
rades. He then ordered the master of
the horse, with only five of the others, to
attack the left wing of the enemy ; while
he himself, with a small party of his
servants, made a furious onset on the
right. His valor was crowned with suc-
cess. Weak as he then was, he slew
with his own hand the two leaders of the
right wing ; his son, who fought on the
left, despatched another officer of rank ;
and the soldiers, ashamed of their con-
duct, and alarmed for the safety of their
valiant monarch, rushed furiously to his
rescue. The centre and left wing of the
enemy was entirely defeated ; the right
wing, consisting chiefly of Arabians, re-
treated in a body ; but, ignorant of the
country, entered a deep valley, surround-
ed by perpendicular rocks, which were
thickly covered with wood. Amda Sion,
perceiving their situation, attacked them
with a few of his troops in front, while
others rolled great stones upon them from
the top of the rocks ; and thus, being
unable either to resist or escape, they all
perished to a man. Another division of
the army was sent, under the command
of the master of the horse, in pursuit of
the rest of the Moors. They found these
unhappy people, exhausted by the fa-
tigues of the combat and of flight, lying
by the side of a water, which they lapped
like dogs ; and, in this helpless situation,
they were slaughtered without resistance
by the relentless conquerors. Wearied
at length with murder, they made pri-
soners of the few who survived. Among
these were Salek king of Mara, and his
queen ; the former of whom was hanged

ABYSSINIA.

Battle between the Abyssinians and the Moors.

by the order of Amda Sion, the latter
hewn to pieces by the soldiers, and her
body given to the dogs.

Pursuing his advantages, the Abys-
sinian monarch advanced still further
into the Mahometan territories, till he
reached the dominions of the king of
Adel. That prince, rendered desperate
by the devastation of his country, and the
prospects of its total ruin, resolved to
make one last effort for its preservation.
He therefore took the field against the
Abyssinians, but conducted himself with
less prudence than his own situation and
the character of his adversary required.
Victory again declared in favor of Amda
Sion ; the king of Adel fell in the en-
gagement , and his troops, dispersed in
all directions, were intercepted by de-
tachments of the Abyssinian army, which
had been placed in ambush to prevent
their escape.

During the remainder of the campaign,
the Abyssinians were engaged in de-
stroying the towns and villages, and lay-
ing waste the country of the Mahometans ;
exercising against these unhappy people
every species of cruelty, on pretence of
retaliating their injuries against the

Christians. Weary at length of con-
quest and bloodshed, the king returned
in triumph to Tegulut, where he died a
natural death, after a reign of thirty
years ; during which, though almost con-
stantly engaged in war, he never sustain-
ed a defeat.

Theodoras, who occupied the throne
from the year 1409 to 1412, was so re-
vered by his subjects, for the sanctity of
his character, that it is still a prevailing
opinion in Abyssinia, that he is to rise
again from the grave, and reign in his
ancient kingdom for a thousand years ;
during which period the arms of the
warrior are to be hung up in the hall,
and joy and peace are universally to
prevail.

Nothing important occurs in the his-
tory of Abyssinia, from the death of
Theodoras in 1412, till Zara Jacob as-
cended the throne in 1434. The par-
tiality of his historians has represented
this monarch as another Solomon, an
exact model of what a sovereign should
be. He was remarkable for his curiosity
with regard to the politics, manners, and
religion of other countries ; and, by his
desire, an embassy, consisting of priests

ABYSSINIA.

from the Abyssinian convent of Jerusa-
lem, was sent to the council of Florence.
The Roman pontiff, pleased with an
event which seemed to promise the in-
troduction of his spiritual sovereignty
into the most important kingdom of Afri-
ca, ordered a painting to be taken of the
embassy, which is still to be seen in the
Vatican. A convent was obtained for
the Abyssinians at Rome, which, though
still preserved, is seldom visited Ijy those
to whom it is appropriated. A party was
henceforth formed in Abyssinia in favor
of the church of Rome ; and during this
reign, those religious disputes began,
which rendered the name of Franks, or
Frangi, so odious and dangerous.

This perfect sovereign, this model for
future princes, was the first who intro-
duced religious persecution into his do-
minions. The established religion was
that of the Greek church ; but it was
corrupted, in many places, by Mahome-
tan, and even Pagan superstitions. Some
families, accused of worshipping the cow
and the serpent, were dragged before this
zealous monarch, who immediately sen-
tenced them to death. Their execution
was followed by a proclamation, that
whoever did not wear on his right hand
an amulet, with this inscription, " 1 re-
nounce the devil for Christ our Lord,"
should forfeit his property, and be liable,
besides, to corporeal punishment. This
persecution, which soon became general
throughout the kingdom, was committed
to Amda Sion, the Arab Saat, a person
whose affected austerity had procured
him the confidence of the king, by whom
he was so highly distinguished, that,
when he appeared abroad, he was at-
tended by a number of soldiers with
drums, trumpets, and other ensigns of
military dignity. The cruelty of this
odious inquisitor was severely repri-
manded in a public assembly, by certain
priests from Jerusalem ; the persecution
was suppressed, and the king now turned
his thoughts from religion to the civil
improvement of his dominions.

About this time the Portuguese were
extending their discoveries along the
coast of Africa, and had already formed
the project of opening a passage to India
by doubling the Cape. A plan was like-

wise concerted for penetrating through
the interior of the African continent, that,
if the former project should fail, the
merchandise of the East Indies might
be conveyed to Portugal by land. The
success of such a scheme was rendered
probable by the report of some monks,
who had been seen at Jerusalem and
Alexandria, the subjects, as they said,
of a Christian prince in Africa, whose
dominions extended from the eastern to
the western ocean. Of the truth of their
reports, the Portuguese navigators had
been so strongly assured by Bemoy, a
king of the Jaloffs, that Henry, the scien-
tific and enterprising prince under whose
auspices these plans of discovery were
conducted, resolved to send ambassadors
to this unknown sovereign. Peter de
Covillan, and Alphonso de Paiva, were
appointed to this important embassy, with
directions to explore the sources of the
Indian trade, and the principal markets
for spices ; and, above all, to ascertain
the possibility of reaching the East Indies
by sailing round the southern extremity
of Africa. Thus instructed, they pro-
ceeded to Alexandria, thence to Cairo,
next to Suez, and afterM'ards to Aden, a
rich commercial town beyond the Straits
of Babelmandel. They sailed from this
city in separate directions ; Covillan for
India, and De Paiva for Suakem. De
Paiva soon lost his life ; but Covillan,
after visiting Calicut and Goa, recrossed
the Indian ocean, inspected the mines of
Sofala, and returned by Aden to Cairo,
where he heard of the death of his com-
panion. At Cairo he was met by two
Jews with letters from the king of Abys-
sinia ; one of whom he sent back with
letters to that monarch in return, and,
with the other, proceeded to the island
of Ormus, in the Persian gulf. Here
the Jew left him ; and Covillan returned
to Aden, whence he passed into the
Abyssinian dominions.

On his arrival in that country, he was
kindly received by Alexander the reign-
ing prince, and exalted to the most
honorable , offices in the state ; though,
according to Abyssinian policy, he was
never allowed to return to Europe. He
found means, however, to convey, from
time to time, important intelligence to

ABYSSINIA.

the king of Portugal. He described the
several ports in India which he had
seen ; the disposition of the princes ;
the situation and riches of the mines of
Sofala. He exhorted the king to pursue,
with unremitting diligence, the discovery
of the passage round Africa ; declaring,
that the Cape was well known in India,
and that the voyage was attended with
little danger. To these descriptions he
added a chart or map, which he had re-
ceived from a Moor in India, and in
which the Cape, and the cities round the
coast, were accurately represented.

The reign of Alexander was disturbed
by frequent rebellions, and he fell a vic-
tim to the perfidy of his minister. Naad,
his younger brother, was then called to
the throne. After reigning thirteen years,
he was succeeded by his son David III.
Maffudi, prince of Arar, having recov-
ered from a defeat which he had suffered
from Naad, and increased his power by
alliances with the Turks in Arabia, had
renewed his annual incursions into Abys-
sinia with greater success than before.
In return for the multitude of slaves
which he had sent to Mecca, he was
made sheyhk of Zeyla, which may be
considered the key to the Abyssinian
dominions ; and the king of Adel had
been induced, by his success, to enter
into a league with him against that em-
pire, which he had always regarded with
a very unfriendly eye. Accordingly,
they invaded Abyssinia with their united
forces, and committed such devastation
as spread terror through the whole coun-
try. To revenge these injuries, David,
then, a youth of sixteen, levied a power-
ful army, by a judicious disposition of
which, he hemmed in the Moors among
some narrow defiles, where they could
not hazard an engagement without cer-
! tain destruction. To add to their con-
, sternation, Maffudi came to the king of

I Adel, and assured him that his time was
' now come ; that he had been warned
long before, by a prophecy, that if in this
year, 1516, he should encounter the king
of Abyssinia in person, he should cer-
I tainly die. He therefore advised him to

I to retreat as speedily as possible, over
■ the least difficult part of the mountain,
I before the battle should commence. The
3

Adelian, already dismayed by the situa-
tion of his army Avillingly followed his
advice ; and Maffudi, as soon as he sup-
posed his ally beyond the reach of danger,
sent a message to the Abyssinian camp,
challenging any man of quality to fight
him in single combat, on condition that
the party of the victorious champion
should be accounted conquerors, and that
both armies should immediately separate
without further bloodshed. A monk,
named Gabriel Andreas, instantly ac-
cepted the challenge ; and, when the
combatants met, Maffudi received from
his antagonist such a violent stroke with
a two-handled sword, as almost severed
his body in two. Andreas cut off his
head ; and, throwing it at the king's feet,
exclaimed, " There is the GoUah of the
Infidels !" Notwithstanding the terms
stipulated before the combat, a general
engagement ensued, in which the Moors
were completely discomfited.

On the same day (in the month of
July, 1516) Zeyla was taken, and its
town burnt by the Portuguese fleet, under
Lopes Suarez de Alberguiera. On
board this fleet was Matthew, the Abys-
sinian ambassador, who was accompanied
by Edward Galvan, ambassador, from
the court of Lisbon to the king of Abys-
sinia. The latter died soon after, and
Don Roderigo de Lima was appointed
in his place. Nothing of importance was
accomplished by this mission. Instead
of having an interview with the king,
he was not allowed to reside within
three miles of his royal presence ; and it
was not till three years afterwards that
he obtained leave to depart. After that
long interval, David determined to send
an embassy to Portugal, and dismissed
Roderigo with an Abyssinian monk,
named Zaga Zaab, whom he appointed
his own ambassador.

Meanwhile, the Mahometans were
alarmed by this long intercourse between
two such distant nations, to both of which
they were equally inimical. An alliance
was formed between the king of Adel
and the Turks in Arabia ; and the Ade-
lians, thus reinforced, and being trained
by their new allies to the use of fire-
arms, then unknown to the Abyssinians,
defeated David in every engagement,

ABYSSINIA.

and hunted him, like a wild beast, from
place to place. Mahomet, surnamed
Gragne, or left-handed, who commanded
the Turkish army, sent a message to the
king, exhorting him to desist from fight-
ing against God, to make peace while it
was yet in his power, and to give him
his daughter in marriage, otherwise he
would reduce his kindom to such a state
as to be capable of producing nothing but
grass. The spirited monarch, yet un-
subdued by his misfortunes, would listen
to no terms proposed by an infidel and a
blasphemer. Frequent encounters suc-
ceeded, in which David was constantly
worsted ; in one engagement his eldest
son was killed ; in another his youngest
Avas taken prisoner ; and he himself,
destitute and forlorn, was forced to wan-
der about on foot, skulking among the
bushes on the mountains. Struck with
admiration of his heroism, and with com-
passion for his misfortunes, many of his
veteran soldiers sought him out in his
retreat, and with these he gained some
slight advantages, which served to revive
the spirits of laimself and his followers.
But his enemies were too powerful to be
resisted with any probability of final suc-
cess, and the king, in this hopeless situ-
ation, began to turn his thoughts seriously
towards Portugal.

John Bermudes, one of Roderigo's at-
tendants, who had been detained in Abys-
sinia, was chosen as ambassador to his
native monarch. On his arrival at I^is-
bon, Bermudes ordered Zaga Zaab to be
put in irons for neglecting the interests of
his master ; and represented so strongly
the distresses of the Abyssinians, that
he soon obtained an order for 400 mus-
keteers to be sent to their relief. These
after a delay of many months, arrived at
the port of Masuah, under the command
of Don Stephen de Gama. In the mean-
time, a new monarch had ascended the
throne of that kingdom. During the wars
which David carried on with the Moors,
a Mahometan chief, named Vizir Mugdid,
had attacked the rock of Geshen, the
state prison of the royal family, and, as-
cending it without opposition, put all the
princes to the sword. The heart of this
heroic monarch could not stand this dis-
aster, and he died in the same year,

1540. His son Claudius, who succeed-
ed him, though then only 18 years of
age, possessed all the great qualities
necessary in the dreadful exigencies of
his kingdom ; and, before the arrival of
the Portuguese, had already made con-
siderable progress against his enemies.
He frustrated a league which they had
formed against him in the beginning of
his reign ; obliged them to desist from
pillage ; defeated them in a general en-
gagement ; and, having intelligence of a
design formed against his life by one of
his own governors, decoyed the traitor
into an ambush, and slew the greater
part of his army.

Such was the situation of affairs when
Don Stephen de Gama came to the as-
sistance of the Abyssinians. The num-
ber of men whom the king of Portugal
had allotted to his service, amounted to
400 ; but the officers were men of the
first rank, by whose retinue the army
was considerably increased. A general
ardor for this enterprise prevailed in the
fleet ; and the bay where they were moor-
ed has received from the murmurs of
those who were detained on board, the
name of Bahia dos Agravados — the Bay
of the Injured.

This small but gallant army set out
without delay under the command of
Don Christopher de Gama, youngest bro-
ther of the admiral. They were met on
their march by the qvieen, attended by
her two sisters, and many others of both
sexes ; and, after a mutual exchange of
civilities, the queen returned, escorted
by 100 musketeers, whom the general
had appointed as her guard. After march-
ing eight days through a very rugged
country, Don Christopher received from
Gragne a very insulting defiance, which
he returned in a similar tone. A battle
was fought, in which the Moor, though
greatly superior in horse, got such a con-
vincing specimen of Portuguese valor,
that he did not choose, on that occasion,
to venture a second engagement.

The Portuguese, owing to the advanc-
ed state of the season, had now retired
into winter quarters ; while Gragne, hav-
ing received powerful reinforcements to
his army, wished to bring them to action
before they should be joined by the king.

ABYSSINIA.

Hurried away by his natural impetuosity,
Don Christopher resolved, in opposition
to the remonstrances of his most skilful
officers, to venture an engagement, though
at prodigious disadvantage. The supe-
riority of the Portuguese, however, was
still so great, that they seemed likely to
obtain the victory, till their general, rash-
ly exposing himself, was wounded in the
arm by a musket ball. Confusion and
defeat ensued ; and the barbarians, ob-
taining possession of the camp, began to
violate the women, who had all retired
into the general's tent. On this, an
Abyssinian lady, who had married one
of the Portuguese, set fire to some bar-
rels of gimpowder which stood in the
tent, and thus perished with the ravishers.

Don Christopher, disdaining to fly,
was forced into a litter, and carried oft'
the field. At the approach of night, he
entered a cave to have his wound dress-
ed, but obstinately refused to proceed
further. Betrayed by a woman whom
he loved, he was seized next day by a
party of the enemy, and carried in tri-
umph to Gragne, who after many mutual
insults, struck of his head, which was
sent to Constantinople, while his body
was cut to pieces, and dispersed through
Abyssinia.

The cruelty of this barbarian proved
more detrimental to his cause, than if he
had been completely defeated. The
Portuguese, exasperated by the loss of
their general, were ready to undergo any
danger to revenge his death ; while the
Turks, irritated by an action which de-
prived them of Don Christopher's ransom,
abandoned their leader, and returned to
their own country. Gragne, thus desert-
ed, was easily defeated by Claudius ;
and in a subsequent battle, fought on the
10th of February, 1543, his army was
routed, and he himself slain by a Portu-
guese, named Peter Lyon, who had been
Don Christopher's valet de chambre.
Gragnt^'s wife and son, with Nur, the
son of Mugdid, who destroyed the royal
family, fell into the hands of Claudius ;
and happy had it been for that monarch
if he had immediately ordered them to
execution.

Relieved from all fear of external
enemies, the attention of Claudius was

now occupied by affairs of religion.
Bermudes, a turbulent bigot, insisted
that the king should embrace the doc-
trines of the Roman church, and estabhsh
that religion throughout his dominions.
Claudius rejected with indignation such
an insolent request, and a violent alter-
cation ensued between the Abuna and
the sovereign. After a struggle of seve-
ral years, he succeeded in ridding him-
self of this turbulent ecclesiastic. From
that time few events of any importance
occurred, till 1538, when the king was
occupied in appointing his successor to
his throne. He had no son, and his
younger brother had been taken by the
Moors, during his father's reign, and im-
prisoned on a high mountain in Adel.
His ransom appeared difficult, and would
perhaps have been found impossible, had
not a son of the famous Gragne been at
the same time a prisoner in Abyssinia ;
by releasing whom, and paying besides
four thousand ounces of gold, Claudius at
length procured the restoration of his
brother.

Nur, the son of Mugdid, had become
passionately enamoured of the widow of
Gragne ; but she refused to give him her
hand, till he should present her with the
head of Claudius, the murderer of her
former husband. The lover willingly
undertook the task, and challenged the
Abyssiiuan monarch while marching to-
wards Adel. Claudius was not of a dis-
position to decline the combat, though it
had been prophesied that he should die
in this campaign. His soldiers, more
alarmed by the prediction, abandoned
their monarch in the commencement of
the battle ; while, attended by only 18
Portuguese and 20 horsemen of Abys-
sinia, he fought with the most heroic
bravery, till at last he fell, completely
covered with wounds. His head was
cut off, and brought by Nur to his mis-
tress, who hung it up on a tree before
her door, where it remained for three
years.

After this fatal engagement, which
took place on the 22d of March, 1559,
Menas ascended the throne without op-
position. During the greater part of his
reign he was engaged in war with his
own subjects, who were instigated to

ABYSSINIA.

rebellion by the popish missionaries. The
insolence of these ecclesiastics at last
provoked the king to banish them to a
barren and solitary mountain, including
in their sentence all the rest of the Euro-
peans ; an insult which they resented so
highly, that they immediately went over
to the rebels. Their united forces were
defeated by Menas, but the victory was
by no means so decisive as to put an end
to the rebellion.

After a turbulent reign of four years,
Menas was succeeded by his son, Sertza
Denghel, a boy of 12 years of age. This
prince was engaged in almost perpetual
conflicts with the Galla,* the Falasha,!
and the Moors, in which he was gene-
rally victorious. During his reign the Ro-
man Catholics were vmmolested, though
such a strong prejudice had been excited
against them in the minds both of the
king and his subjects, that they never
ventured to appear at court, nor were
permitted to serve in the army. His last
expedition was against some rebels who
had begun to excite commotions in the
province of Damot. A priest, revered for
his sanctity and skill in divination, had
warned him, in A'ain, not to proceed in
this enterprise ; and, when he found the
warlike monarch obstinate in his purpose,
he only requested him not to eat of the
fish of a certain river : this advice also
was despised ; and Sertza Denghel died
in consequence of eating these fish,
which were of a poisonous quality.

After a violent dispute about the right
of succession, the infant Jacob was ele-
vated to the throne, but was soon after
deposed and Za Denghel invested with
the sovereign power. Few events of
importance occurred till the reign of
Focilidas, when the Roman Catholics
were expelled, and every hope of esta-
blishing that religion in the empire, ef-
fectually removed. From that time the
history of Abyssinia is confined to a
narrative of insurrections and petty wars,
till 1729, when Yasous II, ascended the
throne.

* Galla, a warlike mountain people, in the
southern and western parts of Abyssinia.

t Falasha, that is, exiles, — an independent go-
vernment of Jews, in the western part of Abys-

Soon after this, he invaded the king-
dom of Sennaar, without the least provo-
cation, and allowed his soldiers to exer-
cise the most dreadful cruelties. He had
not long returned from this ruinous ex-
pedition, when he was obliged again to
take the field against Suhul Michael,
governor of Tigre. The rebel, unable
to cope with his sovereign in open war,
fled to a high mountain for refuge ; but
all his posts being taken by storm, ex-
cepting one, which must likewise have
been carried by the royal army, he re-
quested a capitulation ; consigned into
the hands of Yasous a great quantity of
treasure ; and descended with a stone
upon his head, (indicating that he had
been guilty of a capital crime,) to submit
to the clemency of the king. A promise
was reluctantly extorted from Yasous to
spare his life ; but, as soon as the rebel
appeared in his presence, his indignation
returned, and, retracting his promise, he
ordered him to be carried out and execu-
ted at his tent door. At the intercession
of all his officers, the king again pardoned
him ; but with these remarkable words,
that he M'ashed his hands of all the blood
which should be shed by Michael, before
he effected the destruction of his coimtry,
which he had long been meditating. Mi-
chael, after continuing sometime in pri-
son, was restored to his government of
Tigre ; and, by his dutiful behavior, so
gained upon the king, that he was made
governor of Enderta and Sire, as well
as of Tigre, thus becoming master of one
half of Abyssinia. But this increase of
power did not tempt him to any new re-
bellion during the reign of Yasous, who
died in June, 1753, in the twenty-fourth
year of his reign.

Joas the successor of Yasous, was as-
sassinated at the instigation of Michael,
who by his intrigues became master of
Abyssinia ; he placed on the throne
Hannes, brother to the late king BacuflTa,
an old man, Avho had spent all his days
on the mountains of Wechne, and was
of course totally unacquainted with politi-
cal aftairs. Hannes had been maimed
by the loss of one hand, to prevent him
from aspiring to the throne ; for, by the
law of Abyssinia, the king must be free
from every personal defect. Michael

ALGIERS.

laughed at this objection ; but, on finding
him totally averse to business, he carried
him off by poison, and made his son,
Tecla Haimanout, his successor on the
throne. He now marched against Fasil
without delay, and defeated him after an
obstinate engagement. Woosheka was
taken prisoner, and that unhappy man
was flayed alive, and his skin was form-
ed into a bottle.

From that time to the present, war and
bloodshed have almost constantly pre-
vailed ; and the history is made up of
insurrections, and petty wars, either
against the general government, or among
the subordinate chiefs themselves. In
June, 1818, Itsa Yoas was proclaimed
king. Soon after this event, Subegadis,
an enterprising chieftain, made an attempt

to raise himself to supreme power ; and
the last accounts obtained from Abys-
sinia, left him preparing for a march to
Gondar, to establish his power in that
quarter. It is more than probable that
he accomplished his purpose, and placed
himself on the imperial throne.

Such is a sketch of the history of
Abyssinia, a country sunk in the lowest
state of barbarity, and afflicted — even
without the hope of improvement — with
all the calamities which result from an
ill constituted government. Yet Abys-
sinia, in extent, in situation, and natural
advantages, is the most important country
in Africa ; and from this kingdom, more
conveniently than from any other quarter,
might the blessings of civilization be dif-
fused through that unfortunate continent.

ALGIERS.

After the fall of Carthage, B. C. 144,
the greater part of northern Africa came
under the dominion of the Romans, and
continued under their power till about,
A. D. 428. The Vandals and after them
the Mahometan Arabs were the succes-
sive conquerors and possessors. The
tribes of the last mentioned people divi-
ded the country between themselves,
and formed different petty states, among
which there were some free and inde-
pendent cities. By this means the king-
dom of Algiers was partitioned into four
sovereignties ; Tenez, Algiers Proper,
Bugeya, and Tremuen. The princes
assumed the title of kings ; and continued
for some centuries in mutual peace and
amity with one another. But at length
they began to disagree among themselves,
and the king of Tenez made himself
master of Bugeya and Tremuen. Al-
giers Proper in the mean time had be-
come a place of considerable celebrity,
by the asylum it afforded to the Moors,
who had been expelled out of the mari-
time provinces of Spain. These exiles,
rendered desperate by their expulsion,
and being well acquainted with the Span-
ish coast, issued from this retreat, and

endeavored to compensate the losses they
had sustained, by piracy at sea, and by
predatory incursions on shore.

To suppress these ravages, Ferdinand
the fifth, king of Arragon, A. D. 1505,
sent a powerful fleet and army under the
command of the Count of Navarre, who
made an irruption into Africa, took the
important city of Oran, and laid siege to
Algiers, which was the principal haunt
of these pirates. In this difiiculty the
Algerines invited to their assistance Se-
lim Eutemy, a warlike Arabian prince,
that possessed the neighboring territory,
and put themselves under his protection
and government. But, notwithstanding
his efforts, the Spaniards carried on the
siege with vigor, and at length Algiers
was compelled to capitulate, and to be-
come tributary to Spain ; nor could Selim
prevent them from erecting a strong fort
on a small island opposite to the city,
which they supplied with a garrison and
a numerous train of artillery.

The Algerines were obliged to submit
to this galling yoke till the death of Fer-
dinand ; of which event they were no
sooner apprised, than they determined to
make every effort for regaining their

ALGIERS.

liberty. With the consent and advice of
Eutemy, they sent a deputation to the
famous corsair Barbarossa, who had ren-
dered himseh' formidable at sea from the
age of thirteen ; requesting him to come
and deliver them from the Spanish yoke,
and promising a gratuity equal to his ser-
vices. Barbarossa, highly gratified by
this invitation, which offered him a fixed
residence with a good port, of both of
which he was then destitute, readily ac-
cepted the proposal. He arrived, there-
fore, with his brother Hairadin ; but did
not communicate his real design to the
Algerines, and appeared only in quality
of auxiliary and ally.

On his arrival in the neighborhood
of Algiers, all the people of the city,
with prince Eutemy at their head, went
out to meet this illustrious warrior, whom
they considered as their deliverer, and
conducted him into that metropolis, with
the greatest splendor, and amidst the ac-
clamations of the populace. lie was re-
ceived with every mark of distinction,
and all ranks were anxious to provide ac-
commodations for his troops. He him-
self was lodged in one of the most splen-
did apartments in the palace of the Ara-
bian prince ; whilst his forces were treat-
ed with such uncommon generosity, that
he began to procure the necessary infor-
mation, and to concert measures for exe-
cuting the treacherous design of enslav-
ing the Algerines and of making himself
king of Algiers. He communicated his
plan to the chief officers of his council,
from whom he exacted a solemn oath of
secrecy, and who applauded his intention,
and promised to assist him with all their
abilities.

In the meantime, the better to deceive
the Algerines, he caused a battery to be
erected opposite to the Spanish fortress,
which he bombarded for a month without
producing any A'isible effect. On this
occasion, however, he acted with such
despotic authority as never to consult
the Arabian prince relative to any mea-
sures he intended to pursue; and the
soldiers conducted themselves with such
insolence and brutality, that the natives
no longer doubted of his designs, but
complained loudly of his perfidy and
breach of faith. Barbarossa, fearing that

they might endeavor to counteract his
intentions, resolved to put Eutemy to
death, and to have himself instantly pro-
claimed by his troops, king of Algiers.

Being lodged in the prince's palace, he
had an opportunity of concerting proper
measures for the destruction of the Ara-
bian chief. Having observed that Eute-
my was accustomed to repair to the bath
every day at noon before prayers, Bar-
barossa surprised him there in a naked
and defenceless condition, and having
strangled him with a napkin, immediately
withdrew, without being observed by any
person. He soon after returned, accom-
panied by a considerable retinue, as if
for the purpose of bathing ; and expressed
equal surprise and affliction, on seeing
the murdered prince. Though the inha-
bitants suspected Barbarossa as the cause
of this tragical occurrence, they had been
so cruelly treated by the soldiers, that
they dared not complain of the outrage.
On the contrary, fearing that the slaugh-
ter would be universal, many of the na-
tives abandoned their city and country,
and sought an asylum in the neighboring
states ; whilst others shut themselves up
in their houses, and left the Turks in
possession of all their property. This
desertion and dispirited conduct opened
an easy access to the vacant throne,
which Barbarossa ascended at the re-
quest of his followers, without experien-
cing the least opposition from the Alge-
rines. He was accordingly proclaimed
in the city with great splendor ; and rode
through the streets on horseback, attend-
ed by his Turks and Moors, who cried,
" Long live Barbarossa, the invincible
king of Algiers, chosen by God to deliver
the people from the oppression of the
Christians, and to devote all those to de-
struction that shall oppose or disobey
him, their lawful sovereign."

The tyrant was then accompanied to
the palace, where, seated under a stately
canopy, he received the congratulations
of the Turks ; and dispersed his troops
through every part of the city, to invite
the Algerines to come and swear alle-
giance to their new monarch, with assu-
rances that those who complied should
be treated with particular regard, and
entitled to the favor of the king. Accord-

ALGIERS.

ingly, many did obeisance to him as their
sovereign, signed the instrument of his
coronation, and were dismissed with to-
kens of esteem. Barbarossa, however,
reigned rather by the terror he inspired,
than by the affection and regard of the
people. He suffered his ambition and
avarice to hurry him beyond the bounds
of prudence ; a circumstance that nearly
proved fatal to his interest. The Alge-
rines became exasperated by his cruelty,
and the insolence and brutality of his
soldiers. By his rapacious exactions he
alienated the affections of the warlike
Arabs, whose esteem he had been at
great pains to conciliate ; and he dis-
banded a great part of his Moorish troops,
who returned in discontent to the pro-
vince from whence they had been prin-
cipally raised.

The Algerine chieftains, apprised of
these circumstances, found means to send
deputies to the Arabians, to exhort them
to abolish the Turkish tyranny, to re-
venge the murder of their Prince Eu-
temy, and to restore his son to the throne
and dominions of his father. They also
carried on a secret correspondence with
the Spanish governor, and it was agreed
to assassinate Barbarossa and the Turks,
and to put themselves under the protec-
tion and government of Spain. The day
was appointed for executing this im-
portant project, when it was resolved
that the Algerines should bring their
fruits and herbs to the market as usual,
and conceal arms under their gowns.
But the persons engaged in this design
were too numerous to prevent its being
divulged to Barbarossa, who was ex-
tremely vigilant and attentive, and soon
discovered the whole matter. Most of
the Algerine chiefs, Avho had been con-
cerned in the conspiracy, were put to
death, and their estates confiscated, and
the rest had a heavy fine imposed on
them. This punishment so terrified the
natives, that they never afterwards at-
tempted any thing against him or his
successors.

But though Barbarossa was thus freed
from domestic, he was assailed by fo-
reign enemies. The Spaniards sent
against Algiers a numerous and power-
ful fleet, with ten thousand land forces

on board, intended to expel the Turks
out of the city, and to restore the son of
Eutemy to the throne of his father. This
armament, however, had no sooner ar-
rived in sight of the place of its destina-
tion, than it was attacked by a storm, and
driven against the rocks, and almost
every soul on board perished. This dis-
aster tended to confirm Barbarossa in
his usurpation, and contributed to in-
crease his pride and insolence to such a
degree, that he became more cruel and
oppressive towards the inhabitants of
both the city and country. Several tribes
of Arabians were so much alarmed at
his exorbitant power and tyrannical con-
duct, that they entered into an alliance
with the king of Tenez, who marched a
body of forces into the dominions of Al-
giers. This numerous army, however,
was totally defeated by Barbarossa, who
pursued the fugitive and unfortunate
prince to the very gates of his capital,
of which he made himself master, and
obliged the inhabitants to acknowledge
him as their sovereign.

Not long after, he conquered the king-
dom of Tremuen ; but the Spaniards
uniting with the Arabs in reinstating the
prince on his throne, Barbarossa was at-
tacked by a numerous and powerful army ;
and though the Turks fought with great
valor and intrepidity, they were defeated
by the enemy, and all cut to pieces.

Thus fell Barbarossa in the forty-fourth
year of his age, 1517. He raised his
kingdom to a degree of splendor which
it had never before known, and caused
himself to be acknowledged as sove-
reign of Algiers by many foreign as
well as neighboring nations. His troops
were principally composed of Turkish
soldiers ; and it was chiefly under the
banners of the crescent that he had dis-
tinguished himself in his maritime ex-
ploits. He preserved his independence ;
but, at the same time, kept up an intimate
connection with the Porte ; whither he
sent presents, and from whence he ob-
tained recruits. In short, he gave to the
kingdom of Algiers almost the whole of
that power and extent which it possesses
at present.

Barbarossa was succeeded by his
brother Hairadin, who, having held the

ALGIERS.

reins of government about two years,
dreaded an immediate and universal in-
surrection among the people. The more
eflectually, therefore, to secure himself
in the kingdom, he applied to Selim the
first, emperor of Constantinople, and
offered to submit himself and his do-
minions to that prince, and to pay him
an annual ti-ibute, provided the grand
seignior would assist him with a suf-
ficient number of forces for maintaining
him in his station. Selim, who by the
conquest of Egypt had abolished the
usurpation of the Mamelukes, was highly
pleased with the proposal, received Hai-
radin under his protection, and appointed
him bashaw or viceroy over the kingdom
of Algiers. In a little time, also, he sent
a body of ten thousand janisaries, that
enabled Hairadin to become absolute
master both of the Arabs and Moors, who
were obliged to submit to the most abject
slavery, without daring to utter the least
complaint against his government. He
increased daily in power and wealth by
the number of his corsairs, and their
successful depredations at sea. . The
Porte also sent him every year a con-
stant supply of recruits, with money for
the payment of his troops ; and, in a
little time, Algiers became a formidable
kingdom.

In this manner was this state reduced
under the dominion of the Turkish em-
pire ; but we have already had occasion
to observe, that in the course of time, the
authority of the Ottoman court declined
in that kingdom. Its influence was first
greatly contracted in regard to the no-
mination of the dey ; and, at length, was
left only in the possession of honoring
him with a patent, which it could not
refuse. The grand seignior constantly
kept a pacha, who was considered as
the successor of Barbarossa and his de-
scendants ; but, at length, the oflice of
pacha entirely disappeared, being eclipsed
by that of dey. At present, Algiers is
a power absolutely sovereign and inde-
pendent, and is rather allied than subject
to the Turks. It keeps up with the
grand seignior a connexion only of de-
cency and respect, founded on an iden-
tity of religion.

Since the foundation of this Idngdom

by the two Barbarossas, the events which
have occurred in Algiers are nothing
else than the jealousies and intrigues of
the principal men, in order to ruin and
supplant one another ; consisting of acts
of cruelty, depositions, and other ca- '
tastrophes of a similar nature. If we
should attempt to delineate a picture of
them, an uninterrupted series of the most
horrid acts of tyranny and brutality would
be exhibited to view. Nothing would
be seen but massacres among the rich
and powerful ; wretchedness and op-
pression among the poor ; with instances
innumerable of the most inhuman ven-
geance and cruelty against the relatives
and partisans of the princes assassinated.
Confiscations, imprisonment, and per-
secution, are extremely frequent ; and
often, at the end of a month, and even of
a week, the reigning prince has suffered
a fate similar to that of his predecessor,
and exchanged his throne for a prison or
a grave ; insomuch that a new revolution
has often brought back the same scenes
of madness and cruelty. Such, added
to the piratical expeditions at sea, would
form the principal part of the history of
each prince's reign.

With respect to these expeditions, all
Europe and the world may rest assured,
that these pirates will never cease their
depredations, so long as they are per-
mitted to exist. To the injury and dis-
grace of all christian powers, they suf-
fered them to establish themselves and
to become emboldened by success, and
now find them formidable to all European
nations, who are compelled to purchase
an exemption from their ravages, and are,
in effect, tributary to this piratical state.
These acts of violence are now become
natural to them. It was not without
truth, that one of the deys humorously
said : " The Algerines are robbers, and
I am their captain-general." Those,
therefore, who navigate the seas, must
expect to be exposed to their attacks. If
they be reproached for this shameful pi-
racy, they only answer by the following
proverb : " They vi^ho are afraid of the
sparrows ought never to sow."

Since the commencement of the pre-
sent century, the United States of Ame-
rica have led the way in humbling the

ALGIERS.

piratical states of Barbary. Soon after the
ratification of peace with Great Britain,
in February, 1815, Congress, in conse-
quence of the hostile conduct of the Re-
gency of Algiers, declared war against
that power. A squadron was immediately
sent out under the command of Com.
Decatur, (who had formerly highly dis-
tinguished himself in the Tripolitan war,)
consisting of three frigates, two sloops of
war, and four schooners. With this force
Com. Decatur sailed from New- York,
May 20th, 1815, and arrived in the bay
of Gibraltar in twenty-five days. On the
17lh of June, off Cape de Gatt, he cap-
tured the Algerine frigate Mazouda, after
a nmning fight of twenty-five minutes.
After the second broadside, the Algerines
ran below. In this affair the famous Al-
gerine Admiral, or Rais, Hammida, who
had long been the terror of this sea, was
cut in two by a cannon shot. On the
19th of June, off Cape Palos, the squadron
captured an Algerine brig of twenty-two
guns. From Cape Palos the American
squadron proceeded to Algiers, where it
arrived on the 28th of June. Decatur
immediately despatched a letter from the
President of the United States to the
Dey, in order to afford him a fair op-
portunity for negotiation. The Captain of
the port was immediately sent to the
squadron on receipt of this letter, ac-
companied by the Swedish Consul ; and
Com. Decatur, who, with Mr. Shaler,
had been empowered to negotiate a treaty,
proposed a basis, on which alone he
would consent to enter into a treaty.
This was the absolute and unqualified
relinquishment of any demand of Tribute,
on the part of the regency. To this the
captain demurred. But being informed
of the capture of the frigate and brig, and
the death of Hammida, he was unnerved,
and agreed to negotiate on the proposed
basis. The model of the treaty was sent
to the Dey, who signed it. The prin-
cipal articles in this treaty were, that no
tribute, under any circumstances what-
ever, should be required by Algiers from
the United States of America ; that all
Americans in slavery should be given
up without ransom ; that compensation
should be made for American vessels or
property, seized or detained at Algiers ;

that the persons and property of Ame-
ricans, found on board of an enemy's
vessel, should be sacred ; vessels of
either party putting into port should be
supplied at market price ; that if a ves-
sel of either party should be cast on
shore, she should not be plundered, &c.
The rights of American citizens on the
ocean, and the land, were generally fully
provided for, in every instance ; and it
was particularly stipulated, that all citizens
of the United Stales, taken in war, should
be treated as prisoners of war are treated
by other nations ; held subject to an ex-
change without ransom. After conclu-
ding his treaty, so highly honorable and
advantageous to our country, the com-
missioners gave up the frigate and brig,
which had been captured, to their former
owners.

After this. Com. Decatur visited Tunis
and Tripoli, and demanded and obtained
compensation for the injuries done Ame-
rican citizens by those powers.

In consequence of the massacre in
Bona of persons under the protection of
the British flag, Lord Exmouth was sent
with a squadron to Algiers, to demand
reparation. He was joined at Gibraltar
by a Dutch squadron of five frigates and
a corvette, under the command of Vice-
Admiral Von Capellan. The following
account is given by an oflicer engaged in
the expedition :

" On Sunday, the 25th of August, the
expedition had a fine breeze, and made
great progress with a flowing sheet ; di-
vine service was performed, and on that
occasion, when offering up prayers to
the Almighty, by many for the last time,
at public worship, feelings of the most
satisfactory nature originated, which can
never be forgotten by those who felt
them ; they gave a cool confidence when
going into action, which the stranger to
religious sentiments can never possess.

" The coast of Africa was seen on
Monday, and as the day dawned on
Tuesday, the 27th, Algiers appeared
about ten miles off. The morning was
beautifully fine, with a haze which fore-
told the coming heat : as the morning
advanced, the breeze failed us, but at
nine o'clock we had neared the town to
within about five miles ; the long line of
4

ALGIERS.

batteries were distinctly seen, with the
red flag flying in all directions, and the
masts of the shipping showing above the
walls of the mole. The Severn, with a
flag of truce flying, was detached with the
terms of the Prince Regent, and this was
a most anxious period, for we were in
the dark as to the feelings of the Dey,
whether the off*ered terms were such as
he could consistently accept, or that left
him no alternative but resistance. Du-
ring this state of suspense, our people
were as usual exercised at the guns, the
boats hoisted out, and prepared for ser-
vice by signal, and at noon we were
ready for action.

"The ship's company were piped to
dinner, and at one o'clock the captain and
officers sat down to theirs in the gun-
room, the principal dish of which was a
substantial sea pie ; wine was pledged
in a bumper to a successful attack, and a
general expression of hope for an unsuc-
cessful negotiation. At this time, the
officer of the watch reported to the cap-
tain, that the admiral had made the gen-
eral telegraph, ' Are you ready V Che-
tham immediately directed that our an-
swer ' ready' should be shown, and at
the same moment the like signal was
flying at the mast-heads of the entire
squadron. The mess now broke up, each
individual of it quietly making arrange-
ments with the other in the event of ac-
cident, and we had scarcely reached the
deck, when the signal to ' bear up' was
out, the commander-in-chief leading the
way, with a fine steady breeze blowing
on the land. We ran in on the admiral's
larboard-beam, keeping within two ca-
bles' length of him ; the long guns were
loaded with round and grape, the car-
ronades with grape only : our sail was
reduced to the topsails and top-gallant
sails, the mainsail furled, and the boats
dropped astern in tow. The ships were
now steering to their appointed stations,
and the gun-boats showing their eager-
ness, by a crowd of sail, to get alongside
the batteries. As we drew towards the
shore, the Algerines were observed load-
ing their guns, and a vast number of spec-
tators were assembled on the beach, idly
gazing at the approach of the squadron,
seemingly quite unconscious of what was

about to happen. Far different were ap-
pearances at the mouth of the mole as it
opened ; the row-boats, fully manned,
were lying on their oars, quite prepared
for the attack, and we fully expected
they would attempt to board should an
opportunity oflfer ; each boat had a flag
hanging over her stern. A frigate was
moored across the mouth of the mole,
and a small brig was at anchor outside
of her.

" At fifteen minutes before three P. M.
the Queen Charlotte came to an anchor
by the stern, at the distance of sixty yards
from the beach, and, as was ascertained
by measurement, ninety yards from the
muzzles of the guns of the mole bat-
teries, unmolested, and with all the qui-
etude of a friendly harbor ; her flag
flew at the main, and the colors at the
peak ; her starboard broadside flanked
the whole range of batteries from the
mole head to the lighthouse ; her topsail
yards (as were those of the whole squad-
ron) remained aloft, to be more secure
from fire, and the sails brought snugly to
the yards by headlines preAdously fitted ;
the "top-gallant sails and small sails only
were furled, so that we had no man un-
necessarily exposed aloft.

" The Leander, following the motions
of the Admiral, was brought up with two
anchors by the stern, let go on his lar-
board beam, veered away, until she ob-
tained a position nearly ahead of him,
then let go an anchor under foot, open
by this to a battery on the starboard side
at the bottom of the mole, and to the
fish-market battery on the larboard side.
At this moment Lord Exmouth was seen
waving his hat on the poop to the idlers
on the beach to get out of the way, then
a loud cheer was heard, and the whole
of the Queen Charlotte's tremendous
broadside was thrown into the batteries
abreast of her; this measure was promptly
taken, as the smoke of a gam was ob-
served to issue from some part of the
enemy's work, so that the sound of the
British guns was heard almost in the
same instant Avith that to which the smoke
belonged. The cheers of the Queen
Charlotte were loudly echoed by those
of the Leander, and the contents of her
starboard broadside as quickly followed,

ALGIERS.

Bombardment of Algiers.

carrying destruction into the groups of
row-boats ; as the smoke opened, the
fragments of boats were seen floating,
their crews swimming and scrambling, as
many as escaped the shot, to the shore ;
another broadside annihilated them. The
enemy was not slack in returning this
warm salute, for almost before the shot
escaped from our guns, a man standing
on the forecastle bits, hauling on the top-
sail buntlines, received a musket bullet
in his left arm, which broke the bone,
and commenced the labors in the cock-
pit. The action became general as soon
as the ships had occupied their positions,
and we were engaged with the batteries
on either side ; so close were we, that
the enemy were distinctly seen loading
their giuis al)Ove us. After a few broad-
sides, we brought our starboard broadside
to bear on the fish-market, and our lar-
board side then looked to seaward. The
rocket-boats were now throwing rockets
over our ships into the mole, the effects
of which were occasionally seen on oin-
larboard bow. The Dutch flag Avas to
be seen flying at the fore of the Dutch
Admiral, Avho, with his squadron, were
engaging the batteries to the eastward
of the mole. The fresh breeze which

brought us in was. gradually driven away
by the cannonade, and the smoke of our
guns so hung about us, that we were
obliged to wait until it cleared ; for the
men took deliberate and certain aims,
training their guns until they were fully
satisfied of their precision. But our en-
emies gave us no reason to suppose that
they were idle ; so great was the havoc
which they made amongst us, that the
surgeon in his report stated, that sixty-
five men Avere brought to him Avounded
after the first and second broadsides.

'' About four o'clock, a boat, with an
officer, came Avith orders from the Ad-
miral to cease firing, as an attempt to
destroy the Algerine frigates was about
to be made. Accordingly, three boats
pushed into the mole, running the gantlet
in gallant style ; they boarded the outer-
most frigate, Avhich was found deserted
by her crew, and in a iew minutes she
was in a blaze ; in doing this the boats'
crcAV suflered severely. The smoke of
our last broadside had scarcely left us,
when the Algerines renewed their fire
of musketry upon our decks ; fortunately
the men Avere lying down by the guns,
and the ofliicers alone were marks for
them ; but one midshipman was their only

ALGIERS.

victim at this time. The masts began
to suffer in all parts, splinters were falling
from them, and shreds of canvass from
the sails came down upon us in great
quantities ; bow-lines, and other running
gear, suffered equally ; the shrouds, fore
and aft, got cut up so quickly, that the
rigging men attempted in vain to knot
them, and were at last forced to leave
the rigging to its fate.

" When the boats returned, we recom-
menced our fire with renewed vigor ;
occasionally a flag-staff was knocked
down, a fact which was always an-
nounced with a cheer, each captain of a
gun believing himself to be the faithful
marksman. The Algcrine squadron now
began, as it were, to follow the motions
of the outer frigate ; the rockets had
taken efiect, and they all burned merrily
together.

" Through the intervals of smoke, the
sad devastation in the enemy's works
Avas made visible ; the whole of the mole
head, near the Queen Charlotte, was a
ruin, and the gams were consequently
silenced ; but we were not so fortunate
with the fish-market ; the guns there still
annoyed us, and ours seemed to make no
impression. A battery in the upper an-
gle of the town was also untouched, and
we were so much under it, that the shot
actually came through our decks, without
touching the bulwarks, and we could not
elevate our guns sufficiently to check
them.

" As the sun was setting behind the
town, the whole of the shipping in the
mole were in flames ; their cables, burned
through, left them at the mercy of every
breeze ; the outermost frigate threatened
the Queen Charlotte with a similar fate,
but a breeze sent her clear on towards
the Leander ; a most intense heat came
from her, and we expected every moment
to be in contact ; the flames were burn-
ing with great power at the mast heads,
and the loose fire was flying about in
such away that there seemed little chance
of our escaping, but we checked her pro-
gress towards us, by firing into her, and
in the act of hauling out, we were re-
joiced to see a welcome Seabreeze alter
the direction of the flames aloft, the same
Seabreeze soon reached her hull, and

we had the satisfaction in a few minutes
to see her touch the shore to which she
belonged.

" When the Algerines saw us retiring,
they returned to the guns which they
had previously abandoned, and again
commenced a fire on the boats, which
made the water literally in a foam ; this
fire was returned by our quarter guns,
but with very little effect. As we left the
land, the breeze increased, the Severn
cast off her tow, and our boats returned
on board ; at 25 minutes past eleven we
fired our last gam, and the cannonade
was succeeded by a storm of thunder
and lightning.

" Soon after daylight we mustered at
our quarters, and found that 16 officers
and men were killed, and 120 wounded ;
the three lower masts badly wounded ;
every spar wounded, except the spanker-
boom ; shrouds cut in all parts, leaving
the masts unsupported, which would
have fallen had there been the least
motion ; the running gear entirely cut to
pieces ; the boats all shot through ; the
bulwarks riddled with grape and mus-
ketry ; 96 round-shot in the starboard
side, some of them between wind and
water ; the guns were all uninjured to
any extent, and remained, the only part
of the Leander, efficient.

" At nine o'clock, Capt. Mitchell came
on board from Lord Exmouth, to thank
Capt. Chetham for the position taken up
by the Leander, and for the able support
she had given him throughout the day.

" The town had a very different ap-
pearance this morning to that which it
presented the day before. Instead of
clean white walls, decorated with flags,
and a mole well filled with shipping,
there was but the ruins of a town ; a few
houses in the upper part remained un-
touched, but lower down it was one un-
distingaiishable mass ; smoke rising from
the fragments of the ships destroyed was
seen in many directions, and the wrecks
of boats and larger vessels were drifting
about unclaimed by either party.

" The ship's company were again at
work, clearing decks, unbending sails,
and making every preparation to renew
the action ; but at noon we had the sa-
tisfaction to hear that the Dey had ac-

ARABIA.

cepted the terms which were offered him
the day before ; at the same time that
this information was conveyed to the
squadron, a general order was issued to
offer up " public thanksgiving to Al-
mighty God for the signal victory ob-
tained by the arms of England.

In 1830 difficulties having arisen
between the French and Algerines, a

French army consisting of 37,577 in-
fantry and 4000 horse, embarked at Tou-
lon, and the fleet consisting of 97 vessels,
of which 1 1 were ships of the line and
24 frigates, set sail with the army, which
landed near Algiers, on the 14th of June,
under the command of Coimt Bourmont.
Algiers was taken July 5th, and the
French still hold possession of the city.

ARABIA.

Little is known of the ancient history
of Arabia. The partial information which
we receive respecting the early transac-
tions of its inhabitants, is derived chiefly
from their own historians, whose disa-
greement in many important points, ren-
ders their authenticity very questionable.
Indeed, until the time of Mahomet,* their
history seems to be completely im^olved
in obscurity.

From its proximity to the original
station assigned to man by his Creator,
Arabia must have been peopled at a very
early period of the world. We are told,
that soon after the deluge, the descen-
dants of Shem, the son of Noah, leaving
the banks of the Euphrates and the
Tigris, and proceeding along the western
coasts of the Persian Gulf, in the course
of time founded several small kingdoms
in the southern parts of this peninsula.

The oriental historians also deduce the
origin of the Arabs from Kahtan, or Jok-
tan, a descendant of Shem; and Ishmael,
the son of Abraham and Hagar. The
posterity of the former they denominate,
al Arab ol Ariba, " the genuine Arabs ;"
but the Ishmaelites they call, al Arab ol
Mostareba, ^^insititious Arabs;" because
the Ishmaelites settled in Arabia many
centuries after the Beni-Joktan had pos-
session of that country, and, consequently,
must have been considered as strangers,
until they had become naturalized by in-
intermarrying with the original inhabi-

* Mahomet. This name is usually written by
late writers, Mohammed.

Kahtan, the father of the Arabians, was
succeeded by Yarab in the government
of Yemen ; and Jorham, another of his
sons, founded the kingdom of Hedjas.
But to follow the transactions and revo-
lutions of these kingdoms, from their first
institution to their extinction, would in-
volve us in a labyrinth of darkness, and
lead us into discussions incompatible
with the limits of this work. A few of
the most prominent occurrences, however,
that mark their history, may not only be
interesting, but may serve to illustrate
some of the peculiar manners of the
people ; and enable us to trace the pro-
gress of science and civilization in the
early ages of the world.

Saba, the fourth king of Yemen, de-
ploring the distresses to which his sub-
jects were exposed by the repeated
droughts of this parched country, built
a stupendous mound between two hills,
for receiving and preserving the waters
which descended from the mountains.
This building stood, like a mountain,
above the city of Mareb, or Saba ; and
was composed of such strong and solid
materials, that many of the inhabitants
built their houses upon the top of it.
The water was carried by aqueducts
into the city, and distributed among the
inhabitants. But a more important and
political purpose, it would seem, was
intended by this capacious reservoir.
Saba was a great warrior, and had sub-
dued in battle many of the neighboring
tribes. By making himself master of
the water, he ensured their submission ;
as he cotild at pleasure greatly distress

ARABIA.

them by cutting off all communication
with it. This prince is also said to have
been the first who introduced into Arabia
the worship of the heavenly luminaries ;
whence, he received the surname of Abd.
Shems, i. e. " Servant of the Sun "

Saba was succeeded by his son Ham-
yar, who gave his name to the kingdom
ofHamyar; and whose descendants were
called Hamyarites, the same with the |
Homerites of Ptolemy and other Greek
authors. After Ilamyar, we have a se-
ries of twenty princes of the same family;
but of whom nothing remarkable is re-
corded. The last of these was succeeded
by Amran, of the posterity of CaJdan, the
brother of Hamyar, to whose family the
throne of Hamyar was now translated,
and whose descendants contirmed to sway
the sceptre, in an uninterrupted succes-
sion, till about forty-four years before
Mahomet. It was during the reigns of
some of these monarchs, that the famous
reservoir of Saba was broken down by a
mighty flood, which swept away the
whole city, with the neighboring towns.
This terrible inundation is styled, in the
Koran, " the inundation of Al Arem,"
and is supposed to have happened about
the time of Alexander the Great. The
destruction occasioned by the flood was
so dreadful, that no less than eight tribes
were compelled to abandon their habita-
tions, and seek for other settlements ;
and it became a proverbial saying among
the Arabs, to express a total dispersion,
that " they were scattered like Saba."

The last prince of the Hamyaritic line,
who reigned in regular succession, was
the impious Yusof, surnamed Dhu No-
was, from his flowing curls. He was a
bigotted Jew, and treated his Christian
subjects with the greatest barbarity.
Elesbaan, king of Abyssinia, having de-
clared war against him, for massacring
certain Christian merchants, overthrew
him in battle, stripped him of his domin-
ions, and placed a Chi'istian prince upon
the throne of Hamyar. But Dhu Nowas,
upon the death of this prince, found
means of again seizing upon the crown ;
and began his reign with a violent per-
secution of the Christians. He exercised
upon them the most exquisite tortures,
and caused such as would not renounce

their faith, to be thrown into a fiery pit,
whence he received the appellation of
"the lord of the ph." To revenge such
inhuman cruelty, the patriarch of Alex-
andria besought the king of Abyssinia
again to undertake the Christian cause.
Elesbaan crossing the straits of Babel-
mandel, with an army of 120,000 men,
completely routed the forces of Dhu
Nowas, who, being closely pursued, was
reduced to such extremities, that he
forced his horse into the sea, and lost at
once his kingdom and his life, in the
524th year of the Christian sera. After
the death of Dhu Nowas, the Christian
religion was established at Yemen, and
an Abyssinian viceroy continued to wield
the sceptre of Hamyar, nearly seventy-
two years, when Seif, the son of Dhu
Yazan, of the royal family of Ham-
yar, with the assistance of Chosroes,
idng of Persia, expelled the Abyssinians
from Yemen, and recovered the kingdom
of his ancestors. The reign, however,
of this prince was but of short duration,
as he fell a victim to the vengeance of
the Abyssinians. His successors were
appointed by the king of Persia, till Bad-
han, the last of them, submitted to the
authority and doctrines of Mahomet.

The posterity of Jorham occupied the
throne of Hedjas, till the accession of
Kidar, the son of Ishmael, who, accord-
ing to some authors, had the crown re-
signed to him, by his uncles, the Jor-
hamites. After the inundation of Al
Arem, the tribe of Khozaatook refuge in
Hedjas, and settled in the valley of
Marri, near Mecca. Expelling the Ish-
maelites, soon after, they seized upon
the gover^mient, and assumed to them-
selves the guardianship of the Caaba,*
or round tower. The profound venera-

* The temple, called the Caaba, or house of
God, was held in the highest veneration by the
Arabs; "for it was built," say they, "on the
spot where Adam pitched his tent when driven
from Paradise ; and contained the black stone ou
which Jacob reposed his head when he saw the
vision of the angels descending and ascending on
the ladder that reached to heaven." It is said
this stone was brought by the angel Gabriel, and
to have been originally of a dazzling whiteness.
It is generally supposed to be a meteoric stone.
The grand ceremony through which the pilgrims
pass, is that of going seven times round the
Caaba, kissing each time the sacred stone.

ARABIA.

tion in which this temple was held by
the Arabs, rendered it a situation of great
honor and authority.

After many ages, Kosa, the chief of
the Koreish, subdued the Khozaites and
obtained possession of the Caaba; and
notwithstanding the powerful attempts
that were made by the latter to repossess
themselves of this important temple, it
remained in the power of the Koreish till
the time of Mahomet.

The war of the Elephant, a memorable
aera in Arabian history, is said to have
happened when Abdel Motalleb, the
grandfather of Mahomet, was guardian
of the Caaba. This temple had stood
for about fourteen centuries, and was
held in the highest veneration. The
multitude of strangers, who resorted to
this sacred place, from the surrounding
nations, suggested the idea of rendering
it the emporium of trade between India
and Africa. Yemen was, at that time,
in the possession of the Abyssinians ;
and Abraha, the viceroy in that country,
to divert the trade into a channel more
convenient for his own dominions, built
a large temple near the Indian Ocean, on
which he bestowed all the privileges
enjoyed by the temple of Mecca. The
Koreish, alarmed at the prospect of hav-
ing their city deserted, hastened to Ye-
men, entered the temple of Abraha by
night, and after burning as much of it as
could be consumed, polluted the rest with
every mark of indignity. To revenge
this insult, Abraha marched against Mecca
with a mighty army, determined to take
vengeance upon the sacrilegious offend-
ers, and level the rival temple with the
dust. The Meccans, terrified at the
strange appearance of the elephants, to
which they were unaccustomed, retired
from the city, and entrenched themselves
on the neighboring mountains. Abraha
having pillaged the surrounding country,
advanced to the destruction of the holy
city. A treaty being proposed, Abdel
Motalleb presented himself before Abra-
ha, and boldly demanded the restitution
of his cattle ; " and why," said the Abys-
sinian, "do you not rather implore the
preservation of your Caaba ?" " The
cattle are my own," replied the prince of
the Koreish, "the Caaba belongs to the

gods, and they will protect their house
irom sacrilege and injustice." Abraha,
astonished at the intrepidity of the Ara-
bian chief, ordered his cattle to be re-
stored. Disease, want of provisions, and
the determined valor of the Koreish, soon
after compelled him to abandon the en-
terprise, and return with his debilitated
army to Yemen. The retreat of the
Abyssinians is attributed in the Koran,
chap, cv, to the extraordinary interpo-
sition of the Deity in favor of the Caaba;
and, upon this event, the prophet of
Islam has founded one of the most in-
credible of his extravagant absurdities.

The same year is remarkable for the
birth of Mahomet, the legislator and
apostle of the Arabs. He was bom at
Mecca, about two months after the dis-
comfiture of the Abyssinians, 569. His
father, Abdallah, died wlule he was a
child. As he left little property, Ma-
homet was educated first by his grand-
father, Abdel Motalleb, and after his
death by his eldest uncle, Abu Taleb.
This uncle, a merchant, destined Ma-
homet for the same employment, and
was accompanied by him on a commer-
cial journey to Syria. On this occasion,
he visited a Nestorian monastery, where
he was especially distinguished by one
of the monks, and received impressions
which perhaps contributed to give the
tone to his subsequent character. The
Mahometan writers are very prolix in
their descriptions of the wonderful quali-
ties of mind and body, for which their
prophet was eminent from his youth ; he
shared, however, the general ignorance
of his countrymen. Being sufficiently
instructed in mercantile affairs, Mahomet
was recommended by his uncle to Ca-
diga, a rich and noble widow of Mecca,
as her factor. In this capacity he con-
tinued till he was twenty-five years of
age, when Cadiga rewarded his integrity
and serA'ices with her hand and fortune.
Being thus raised from poverty to af-
fluence,he was enabled to live as became
the nephew of the guardian of the Caaba;
and to vie in splendor with the richest in
Mecca. Though nothing is recorded of
him till he was forty years of age, it is
probable that he still continued in the
occupation of a merchant.

ARABIA,

At this period Christianity had been
converted, by endless controversies and
contentions, into a heap of abstruse nice-
lies and intricate distinctions. The wor-
ship of saints and images, with the most
scandalous and superstitious ceremonies,
had led to the destruction of public mor-
als, and that purity of doctrine which the
gospel inculcates. A general depravity
of manners prevailed, both among the
priests and the people. The contests
for the popedom were carried on with all
the virulence and animosity which party
spirit or interest could excite. They
sometimes even proceeded to open vio-
lence and murder; and the episcopal
seat was often filled by the slaves of
debauchery and intemperance. Harmo-
ny, love, and charity, the mild virtues of
the religion of Jesus, had given place to
strife, hatred, and malice.

During this period of anarchy and
confusion, so favorable to the designs of
an imposter, Mahomet first began to
broach his opinions. Though illiterate,
he was endowed with great natural parts
— subtle, enterprising, and ambitious.
His mind was enlarged by travelling ;
and, in his journies to the neighboring
nations, he became acquainted with the
different religious controversies which
then agitated the world. The infinite
altercations which these controversies
occasioned, and the hatred and rancor
with which the different opinions were
contested, no doubt gave him the first
idea of a reformation. In order, there-
fore, to conciliate all parties, and to make
his opinions acceptable to every descrip-
tion of religionists, he assumed, as the
foundation of his system, those points
concerning which most of them were
agreed; and in his other doctrines and
institutions, he addressed himself to the
passions and prejudices of his country-
men. The first grand article of his faith
is, the unity of the divine nature, which,
he maintained, had been violated by the
Christians in their doctrine of the Trinity;
and by the Jews, whom he accused in
the Koran of taking Ezra for the son of
God. The second article is, that he
himself, the last and greatest of the pro-
phets, was commissioned by Heaven, to
reduce religion to its original purity, as

it was professed by the ancient patriarchs
and prophets.

Whether Mahomet had long meditated
the scheme of introducing a new religion
among his countrymen, or whether it
had occurred to him in a fit of enthusiasm,
when advanced in life, cannot be ascer-
tained. He seems to have had, from
his youth, a propensity to religious con-
templation. For he was every year ac-
customed, in the month of Ramadan, to
retire to a cave near Mecca, and dwell
there in solitude. His retirement pre-
pared him for the austere duties of his
office. It was in this residence that he
first disclosed to Cadiga the secret of his
divine mission, repeating to her the lan-
guage of the angel Gabriel, who, by the
appointment of heaven, had constituted
him the apostle of God. The conversion
of his wife was succeeded by that of his
cousin and pupil, the illustrious A li, and
the faithful Zeid, (his servant and slave,
to whom he gave his freedom, a rule
which is strictly observed by his follow-
ers.) The next proselyte to Islam was
Abu Bekr, a man of considerable au-
thority among the Korcish, and whose
influence soon gained over five of the
principal inhabitants of Mecca, to enter
into the sentiments and views of the
prophet. Unwilling, as yet, to expose
his design to the prejudices and derision
of the public, three years were spent in
the painful exercise of private exhorta-
tion and reproof; and in that time, no
more than fourteen proselytes could be
numbered among his numerous friends
and relatives in the crowded city of
Mecca. Though few in number, he was
however induced, by the power and con-
sequence of his followers, to risk the
publication of his mission. For this pur-
pose he invited the descendants of Abdel
Motalleb to a simple entertainment, (a
lamb, it is said, and a bowl- of milk,) and
there disclosed to him his opinions and
intentions. "Kinsmen," said the pro-
phet, " I offer you, and I alone can offer
you, the most precious, of gifts — happi-
ness in this life, and in that which is to
come. God hath commanded me to call
you to his service. Who, therefore,
among you will assist me herein ? Who
will be my brother and my vizier ?" The

ARABIA.

assembly were struck dumb with aston-
ishment, and none deigned to give him
an answer, till the impatient Ali, a j'outh
of fourteen, rose up and declared, that he
was the man. "I, O prophet, will be
thy vizier. Whoever dares to oppose
thee, I will beat out his teeth, tear out
his eyes, cut ofl' his legs, and rip up his
belly." Mahomet embraced the intrepid
youth with every demonstration of aflec-
tion ; and exhorted all who were present
to respect and obey him as his deputy.
The astonishment of the company was
now changed into contempt at the pre-
sumption of the orphan son of Abdallah ;
and they ironically desired x\bu Taleb
to pay obedience to his own son. Not
discouraged by this repulse, Mahomet
zealously persevered in his intention.
In private and in public, he exhorted his
countrymen to forsake the idolatrous wor-
ship of their fathers. On solemn festivals,
and on the days of pilgrimage, he took
his station in the court of the Caaba, and
undauntedly preached the belief and wor-
ship of one God. He upbraided the pil-
grims with the perverseness of their
superstition, and reminded them of the
pimishment inflicted upon the idolatrous
tribes of Adand Thamud, whom the
wrath of the Almighty had swept from
the face of the earth.

In his private admonitions the prophet
was surrounded by his little congregation,
who revered him as the messenger of
heaven. To these he delivered in small
portions the revealed wisdom of the
Deity, and taught them to repeat the
confession of their faith. " There is but
one God, and Mahomet is his prophet."
After the appearance of the Koran, his
votaries daily increased, and his cause
was greatly strengthened by the conver-
sion of his uncle, the brave Hamza, and
the resolute Omar, whose fierce opposi-
tion had once endangered the life of the
prophet. The voice of reason and per-
suasion was, as yet, the only weapon
which Mahomet used in the propagation
of his religion ; and though he prosecuted
his design with the zeal and enthusiasm
of a fanatic, yet he still asserted the
rights of conscience, and deprecated
compulsion or religious violence. But,
under the pretence of religion, the flame
5

of a violent persecution was lighted up
by the Koreish against the followers of
Islam. Mahomet was unable to defend
himself against their united attacks, and
fled for refuge to Taycf, a city about 60
miles east of Mecca, where he expected
a cordial reception from his uncle, Al
Abbas. But the chiefs of the tribe of
Thakif, who inhabited that city, received
both him and his opinions with coldness
and contempt, which induced him to
shorten his exile. Upon his return to
Mecca, he again began to preach with
great vehemence against idolatry, parti-
cularly against the worship of Al Lata
and Al Uzza. His engaging person, and
commanding eloquence, attracted the at-
tention of the pilgrims; and many of them
heard and embraced the religion of Islam.

Mahomet had all along persuaded his
followers, that he received his commis-
sion and institutions in visions, through
the ministry of the angel Gabriel. But
now he determined to try the utmost
stretch of their faith, and by a stroke of
policy the most refined, to raise himself
for the future above the fear of detection.
He published an account of his night
journey to heaven, (Koran, p. 53,) a fic-
tion the most extravagant, but one of the
most artful of the prophet's contrivances.
In it, he pretends to have conversed face
to face with the Almighty; and to have re-
received a revelation of many hidden mys-
teries, full instructions respecting his fu-
ture conduct, and rules to he observed by
his followers. The gross and palpable ab-
surdities which this relation contains, had
nearly ruined the cause of Islam. But
Abu Bekr vouched for the veracity of the
prophet, and declared, that he firmly be-
lieved whatever Mahomet affirmed to be
true. This fidelity of Abu Bekr procured
for him the title of the Faithful Witness,
and was of such signal service to the
cause of the impostor, that, after the recep-
tion of such a monstrous falsehood, he
coidd make his disciples swallow what-
ever he pleased to offer them.

His opinions now began to spread
among the Arabian tribes; the spiritual
food of the Koran was diffused among
his votaries; and every one read with
rapture of the luxurious dainties, the
costly garments, and the black-eyed vir-

ARABIA.

gins of paradise, reserved for the eternal
enjoyment of the faithful believers. The
inhabitants of Medina received with joy
a disciple of Islam, and 75 proselytes,
comprehending some of the noblest citi-
zens, repaired to Mecca, to swear alle-
giance to their prophet. Mahomet held
an interview with them on mount Akaba.
They offered their protection to him and
his disciples, and entered into an alliance
offensive and defensive, in which they
pledged their fidelity to the prophet, and
swore enmity against every tribe who
should dare to oppose the establishment
of Islam. Mahomet, on his side, swore
to be faithful to them, and promised the
joys of paradise as a recompense for
shedding their blood in his defence.
Twelve of these he chose to be his
apostles in the city of Medina, whom he
detained awhile at Mecca, instructing
them in his new religion, and then sent
them back to propagate it among their
fellow-citizens. " Ye are invested," said
the prophet at their departure, "with the
same power and authority as the apostles
of Isa (Jesus) were, and I am the great
apostle of all my people." To this they
replied, " It is undoubtedly so." Ma-
homet having, by this league, provided
for his followers a retreat from the per-
secutions of their enemies, directed them
to repair to Medina, where he assured
them of safetjrand protection, and whither
he himself would soon repair. But the
Koreish observing, with jealousy, the
growing influence and authority of the
impostor were alarmed at this new alli-
ance. While it excited their envy it
inflamed their rage ; and they saw, in its
consequence, the prophet, in his retreat,
svirrounded by his followers, screened
from their wrath, and defying their ven-
geance. They, therefore, determined to
prevent his escape. A counsel was con-
vened by Abu Sophian, a zealous votary
of the idols, when, after various expe-
dients had been offered and rejected, they
at last came to the resolution of striking
at the root of this mischief, by putting
the impostor to death. Mahomet fled
with a friend towards Mecca, and took
refuge in the cave of Thur, about an
hour's journey from Mecca, where pro-
visions had been previously conveyed by

the servant of Abu Bekr. Here they lay
concealed for three days, to elude the
search of their enemies, from whom they
only escaped by a miracle. A party of
the Koreish had been detached to re-
connoitre the mouth of the cave. They
found it covered Avith a spider's web,
and, at the entrance, a pigeon's nest with
two eggs, from which they concluded
that the place was solitary and inviolate.
The appearance of Mahomet at Mecca
dispelled the doubts and fears which had
been entertained for his safety. His for-
tunate escape was ascribed to the inter-
posing care of the Almighty; and his
flight has fixed the memorable aera of the
Hegira. Five hundred believers advan-
ced to meet their apostle. He was
hailed with the acclamations of piety
and attachment; and conducted to his
habitation amidst the shouts and rejoic-
ings of his grateful and obedient disciples.
In three days he was joined by Ali, on
whom, for his eminent services, he be-
stowed his daughter Fatima in marriage,
whom he considered as the most perfect
of women. He himself, about this time,
married Agesha, the daughter of Abu
Bekr.

Medina was at that time distinguished
as the city of the book; and was inhabi-
ted chiefly by Jews and Christians, who
had introduced into it a taste for litera-
ture and science. But their continual
feuds greatly aided the designs of the
impostor. The Christians had embraced
the heresy of Arius, and finding the doc-
trines of Mahomet correspond in some
measure with their own, they gave a cor-
dial reception both to the prophet and
the religion of Islam. To this friendly
disposition may be attributed the great
kindness which Mahomet showed to this
sect in preference to the Jews, whom,
on account of their first opposition to his
religion, he persecuted with implacable
hatred as long as he lived.

In a short time the whole city of Me-
dina was at the disposal of the prophet,
and his first care was to unite his fol-
lowers in the bonds of love and devotion.
The Ansars and the Mohajerins, the
auxiliaries of Medina, and the fugitives
of Mecca, he coupled with the rights and
obligations of brethren ; and the princi-

ARABIA.

pie maxim of the fraternity was, " that
they should cordially love, and mutually
defend each other to the utmost of their
power." Mahomet now saw himself at
the head of a powerful band, who were
eager to sacrifice their lives in his ser-
vice ; and, with this favorable change of
circumstances, he determined to alter his
plan of operations. A revelation from
heaven was produced, to show that the
propagation of his religion now demanded
more vigorous measures, and that, as the
idolaters would not listen to his mild ad-
monitions and gentle reproofs, but despi-
sed and rejected his offers, he was
commanded to convert them by the
sword. He assumed the regal and sa-
cerdotal office, promulgated laws, and
decided the differences of his followers.
A mosque was dedicated to the service
of Islam, and, at the weekly assembly,
Mahomet himself mounted on a pulpit of
rough timber, inculcated upon his dis-
ciples the ties of piety and devotion.

Mahomet having established his au-
thority in Medina, began to act upon the
offensive, and to make reprisals upon the
Koreish. His whole soul was bent on
vengeance for the insults and injuries he
had suffered. A spy informed him, that
a wealthy caravan, of 1000 camels, had
entered Hedjas, on its way to Mecca, and
was protected by a guard of only 40 Ko-
reish, under the command of Abu Sophian.
Mahomet resolved to intercept it, but Abu
Sophian having received intelligence of
his intention, despatched a courier to
Mecca, to demand immediate reinforce-
ments, and Abie Jahl, with 850 foot and
100 horse, was commanded to hasten by
forced marches to his assistance. Three
hundred and thirteen believers waited
the commands of the prophet, and the
white banner was unfurled before them
by the brave Hamza. With these Ma-
homet advanced into the plain of Beder,
to wait the approach of the enemy. The
Koreish soon appearing on the heights,
the prophet consulted with his compan-
ions whether they shovdd attack the car-
avan or the reinforcements. The inter-
ested Moslems thirsted for the riches of
their enemies, but Mahomet sacrificed his
avarice to glory and revenge. Ali, Ham-
za and Obeidah, challenged to single

combat an equal number of the Koreish.
The challenge was accepted, and the
Moslems were victorious. Mahomet tak-
ing advantage of this lucky circumstance,
encouraged his followers, and, as he led
them on to the charge, he threw a hand-
ful of dust towards the enemy, crying,
" Let their faces be covered with confu-
sion." The Koreish gave way, and fled
before the bravery of the Moslems. Their
general, with seventy of their companions,
was left dead on the field of battle, and
an equal number of prisoners graced the
first triumph of the believers. During
the engagement Abu Sophian retreated
with the caravan, and conducted the
greatest part of it in safety to Mecca.
At this disappointment the Moslems were
greatly chagrined, but the spoils of the
field compensated in some degree for its
escape.

The victory of Beder was gained on the
2d year of the Hegira, 623, and was of
the utmost consequence to the cause of
Islam. The disproportion of numbers
established the confidence and unanimity
of its disciples. They were led to be-
lieve that 1 000 angels combatted on their
side ; and they formed the presumptuous
expectation that the assistance of heaven
would be for ever afterwards vouchsafed
to the faithful. The tenets and promises
of the Koran raised their courage and
confirmed their hopes. It inculcated the
doctrine of absolute predestination ; that
the hour of man's death is unalterably
fixed, and that the warrior is equally safe
amidst the darts of his enemies, and under
the roof of his friend. The joys of par-
adise were pointed out as the immediate
rewards of the faithful martyrs; and to
die in the propagation of the faith, was
looked upon as the most pleasing sacri-
fice in the sight of God. "A drop of
blood shed in the cause of religion, a
night spent in arms, is of more avail than
two months of fasting and prayer : Who-
ever falls in battle, his sins are forgiven ;
at the day of judgment his wounds shall
be resplendent as vermilion, and odori-
ferous as musk ; and the loss of his
limbs shall be supplied with the wings
of angels and cherubims." The Mos-
lems, encouraged by these imaginary
prospects, were neither dismayed by

ARABIA

numbers, nor appalled by dangers. They
advanced to battle with a fearless confi-
dence, and eagerly sought for death as
their greatest glory. The infidels trem-
bled at their approach, and shrunk from
an enemy that courted destruction.

Upon Mahomet's return to Medina, he
made several excursions into the neigh-
boring country, and carried on a kind of
predatory warfare with tribes of the de-
sert. The following year he expelled
the Jews from Medina, and divided their
goods among his disciples. The roving
Arabs, allured by the hope of plunder,
now flocked to his standard, and 1000
warriors drew their swords at the com-
mand of the apostle.

A truce of ten years was concluded,
in the 6th year of the Hegira, between
Mahomet and the Koreish. The Mos-
lems were admitted as pilgrims, to visit
the holy temple of Mecca. Three days
were allowed them to perform the so-
lemn ceremony. Seven times the apos-
tle, accompanied by his disciples, en-
compassed the Caaba ; seven times they
kissed the black stone ; and after a sa-
crifice of 70 camels, they shaved their
heads, according to custom and departed.
The idolaters were awed by the holy
fervor of the prophet ; and three of their
bravest warriors, Caled, Amru, and 0th-
man Ebn Telha, embraced the religion
of Islam.

Two years after, 629, Avas fought the
famous battle of Muta. Mahomet des-
patched an army of 3000 chosen war-
riors, to revenge the death of his ambas-
sador, who had been assassinated on his
way to Borra, by a governor of the em-
peror Heraclius. The command was
entrusted to the faithful Zeid ; and such
was the discipline and enthusiasm of the
believers, that the noblest chiefs served
without reluctance under the freedman
of the apostle. The emperor's forces,
consisting of Greeks and auxiliary Arabs,
amounted to 1 00,000 men. The two ar-
mies met at Muta. In the beginning of
the action the Moslems were repulsed,
and three generals successively fell in
the foremost ranks. Consternation seiz-
ing upon the believers, they turned their
backs and fled. But the undaunted Caled,
rallying the fugitives, returned with the

bravest of them to the charge. His sword
devoured the fainting Christians, whose
superior numbers fell before his fury.
The Moslems pressing on, broke through
their ranks, and routed them with great
slaughter. Caled returned with his vic-
torious army, laden with the spoils of the
Christian camp ; and as he approached
the prophet, he received the glorious title
of the Sword of God.

Soon after this period, ambassadors
poured in from all quarters of Arabia, to
make submission, in the name of their
diflerent tribes to the prophet of Islam.
Their number is compared, in the Ara-
bian proverb, to the dates that fall from
the maturity of a palm-tree ; and the
ninth of the Hegira is styled the year of
embassies. Mahomet received them with
great civility, and treated them with
kindness and affection. A contribution
of alms, for the service of religion, was
imposed upon every believer, and the
opprobrious name of tribute was abolish-
ed among the Moslems. The weaker
tribes were overawed by the power, and
feared the resentment of the prophet, and
in a short time the whole peninsula
yielded to the religion and sceptre of
Mahomet. The Christians alone were
exempted from conforming to the laws
of the Koran ; upon paying tribute, they
were granted the security of their per-
sons and property, and the free exercise
of their religion.

Mahomet's attention was now directed
to the hostile preparations of the Roman
emperor. War was solemnly proclaim-
ed against Heraclius, and an army of
30,000 men was marched to the borders
of Syria. The Moslems,in this expedition,
suffered all the extremities of hunger and
thirst, and were exposed to the scorch-
ing heats and pestilential winds of the
desert ; but the shady fountains and palm-
trees of Tabor, soon made them forget
the fatigues of their march. The Greeks
were terrified, and retired at their ap-
proach, and Mahomet declared himself
satisfied with the peaceful intentions of
the emperor of the East. Upon his re-
turn to Medina, he made great prepara-
tions for performing the pilgrimage of
valediction. On this occasion 114,000
believers composed the train of the apos-

ARABIA.

tie ; and the rites and ceremonies which
he observed in this his last and most so-
lemn pilgrimage, were intended as a
model for the celebration of this great
solemnity, to the Moslems of all suc-
ceeding ages. The prophet did not long
survive the journey. About two months
after his return, he was seized with vio-
lent pains, the effects, it is supposed, of
poison, which had been administered to
him at Chaibar, by the revenge of a Jew-
ish female. The poison had been com-
municated to a shoulder of mutton, of
which the prophet was particularly fond,
for the purpose, it is said, of trying his
prophetic knowledge ; and one of his
companions, Avho had eaten more hearti-
ly of it, expired on the spot. For three
years his health had visibly declined, and
he often complained of the bit he had
eaten at Chaibar. His pains were some-
times so excruciating, that he cried out
in agony, " Oh ! none of the prophets
ever suffered such torments as I now
feel ; but the greater my present affliction
is, the more glorious will be my future
reward !" Till the third day before his
death, he regularly officiated in the mosque
at public prayers ; and, when confined
to his apartment, he edified his friends
by religious instruction, and moderated
their lamentations by pointing out to
them his prospect of future glory. Worn
out at length with the violence of his
malady, he breathed his expiring accents
on the bosom of his beloved Ayesha, in
the 63d year of his age, and the eleventh
of the Hegira, 632.

The news of the prophet's death had
no sooner been made public, than his
habitation was surrounded by his faithful
adherents ; who, in the mingled accents
of confidence and grief, loudly exclaimed,
" How can our apostle be dead ? Our
intercessor, our mediator, has not en-
tirely left us ; he is taken up to heaven,
as was Isa ; therefore, he shall not be
buried." The stern Omar, with his
drawn sword, seconded their exclama-
tions. " The apostle of God is not dead,
but only gone for a season, as Moses, the
son of Amram, was gone from the people
of Israel for forty days, and then re-
turned to them again. But the calm ex-
postulations of the venerable Abu Bekr

appeased the clamorous sorrow of the
multitude, and restored reason to the
mournful disciples of Islam : " Do you
worship Mahomet or the God of Maho-
met ? If the latter, he is immortal, and
liveth forever ; but if the former, you are
in a manifest error, as he is certainly
dead." This assertion he confirmed by
several quotations from the Koran, which
satisfied Omar and calmed the tumult of
the people. After a violent contention,
Abu Bekr was appointed Caliph, or suc-
cessor, and the moderation which he
displayed, tended to reconcile the dis-
cordant opinions that prevailed.

A general revolt, with which Arabia
was threatened upon the death of Maho-
met, was soon quelled by the sanguinary
Caled, whose severity in this enterprise
drew down upon him the anger of Abu
Bekr. But the intercession of Omar,
and his eminent services in the field,
restored him again to the favor of his
master.

The new caliph, freed from the ap-
prehensions of domestic insurrection,
now directed his arms against the em-
peror Heraclius ; and seemed determined
to carry into execution the sanguinary
commands of his prophet. " To wage
eternal war against the enemies of their
faith." The Koran, the tribute, or the
sword, were the only alternatives held
out to the opposing nations ; and few
were able to resist the ferocious courage
and religious zeal of the faithful.

Abu Bekr had no sooner established
tranquillity in Arabia, than he despatched
circular letters to the IMahometan chiefs,
acquainting them, that he intended to
take Syria out of the hands of the infi-
dels ; at the same time, reminding them,
that to fight for the true religion was an
act of obedience to God. In a short
time, Medina was surrounded with the
tents of the believers, who were eager
to prove their attachment to their reli-
gion, and to their master. Abu Bekr,
having reviewed his troops, put up a fer-
vent prayer for their success ; and ac-
companied them a part of their journey
on foot. His instructions to the chiefs
of the expedition, at their departure, de-
serves to be recorded as an instance of
the humanity and prudence of the faith-

ARABIA.

fill friend of the prophet " You fight,"
said the venerable cahph, " in the ser-
vice of God, and for the propagation of
our faith. Treat your soldiers as breth-
ren, and encourage them to attack the
infidels with bravery and resolution ;
but stain not your victories with the
blood of the aged, of women, or of chil-
dren. Destroy not the fruits of the
earth, nor slay the cattle, unless what
is necessary for your own subsistence.
Let your oaths be sacred and inviolate,
llespect the persons of the servants of
God, and profane not their holy temples.
But cleave the skulls of those vile mem-
bers of the synagogue of Satan, who
shave their crowns, and give them no
quarter, unless they pay tribute, or em-
brace the profession of Islam."

Abu Bekr died the day his standard
was planted upon the walls of Damas-
cus, 634. He was succeeded by Omar,
who was no sooner seated on the throne,
than he prepared to prosecute with vigor
the war which his predecessor had so
successfully begun. Abu Obeidah was
appointed to command the Syrian army
instead of Caled, whose cruel and un-
tractable temper had rendered him ob-
noxious to the caliph. Caled submitted,
to his disgrace with dig-nity ; and swore,
that, though he had the utmost aversion
for Omar, yet he would obey him as the
lawful successor of the prophet. The
principal fortresses of Syria soon yielded
to the Moslem arms ; and the emperor
Heraclius trembled for the safety of his
eastern possessions. An army of 240,000
men was sent to stop the cruel ravages
of the ruthless Arabs, and to drive them
from his dominions. The Moslem army,
reinforced by 8000 believers, repaired to
Vermouth, to wait the approach of the
enemy ; and, Abu Obeidah, confiding in
Caled's tried courage and superior skill
in military affairs, resigned to him the
chief command. Three times the Mos-
lems were repulsed ; but, rallied by the
women, they again returned to the
charge. Caled flew along the lines,
encouraging his soldiers. He assured
them that paradise was under the shadow
of their swords, and that the devil and
hell-fire was behind them. The numbers
of the Christians withstood, for a time,

the obstinate fury of the Moslems ; but
were at length compelled to retreat with
precipitation, leaving 150,000 killed, and
40,000 prisoners. This bloody encoun-
ter determined the fate of Palestine and
Syria. Jerusalem opened her gates to
the conquerors ; and Aleppo, the strong-
est fortress in Syria, was forced, after an
obstinate resistance to receive a Moslem
garrison.

The fertile kingdom of Egypt now at-
tracted the avarice, or the ambition, of
Amru the lieutenant of Omar. With an
army of only 4000 Arabs, he left the
province of Palestine and hastened in
search of new conquests. After a siege
of 14 months, the standard of Omar was
raised on the walls of Alexandria, in the
20th year of the Hegira, 641. Amru
describes, in his letter to the caliph, the
riches and magnificence of the capital
of Egypt. " 1 have taken the great city
of the west. It contains 4000 palaces,
4000 baths, 400 royal circi, or places
of amusement ; 12,000 gardeners, and
40,000 tributary Jews." The request of
John, the grammarian, and the fanatical
answer of Omar, are well known in the
history of literature. Amru, at the desire
of John, begged of the caliph, the philo-
sophical books in the Alexandrian li-
brary, * as a present to the Greeks. " If
the books you mention," returned Omar,
" agree with the book of God, they are
superfluous ; if they are repugnant to the

*The royal library of Ale.xandria contained
700,000 volumes. About 400,000 of these
were kept in a splendid edifice belonging to the
academy and museum. The rest amounting to
nearly 300,000 volumes were in the Serapion,
the temple of Jupiter Serapis. The former were
burned during the siege of Alexandria by Julius
Caesar, but were afterwards replaced by the li-
brary of Pergamus, which Antony presented to
Cleopatra. The latter in the Serapion, were
preserved to the time of Theodosius the Great.
He caused all the heathen temples throughout
the Roman empire to be destroyed, — and even
the splendid temple of Jupiter Serapis was not
spared. A crowd of fanatic Christians, headed
by their archbishop, Theodosius, stormed and de-
stroyed this temple in 391. At that time the
library in it, was partly burned, partly dispersed ;
and the historian Orosius, towards the close of
the 4th century, saw only the empty shelves.
Christian barbarians, and not x\rabs as is usually
asserted, were the cause of this irreparable loss to
science. Encyclopccdia Americanus.

ARABIA.

doctrines and tenets of that book, they
are pernicious, and ought to be destroy-
ed." The sentence was rigorously ex-
ecuted, and these precious volumes sup-
plied the 4000 baths of the city with
fuel for six months. The conquest of
Egypt proved of great advantage to the
Moslems. Independent of the 4,300,000
pieces of gold, which the tributaries
annually brought into the treasury of the
caliph, the abundant fertility of this coun-
try supplied the dearths of Arabia ; and
a train of camels, laden with corn and
provisions, covered the long road from
Memphis to Medina.

The arms of Omar were no less suc-
cessful in Persia than in Egypt. The
Persians made a final stand, for their re-
ligion and liberties, at Nenavend ; and
this decisive battle, which ended in their
defeat, is styled b)?^ the Arabs, the victory
of victories. Armenia and Mesopotamia
had also yielded to the authority of the
caliph. But while his arms were subju-
gating the finest provinces of the East,
Omar fell by the hand of an assassin,
when performing his morning devotions
in the mosque at Medina

From the conquest of Egypt the con-
tinent of Africa opened a wide field for
the religion and courage of the Moslems.
An army of 40,000 believers was en-
trusted to Abdallah, by Othman the suc-
cessor of Omar, to penetrate into that
country, and to receive the conversion or
the tribute of its natives. The deserts
of Barca retarded not the march of their
patient and hardy camels. The fortifi-
cations of Tripoli and Sufetula fell be-
fore the persevering bravery of the Arabs ;
and the barbarians on all sides implored
mercy and protection of the conquerors.
Abdallah, however, was prevented from
prosecuting his conquests. The pro-
gress of an epidemical disease thinned
his army, and compelled him to return,
after a successful campaign of 15 months,
to the confines of Egypt.

Discontent now began to show itself
in the empire ; and the feeble adminis-
tration of Othman was unable to curb the
haughty spirits of the Moslem chiefs, who
were elated with power and flushed with
victory He was killed in an insurrec-
tion in 665.

From a life of retirement and prayer, Ali
was invited, by the voice of the people,
to the throne of Arabia. He declined,
however, a sceptre which had been so
long, and so imjustly withheld from him,
and declared, that he had now rather
obey than command. But the good of
his country overcame his reluctance ;
and a tumultuous soldiery compelled him
to accept of a throne and a mighty em-
pire. His inauguration was attended by
the Arabian chiefs, many of whom con-
cealed their disaffection under the mask
of a ready obedience. They had tasted
the sweets of independence and revenge ;
and as the accession of Ali had blasted
their schemes and expectations, they
offered him the fawning tribute of their
lips, while their hearts were bent on his
destruction. The widow of the prophet
bore an implacable hatred against the
husband and the family of Fatima. She
provoked the Meccans to revenge the
murder of the caliph, and represented
the innocent Ali as an assassin and an
usurper. Telha Ebn Obeid Allah, and
Zobier Ebn Al Awam, two of her ac-
complices in that horrid transaction, sup-
ported her in her iniquitous designs.
Escaping from Mecca, they planted their
standard of rebellion in the province of
Assyria ; and the artful Ayesha pretend-
ed that her only object was to revenge
the death of Othman. Ali marched a
loyal band of 20,000 Arabs to Bassora,
which had submitted to the regicides.
On his march he Avas joined by 800 va-
liant Cufans, to whom he expressed his
unwillingness to shed the blood of the
Moslems. " Ye men of Cufa, who have
always distingiiished yourselves by your
bravery, and have dispersed the forces of
the kings of Persia, I have desired your
interposition, to bring about a reconcilia-
tion with my brethren of Bassora. No-
thing shall be wanting on my part as 1
shall always prefer the sweets of peace,
to the miseries and desolations of war."
Finding, however, that all attempts at an
accommodation were fruitless, he left the
dispute to the decision of the sword ; and
charged Ayesha and her associates with
the Moslem blood which should be shed
in that Avar. Ali encountered the rebel
army under the walls of Bassora. Aye-

ARABIA,

,_ T]

^C/'I^^-^^^^''Wr.^^^^^^^^^

^M^^^^^^^™r — -jz!ir^^ ~

TAe ca.li'ph. AH engaging the SyriuTis.

sha took her station in the hottest of the
fight. Seventy men of the Banu Daba,
who held the bridle of her camel, were
successively slain ; and the litter in
which she sat was so stuck with javelins
and arrows, as to resemble the quills of
a porcupine. After an obstinate resist-
ance, the rebels were completely defeat-
ed ; Telha, and Zobeir fell in the en-
gagement, and Aye sha was taken priso-
ner. All then marched his victorious
troops against a more powerful rival,
Moawiyah, the prefect of Syria, who,
from a pretended declaration of 0th-
man's in his favor, had assumed the
thle of caliph. Moawiyah was the son
of Abu Sophian, and chief of the family
of Ommiyah, of whom the late caliph
was also a descendant. Sixty thousand
Syrians rallied under the bloody shirt of
his murdered kinsman ; and his cause
was strengthened by the attachment of
Amru, the conqueror of Egypt, to whom,
for his services, he promised the govern-
ment of that country. The rival caliphs
met on the plains of Seffien. Three
months were spent in fruitless negotia-
tions, and bloody skirmishes, in which
twenty-six of the heroes of Beder were

numbered among the slain. All at last
proposed to decide their claim to the ca-
liphate, and to spare the blood of his
countrymen, by single combat. Amru
seconded the proposal, and urged his
colleague to accept the challenge ; but
the trembling Moawiah refused to stake
his life on such unequal odds, and shrunk
from the invincible arm of his generous
rival. Upon this refusal a general action
ensued. The ponderous sword of All
carried destruction and dismay through
the ranks of the Syrians. Every time
he smote a rebel, he shouted Allah Ac-
bar, " God is victorious ;" and four hun-
dred times the hero was heard to repeat,
during the engagement, that dreadful ex-
clamation. The Syi-ians were driven
back upon their camp ; and Moawiyah
meditated a shameful flight, when a
stratagem of Amru saved his army from
defeat, and checked the fury of the con-
querors. Amru ordered his soldiers to
advance, with the Koran fixed upon the
points of their lances, and to exclaim,
" This is the book of God between us
and you, which ought to decide all differ-
ences, and which forbids the effusion of
Moslem blood. The troops of Ali Avere

ARABIA,

awed by the solemn appeal. They threw
down their arms ; and the Charejites, or
enthusiasts, threatened to abandon him,
unless he immediately sounded a retreat.
Thus, in the moment of victory, was the
prize snatched from the grasp of Ali, by
an insidious adversary ; and he himself
compelled, by the fanaticism of his troops,
to submit to a disgraceful truce. Over-
come with sorrow and indignation, he
retired to Cufa ; and those very soldiers
who betrayed him at Seffein, deserted his
standard, and chose a leader of their
own. While Ali was reducing these re-
bels to obedience, his rival had subdued
Egypt, and reduced Persia, while his
forces had penetrated into the province
of Hedjas, and filled the holy city with
terror and alarm.

After the death of Ali, who was mor-
tally wounded by an assassin, Hassan
succeeded to the throne of Medina. He
inherited the piety, but not the martial
genius, of his father ; and his excessive
mildness of disposition rendered him in-
caple of disputing the empire with the
prince of Damascus. Having reigned
six months, he resigned the government
to Moawiyah.

Moawiyah being now securely seated
upon the throne of Arabia, transferred
the seat of empire from Medina to Da-
mascus, whither he wished also to con-
vey the pulpit and walking-stick of the
prophet. But an eclipse of the sun
happening just as they were laying their
hands upon these sacred relics, the trem-
bling Moslems, dreading the divine dis-
pleasure, refused to obey the sacrilegious
command of their sovereign.

The caliph having reduced the restless
Charejites, sent a powerful army under
his son Yezid, to besiege the capital of
the Roman empire. The troops were
animated by the tradition of their pro-
phet, "That the sins of the first army
which should take the city of Caesar
were forgiven." They braved the fa-
tigues and dangers of a long and labori-
ous march ; yet, notwithstanding their
zeal, they returned to Syria, without per-
forming any services of importance. The
consequences of this expedition were
most disgracefid to the Moslems. A
truce of thirty years was concluded with
6

the emperor ; in which the Arabs were
allowed to retain the provinces they had
seized, upon paying an annual tribute of
3000 pounds weight of gold, fifty slaves,
and as many choice horses. Their arms,
however, were more successful in Tar-
tary and Africa.

Saad, the governor of Chorasan, cross-
ed the Amu, (the Oxus of the ancients,)
and took Samarcand, the capital of the
(Jsbeck Tartars.

With 10,000 Arabs, Akbar over-ran
Numidia, and founded the city of Cai-
roan, which, in after ages, became the
seat of learning and of empire. He
fearlessly traversed the deserts of Mau-
ritania, and penetrated to the shores of
the Atlantic ocean. The intrepid war-
rior plunged his horse into the tide, and
lamented, like the son of Philip, the
boundary of his conquests. " Great
God, were I not stopped by this sea, I
would still go on to the unknown king-
doms of the west, preaching the unity
of thy holy name, and extirpating the
rebellious nations who refuse to worship
thee." The valor of Akbar was unable
to preserve the fruits of his triumphs. A
general revolt exposed him to the fury
of the faithless Africans. The victori-
ous Moslems Avere surrounded and slain,
and Akbar fell, fighting valiantly, amidst
the dead bodies of his followers. His
successor, Zuheir, avenged the death of
his countrymen, but was also overthrown
by the Greeks before the walls of Car-
thage.

After this period the empire was torn
by intestine quarrels, and the blood and
treasures of the country were wasted,
to minister to the ambition and jealous-
ies of its rulers. A long and bloody
warfare was maintained by the contend-
ing caliphs ; and it was not till the 73d
year of the Hegira, 692, when Abdal-
malek found himself without a competi-
tor, that internal peace was restored to
the distracted empire. The Moslem
arms, which had long been stained with
the blood of their countrymen, were now
directed to distant conquests. The
southern shores of the Mediterranean
were still in possession of the Christ-
ians, and the blood of Akbar and Zuheir
called aloud for vengeance. An army

ARABIA.

of 40,000 Arabs was entrusted to Has-
san, the governor of Egypt. The capi-
tal of Africa was alternately won and
lost by the Moslems, till the battle of
Utica was decided in favor of Hassan,
when Carthage was demolished and de-
livered to the flames. The barbarous
Moors of the interior provinces resist-
ed for a time the power and the religion
of the Arabs. Under their queen, Cahi-
na, they issued from their savage de-
serts, and Hassan Avas compelled to re-
tire from certain defeat, to the confines
of Egypt. After an absence of five
years, he returned with reinforcements
to the reconquest of Numidia. The
wandering Moors were dispersed, and
their queen Cahina slain in the first en-
gagement. But while the Moslems were
thus ravaging Africa, the Caliph Abdal-
malek died at Damascus in the 85th year
of the Hegira, 704. He left an exten-
sive empire to his son Al Walid, who
prosecuted with vigor the ambitious de-
signs of his father. His troops penetra-
ted on the east to the banks of the Gan-
ges, and on the west to the pillars of
Hercules. His general, Musa, having
finally conquered and tranquillized the
Africans, who submitted to the religion
and the language of the Koran, was
commanded to annex to the throne of
the caliph the unknown kingdoms of the
west. But his career was stopt by the
walls of Ceuta. Count Julian, the go-
vernor, bravely repelled his assaults,
and the Saracen was forced to retire in
perplexity and disgrace. Internal dis-
cord, however, soon relieved him from
his embarassment, and offered Spain as
an easy conquest to his arms. Impelled
by private revenge, Count Julian betray-
ed his trust, and introduced the Saracens
into the heart of his country. Tarik,
the lieutenant of Musa, encountered the
king of the Goths on the plains of Xeres.
This unworthy successor of Alaric was
lolling in gold and purple, on a car of
ivory, drawn by two white mules. He
encouraged his troops by representing
to them the superiority of their num-
bers, and the bravery of their ancestors,
who overturned the Roman empire. The
Saracens, on the other hand, were re-
minded of their past conquests, and of

the impossibility of their escaping by
flight. " Follow your general," cried
Tarik, " I am determined either to lose
my life, or to trample on the prostrate
king of the Romans." The Spaniards
were scattered and destroyed. Their
king, Roderigo, in his flight, perished in
the waters of the Guadalquiver, " the
deserved fate of those kings," says an
Arab historian, " who withdraw them-
selves from the field of battle." Tarik
advanced to the reduction of Toledo ;
over-ran with his victorious troops the
kingdoms of Castile and Leon, passed
the mountains of Asturias, and was stopt
only by the waves of the Bay of Biscay.
Musa having received intelligence of
the good fortune of his lieutenant, re-
pined at his success, and hastened, with
10,000 Arabs, and 8000 African Mos-
lems, to share the laurels and riches of
the brave Tarik. He reduced the strong
fortifications of Seville and Merida ;
proceeded along the northern shores of
the Mediterranean to the capitals of Ca-
talonia and Arragon, and subjected the
whole kingdom to conversion or tribute.
Still unsated with conquest, he was pre-
paring a mighty armament to cross the
Pyrenees, and to plant the standard of
Mahomet on the walls of the ancient
capital of the Romans, when the com-
mand of his sovereign recalled him to
Damascus, to answer the secret accusa-
tions of his enemies. While on his
journey home, Soliman, upon the death
of his brother Al Walid, had ascended
the Moslem throne. Musa was recei-
ved with coldness. His services were
forgotten. His real or pretended crimes
were punished with poverty and exile,
and his immense wealth, the plunder of
the Christian temples, swelled the trea-
sures of the caliph. Soliman, and also'
his successor Omar, were poisoned at
the instigation of his brother Yezid, the
governor of Persia, who assumed the
sceptre of Arabia, but enjoyed his ill-ac-
quired dignity only four years. He was
succeeded by his brother Hashem in the
105th year of the Hegira, 724. The
Saracens, who, in the former reign, had
penetrated into Gascony, and taken the
city of Thoulouse, now extended their
ravages as far as Tours, and rendered

ARABIA.

that city a scene of blood and confusion,
reducing to ashes its churches and pa-
laces, and laying waste the surrounding
country with fire and sword. Charles
Martel, the general of the Franks, hear-
ing of these unprovoked devastations,
marched against them with a powerful
army, determined to punish the haughty
marauders. After an obstinate engage-
ment of seven days, he routed them
with dreadful slaughter ; stripped them
of their baggage and plunder, and com-
pelled them to retire to the Spanish
frontiers, with the loss of their general,
and 375,000 men. The caliph's arms,
however, were more successful in the
east. The Turks were driven from
Aderhijan and Armenia, and confined
within the Caspian gates.

The reigns of the sensual and cruel
Al Walid II, of his murderer Yezid,
and of the imbecile Ibrahim, afford no
events worthy of record. The last of
these was deposed, and succeeded by
Merwaii, the governor of Mesopotamia,
whose usurpation occasioned new com-
motions in the empire. The inhabitants
of Hems and Damascus refused to ac-
knowledge his authority, and Soliman
Ebn Hesham was proclaimed caliph by
the people of Bassora. These were no
sooner reduced to obedience, than the
Cufans declared their attachment to the
house of Al Abbas, the uncle of the pro-
phet, and swore allegiance to Al Safah,
as the representative of that family.
The new caliph immediately dispatched,
against Merwan, his uncle Abdallah,
who, coming up with him near Tubar,
completely defeated him. Merwan, fly-
ing into Egypt, was there slain, which
entirely abolished the Ommiyan dynasty
in Arabia.

Al Saffah being now sole master of
the Moslem throne, resolved to extin-
guish the partizans of the rival house of
Ommiyah, who still made considerable
resistance both during this and the suc-
ceeding reign, until Abdalrahman, after
the entire ruin of his family in Asia, fled
into Spain ; and being there acknow-
ledged as the lawful commander of the
faithful, founded an independent mo-
narchy, which the eastern caliphs were
never able to overthrow.

Al Saffah died of the small-pox, in
the 33d year of his age, and the 136th
of the Hegira, 754. He was succeeded
by his brother Al Mansor, — a name
which every lover of literature will men-
tion with gratitude and respect. To
him Europe is indebted for the first
dawnings of science, which broke upon
the darkness of the age, and for the pre-
servation of many valuable works of an-
tiquity. In the fourth year of his reign,
the empire was threatened with new
commotions. He was so disgusted that
he determined to remove the seat of em-
pire from Damascus. He built the city
of Bagdad upon the banks of the Tigris,
764, whither he transferred his court,
and this city continued to be the resi-
dence of the Mahometan caliphs, till its
destruction by Holagou, grand-son of
Zinghis Khan, 1258.

The most brilliant era of Arabian mag-
nificence, was the reign of Haroun-Al-
Raschid who ascended the throne in 786,
and rendered Bagdad illustrious for the
arts and sciences, to which he gave eve-
ry encouragement. After his death, in
809, the Arabian empire became a prey
to intestine dissensions. Many chiefs
of the interior provinces rose in arms to
assert their independence, and withdrew
themselves from the civil jurisdiction of
the caliph, respecting him only as the
head of their religion ; and even during
the reign of Al Mansor, the Arabs of Al
Thalabiya and Maad made several pre-
datory irruptions into Assyria and Meso-
potamia.

In the 278th year of the Hegira, the
Karmatians, a new sect of religionists,
appeared in Arabia. They bore an in-
veterate malice against the Mahometans,
and occasioned great disturbance in the
empire. They took Bassora and Ahraat,
committed dreadful devastations and
outrages in Arabia and Syria, and even
carried their ravages to the walls of Da-
mascus. During half a century this sect
continued their depredations, increasing
in power and numbers, till at length they
established a considerable principality
in the heart of Arabia, to the chiefs of
which the caliphs were obliged to pay
an annual tribute, that the pilgrimage to
Mecca might be regularly performed.

ARABIA,

After the abolition of the caliphate by
the Tartars, 1258, the Arabs shook off
all subjection to its destroyers, and resu-
med their original government of inde-
pendent chiefs.

In the beginning of the 16th century,
the Turks invaded this peninsula, and
seized all the considerable towns upon
the Arabic gulf. Some years after, they
subdued Yemen, penetrated into the
highland districts, and rendered almost
the whole of Arabia a province of the
Ottoman empire. This conquest, the
Turks maintained for more than a cen-
tury. They were, however, continually
harassed by the independent princes and
Shiecks of the mountains, who, under
Khassem Abu Mahomed, at last compel-
led them to evacuate Yemen, and retire
from all the fortresses on the Red Sea.
The services of Khassem obtained for
him the dignity of a sovereign prince.
He assumed the title of Sejid, and
reigned nine years over the kingdom of
Yemen. His son Metwokkel Allah,
upon his accession to the throne, took
the title of Imam, or " prince of the
faithful," which still continues to distin-
guish the monarchs of Sana. This
prince is revered by the Arabs as a saint,
an honor which he acquired by his fru-
gality and temperance. So sparing was
he of the public revenue, that he refused
to be supported at the expense of his
subjects, and earned his livelihood by
his own labor, as a maker of caps. He
lived to promote the happiness of his
people, not to dissipate their substance
in useless projects of ambition or mag-
nificence. The petty quarrels in which
his successors were engaged with the
neighboring chiefs, and their disputes
about the succession to the throne, de-
serve not to be commemorated in histo-
ry. The Arabs still remain an indepen-
dent nation; and, in spite of the efforts
of the Greeks, Romans, Persians, and
Turks, they have maintained their cus-
toms and manners pure and inviolable
from the remotest ages.

About the middle of the eighteenth
century, the Wahabees, a new sect made
their appearance in Arabia. The found-
er of this sect was Sheik Mohammed,
son of Abdel Wahab. He was bora in

1729, in Ajen in the district of Al Ared.
After studying the sciences in Arabia,
he travelled through Persia, and resided
for some time at Bassora, Bagdad, and
Damascus. Having returned to his na-
tive country, he proclaimed himself the
reformer of its religion. He taught at
first in Ajen, and soon made proselytes
of the inhabitants of Al Ared. Claiming
divine inspiration, he taught the exist-
ence of one God, the Author of the
world, the Rewarder of the good, and
the Punisher of the had; — but he re-
jected all the stories contained in the
Koran, especially those concerning Ma-
homet, whom he considered merely a
man beloved of God, but branded the
worship of him as a crime directly op-
posed to the true adoration of the divini-
ty. He reprobated the worship of saints,
the use of ardent spirits, and intoxica-
ting drugs ; and prohibited the wealth
and splendor which are found in the
mosques of the Mahometans. All who
should oppose this new doctrine were
to be destroyed by fire and sword.

Mohammed first converted to his new
doctrines, Ebn-Sehud, sovereign of De-
rayeh and Lahsa, whom he proclaimed
prince [emir) and protector of this new
sect, and at the same time declared him-
self high priest, — thus separating the
spiritual and secular authorities, which
were afterwards hereditary in the fami-
lies of Ebn-Sehud and Sheik Moham-
med. The principal seat of the Waha-
bees was the city of Derayeh, in the
province of Nedsjed and Jamama, 250
miles west of Bassora. As the votaries
of the new faith, were all inspired with
the highest enthusiasm, prepared for all
trials, indefatigable, brave, cruel,* their
dominion spread with wonderful rapidi-
ty, and in a short time embraced twenty-
six Arab tribes, all filled with hatred of
Mahometanism, and taught to delight in
plundering the treasures of the mosques.
Abd-Elaziz, Sehud's son and successor,
could bring into the field 120,000 ca-
valry.

The disorders which prevailed in all
parts of the dominions of the Porte, in-

* The use of tobacco and coffee, as well as
silk clothing, was forbidden bv their law. Their
watchword was conversion or death.

ASSYRIA.

eluding the Arabian countries under its
protection, was especially favorable to
the enterprises of the Wahabees, who
from their seat between the Persian gulf
and the Red sea, had reached several
parts of Asiatic Turkey, before the
slightest measures were taken to put
a stop to their devastations and con-
versions. In 1801, the pacha of Bag-
dad sent an army against them, but
by large presents the Wahabees bribed
the generals of it to retreat, and then
took and destroyed the town of Iman
Hussein, and after acquiring much plun-
der, fled back to their deserts. On this
occasion, they pillaged the mosque of
Ali, which was highly venerated by the
Persians. Soon after they took the holy
city of Mecca, without resistance, mur-
dered many sheiks and Mohammedans,
destroyed all the sacred monuments, and
carried oft' immense treasures. Sehud
next attempted in vain the conquest of
Jidda and Medina, after which he re-
turned to Derayeh, where, meanwhile
his father had been murdered in 1803 by
a Persian. Sehud was now prince of
the Wahabees, and Hussein the blind,
high priest.

In 1806, the Wahabees appeared more
numerous than ever. They plundered
the caravans of pilgrims going to the
holy sepulchre, — got possession of the
Mahmel* — and conquered Mecca, Medi-
na, and even Jidda, marking their path
by bloodshed and conversions. The

* Mahmel, a splendid box in which the Grand
Seignior sends every year the presents destined
for the tomb of Mahomet.

fear of the Wahabees spread throughout
the East. Several expeditions were un-
dertaken against them by the Turks.
The pacha of Acre defeated Jussuff" Pa-
cha of Bagdad, and in 1811, Mohammed
Ali, viceroy of Egypt made preparation
for their entire annihilation. He con-
quered Yamba and Nahala, and as the
fruits of three victories, sent three sacks
of Wahabees' ears to Constantinople.
Mecca and Medina were soon afterward
taken. The solemn delivery of the keys
of these regained cities, was celebrated
with great rejoicing throughout the Otto-
man empire. In 1814, Sehudll, their
sovereign died, and quarrels arose on
the subject of succession, and they suf-
fered several defeats. Mohammed Ali,
in the beginning of 1815, obtained a de-
cisive victory over them at Bassila, near
the city of Tarabe. Ibraim, his son,
finally succeeded in 1818, in inflicting a
total defeat on the Wahabees under their
sovereign Abdallah Ben Sund, and in
blocking them up in their fortified camp
four days' march from their capital De-
rayeh. The camp was stormed, 80 pieces
of artillery taken, and 20,000 soldiers
put to death, and Abdallah himself made
prisoner. He was sent to Constantino-
ple in chains, and on the 17th Dec. 1818,
was beheaded with his fellow prisoners.
Ibraim soon after destroyed their princi-
pal seat; and the inhabitants after the
loss of their property were dispersed.
Detached bands of Wahabees are still
said to wander through the desert, and
according to late accounts the sect is very
numerous in Arabia.

ASSYRIA,

Assyria was a kingdom in Asia that
derived its name from Ashur, the second
son of Shem, and the grandson of Noah,
who, either in obedience to the command,
or dreading the tyranny of Nimrov, mi-
grated from the land of Shinar, and took
possession of that region.

Amidst the variety of opinions which
have been embraced, it is impossible to
fix the precise period when the migra-
tion of Ashur took place. We cannot,

however, be far from the truth, if we
make that event cotemporary with the
dispersion of Babel, 2247 years before
Christ, or at least, a few years after-
wards. Short time however, was Ashur
permitted to enjoy his new possessions.
The ambition of Nimrod, a man who, by
exercising the skill and courage of his
followers against the beasts of the field,
trained them to tyrannize over their
brethren, in all probability excited him

ASSYRIA.

to subjugate the colony of Ashur ; and
his prudence and valor, seconded by the
arms of his daring veterans, enabled him
to accomplish his design. The sacred
historian informs us, that after he had
founded his kingdom at Babylon, he con-
ducted his forces from that land into As-
syria, and built Nineveh, to be the capital
of that country. It is probable, however,
that he did not retain the Assyrian
sceptre in his own hand, but contenting
himself with his Babylonian dominions,
he delivered the kingdom into the hands
of his son Ninus, in honor of whom the
city was built, and from whose name it
was called. Ninus seems to have in-
herited the ambition and martial talents
of his father. Not satisfied with the
kingdom which he had thus received, he
is said to have entered into a confederacy
with Ariacus, who then governed Arabia,
and, at the head of their united forces,
overran the kingdom of Babylon ; carried
into captivity its monarch, whom, with
his children, he afterwards slew ; in-
vaded Armenia, whose king Barzanes,
by immense presents and an inglorious
submission, was allowed to retain the
nominal sovereignty of his country ; di-
rected his ambition against Pharnus,
king of Media, whom at the head of a
mighty army, he conquered, and after-
wards, with his wife and seven children,
crucified ; and having filled the vacant
throne with one of his dependents, ex-
tended his conquests over the other pro-
vinces of Asia, all which, except Bactria
and India, he subdued during seventeen
years of uninterrupted warfare. Return-
ing home, he is said to have enlarged
and adorned Nineveh with many mag-
nificent buildings ; but still indignant at
the Bactrians, who had formerly resisted
his arms, at the head of 1,700,000 foot,
2 1 0,000 horse, and 10,600 armed chariots,
he overran all the country, in which,
however, he once suffered a severe de-
feat by the skill and valor of Oxyartes
their king, and laid siege to Bactria, the
capital of the kingdom. His power,
perhaps, would have been unable to con-
quer the strong fortifications of the city,
and the warlike virtue of its garrison,
had not his courage been excited by the
beauty, and his power directed by the

wisdom of Semiramis. This lady, of
whose birth and education many fabulous
stories are narrated, was born at Ascalon,
and being married to Menon, one of the
king's officers, she accompanied her hus-
band in this expedition, and her martial
genius overcame the diffidence of her
own sex and the contempt of ours.
By her direction the siege was con-
ducted, the citadel was stormed, and the
Bactrians conquered. The heart and
the hand of the king were the reward of
her conduct, after Menon, stung with
jealousy, and dreading the power of his
rival, had fallen by his own hand. Re-
turning to his capital, Ninus had a son
by Semiramis, called Ninyas, whom, at
his death, which happened soon after, he
left to the guardianship of his mother.

Semiramis appointed regent, employed
the first period of her administration in
adding to the splendor of her capital.
Lakes were dug, palaces were built, tem-
ples were consecrated, and walls were
raised ; and the city seemed to owe its
magnificence to her alone. When she
had finished these monuments of her
power and grandeur, and visited the pro-
vinces of her empire, she formed the de-
sign of signalizing her reign by martial
achievements. For this purpose she
pushed her conquests over a great part
of Ethiopia ; and not satisfied with that
success, she collected all the forces of
her empire at Bactria, and, at the head
of a mighty army, directed her march to
India. As the strength of Stabrobates,
king of India, consisted chiefly in the
number of his elephants, she endeavored
to supply the want of them by camels,
artfully dressed to resemble them in form
and magnitude, and confiding in her
stratagem and power, she invaded the
territories of her enemies. Her success
at first equalled her expectations ; her
fleet triumphed over that of her enemies,
in an obstinate and bloody battle upon
the Indus. Her army gained equal glory,
by taking the cities and islands of that
river, making 100,000 captives, and dri-
ving before her the army of Stabrobates.
His flight, however, was more the effect
of policy than fear. He thus decoyed
Semiramis over the river, and led her
into the heart of his kingdom. No sooner

ASSYRIA,

was the ground proper for his designs,
than Stabrobates commanded his army
to stop, and immediately attacked the
front of his enemies. His cavalry, how-
ever, were at first thrown into disorder by
the unexpected appearance of the coun-
terfeit elephants, which were placed in
front of the Assyrians, and communi-
cating their fears to the rest of the army,
a general rout would have been the con-
sequence, had not Stabrobates, with sin-
gular intrepidity, burst upon the left wing
of his enemies, where Semiramis com-
manded in person, and, after wounding
her with his own hand, forced her to fly,
and to lament the destruction of her
mighty army. Returning home in dis-
grace, a conspiracy was formed against
her by her own son ; but when she was
upon the point of falling a sacrifice, either
to his ambition or justice, she discovered
the plot, and proved that she was not un-
worthy of the throne, by forgiving her
son, and resigning into his hands, after a
reign of forty years, that sceptre which
he coveted.

Ninyas inherited the dominions, but not
the martial virtues of his parents. Averse
to war, he wasted his time in indolence
and pleasure, and shutting himself up in
his palace with eunuchs and concubines,
he was equally negligent of his people's
happiness and his own fame. But con-
vinced that effeminate pleasures could
only be enjoyed in peace, and that peace
could only be secured by a readiness for
war, he raised an army from all the pro-
vinces of his empire, which being trained
under proper officers, continued at Nine-
veh and the adjacent country during a
year, at the expiration of which they re-
turned home, and their place was sup-
plied by a similar conscription. As he
lived without glory, it is probable he died
without being lamented ; but his example
seems to have had powerful influence
over his successors, who, for thirty gen-
erations, slumbered in luxury, and did
not leave behind them the remembrance
of one action to transmit their names to
posterity.

At the end of this inglorious period,
which continued at least 1200 years, Sar-
danapalus assumed the government ; but
not to vindicate the honor of his country.

nor confiiTn the basis of his throne. When
we are told that he laid aside the dress
appropriated to his sex, we may easily
believe that he did not retain one virtuous
or manly principle. Imitating the voice
and manners of the most abandoned of
women, he sunk into the lowest depth of
debauchery, and offered every outrage to
reason and nature. The moment a king
descends from the dignity of his cha-
racter, he is ready to be tumbled from
the dignity of his throne. Arbaces, a
man brave, just and prudent, was gov-
ernor of Media, and, indignant that a pow-
erful kingdom should be subject to the
will of such a monster as Sardanapalus,
formed the design of freeing his country
from inglorious servitude. Belesis, like-
wise, viceroy of Babylon, whose coim-
sels, from his exercising the office of
priest and astrologer, were supported by
the authority of heaven, perceiving a spi-
rit of ambition in Arbaces, confirmed his
resolution, and assured him, that, by the
appointment of the gods, he was to
ascend the throne. In this manner a
conspiracy was formed and the standard
of rebellion was raised. Sardanapalus,
roused by danger, called forth the latent
energies of his mind, and drawing to-
gether liis forces, he triumphed over the
conspirators in three pitched battles.
Belesis, brave, sanguine and persevering,
found his influence scarcely sufficient to
confirm the wavering mind of Arbaces.
His exhortations were, however, once
more listened to, and the augmentation
which the rebel army received, in a few
days, of the whole power of the Bactrians,
realized the hopes which he had raised.
Twice was the army of Sardanapalus
routed : He, with the remainder, was
besieged in Nineveh ; and, at the end
of two years, the Tigris, by throwing
down twenty stadia (2^ miles) of the wall,
fulfilled an ancient prophecy, that the
city should never be taken till the river
became its enemy. This event extin-
guished the last hope which Sardanap-
alus had formed ; retiring into the heart
of his palace, where he had collected
his treasures, his eunuchs, and his con-
cubines, he set fire to the splendid pile,
and was consumed in its ruins. The
conspirators levelled the city with the

ASSYRIA.

ground, and subverted the Assyrian em-
pire, which had subsisted, according to
Ctesias, 1400 years.

The ancient empire of AssjTia, if it
ever existed, being overturned in this
manner, three kingdoms are said to have
arisen out of its ruius. Aabaces as-
cended the throne of Media ; Belesis
was rewarded with the kingdom of Ba-
bylon ; and Pul was acknowledged as
monarch of Assyria. Without vouching
for the truth of this division, we have no
hesitation in asserting, that what remains
of the Assyrian history is entitled to be-
lief. Though dpubts may be entertained
with respect to the manner in which Pul
acquired the sceptre, yet we are certain
that it was in his hand about 771 years
before Christ. It is probable that he en-
tered into an alliance with the Syrians,
or reduced them to submission, as he
must have marched through their coun-
try to invade Israel, which he did under
the usurpation of Menahem. Menahem
was allowed to retain the nominal sove-
reignty of Israel, by yielding to the inva-
der 1000 talents of silver, and the inde-
pendency of his kingdom. Pul return-
ed to his own country, after extending
his fame, and his dominions, by the sub-
mission of several nations upon his march.
It has been said, but without any certain
foundation, that Jonah was sent to preach
repentance to Nineveh under his reign.
Having given the sovereignty of Babylon
to liis youngest son Nabonassar, he died,
and left his Assyrian dominions to his
elder son Tiglath-pileser.

Tiglath-pileser not only succeeded to
his throne, but to his designs. He in-
vaded the kingdom of Israel under the
reign of Pekah, overran its northern pro-
vinces, and carried captive to Assyria,
the tribes of Naphtali aud Zebulon, with
part of the descendants of Manasseh,
Reuben, and Gad. Pekah afterwards
joined in alliance with Rezin, king of
Syria, and, at the head of the confede-
rate army, invaded the territories of Ahaz,
king of Judah. Ahaz, dreading the power
of his enemies, pillaged the temple of its
gold and silver, which, with the treasure
of his palace he sent to purchase the aid
of Tiglath-pileser. Induced by the pre-
sents and submission of Ahaz, the Assy-

rian king invaded the dominions of Rezin,
took Damascus, carried its inhabitants to
Kir, slew the vanquished monarch, and,
fulfilling the predictions of Isaiah and
Amos, put an end to that ancient king-
dom. But in the midst of his victorious
career he died, and was succeeded by
Shalmaneser, his son.

Shalmaneser prosecuted the war which
his father had begun, invaded the terri-
tories of Hoshea king of Israel, reduced
Samaria, and imposed an annual tribute
upon that kingdom. Hoshea, however,
soon aspired at his former independence,
and, for this purpose, entered into an al-
liance with Sacabus, an Ethiopian, who
in scripture is called So, and who had
made himself master of Egypt. A re-
fusal to pay the annual tribute was looked
upon as a declaration of war. Shalma-
neser, with a powerful army advanced to
punish his presumption, and, having con-
quered all the country, besieged the king
in Samaria. The valor of its inhabitants
defended the city for three years ; but
the power and perseverance of the As-
syrians at last prevailed. Samaria was
taken ; Hoshea was thrown into chains
and into prison ; the inhabitants were
transported to Media ; their place was
supplied by a colony from Babylon ; and
the kingdom of Israel, and of the ten
tribes, which had existed about 250 years
after its separation from Judah, may now
be said to be brought to an end. The
fate of Hoshea did not intimidate Heze-
kiah, king of Judah. No sooner did he
ascend the throne, than he refused to pay
the tribute which his father Ahaz had
paid, and set at defiance the Assyrian
power. The time for asserting the in-
dependence of his country was chosen
with the most consummate wisdom. Shal-
maneser was then engaged in war with
Elulaeus king of Tyre. Several Phoeni-
cian cities which had belonged to the
Tyrians having revolted, submitted to
Shalmaneser, and claimed his protection.
But the Tyrian fleet joined battle with
the combined squadrons of Assyria and
Phoenicia, gained a complete victory,
and convinced Shalmaneser that it was
vain to contend with his enemies by sea.
Turning therefore the siege of Tyre,
which he had begun, into a blockade, he

ASSYRIA.

retired into his own dominions ; and
though the city was reduced to the great-
est difficulties, yet at the end of five
years it was delivered from impending
ruin by the death of Shalmaneser.

His son Sennacherib, who in scrip-
ture is also called Sargon, succeeded
him, and resolved to punish Hezekiah
for the insult which he had oflered to
his father's authority. For this purpose,
with a mighty army, he invaded the land
of Judah, besieged Lachish, and threat-
ened, after the reduction of that city,
to invest Jerusalem itself. Hezekiah,
dreading his power, sent him a submis-
sive embassy ; and by paying 300 talents
of silver and 30 talents of gold, purchased
an insidious and an inglorious peace. No
sooner had Sennacherib received the
money, than, disdaining his oaths and
engagements, he prosecuted the war with
as much vigor as if no treaty had been
made, and sent three of his generals, and
a powerful army, to besiege Jerusalem.
But being informed that Tirhakah, king
of Ethiopia, joined by the power of
Egypt, was advancing to assist Hezekiah,
he marched to meet the approaching en-
emies, defeated them in battle, ravaged
their country, and returned with the spoil
to finish the siege of Jerusalem, Whilst
the distress and piety of Hezekiah im-
plored the assistance of God, the inso-
lence and blasphemy of Sennacherib
drew down his vengeance ; and, in ful-
filment of Isaiah's prophecy, the sacred
historian informs us, that the angel of the
Almighty slew in one night 185,000 of
the Assyrian army. Overwhelmed with
this destruction, he returned into his own
dominions ; and enraged with shame and
disappointment, not only Avith the ruin of
his army, but also with the defection of
Media, which seems to have thrown off
his yoke at this favorable time, he ex-
ercised the greatest cruelty to his own
subjects, but especially to the Israelites,
who had been carried captive into that
country. His tyranny roused the indig-
nation of his own family ; and, as the
prophet had foretold, two of his sons,
Adrammelech and Sharazer, slew him
while he was at his devotions in the
temple of his god Nisroch, and Esar-had-
don, his third son, reigned in his stead.
7

When this prmce ascended the throne,
the kingdom of Assyria was greatly
weakened by the unsuccessful wars and
tyranny of his father. Though he ap-
pears to have been brave, fortunate, and
ambitious, yet, that his kingdom might
recover strength, he wisely for some time
remained in peace. When vigor was
thus restored to his dominions, the kin-
dred race of Babylonian kings became
extinct, and during an interregnum of eight
years, that kingdom was distracted with
internal divisions. Esar-haddon improv-
ed that favorable opportunity, and either
by power or policy, annexed the king-
dom of Babylon to his own dominions.
Powerful by this union, he marched
against the kingdoms of Israel and Syria,
which had been almost annihilated by
Shalmaneser, transplanted the remainder
of their inhabitants into Assyria, and ex-
tinguished their names from amongst na-
tions. He then reduced the kingdom of
Judah to become tributary, took Manas-
seh prisoner, and sent him in chains to
Babylon. From Judah he marched to
the invasion of Egypt and Ethiopia ;
subdued these nations ; and having ex-
tended the boundaries and the fame of
the Assyrian empire, after a reign of 39
years, died, and left his dominions to his
son Saosduchinus.

Saosduchinus appears to have been a
mild, a generous and a peaceful prince.
Prideaux, Rollin, &c, writers of great
respectability, imagine, that he was the
Nabuchodonosor mentioned in the book
of Judith ; but their opinion seems to
have no foundation. All the actions
therefore which have been ascribed to
him imder that name belong to his suc-
cessor, to whose time and circumstances
only they can be reconciled. It is pro-
bable, however, that the generosity of his
nature restored Manasseh to his king-
dom, and allowed Egypt to enjoy that
liberty which it had recovered, and was
resoh^ed to defend by arms. After a reign
of twenty years he died, and was suc-
ceeded by his son Chyniladon.

Chyniladon, the Nabuchodonosor men-
tioned in the book of Judith, was an ac-
tive and warlike prince. In order to
subdue Media, which had lately asserted
its independence, he summoned the

ATHENS.

whole power of his dominions. All the
eastern nations, who belonged to him,
crowded to his standard ; but the Per-
sians and the nations on the west from
Cilicia to the confines of Ethiopia, re-
jected his commands with disdain. Un-
dismayed at this revolt, he marched to
the invasion of Media, joined battle with
Arphaxad, who governed that country,
on the plains of Ragau, gained a complete
Adctory, pursued and slew the vanquished
monarch, stormed and pillaged Ecbatane,
the capital of that empire, and returned
in triumph to Nineveh. No sooner were
the rejoicings for this victory over, than
he resolved to punish the nations who
had refused to assist him. For this pur-
pose he sent Holofernes, general of his
army, to destroy by fire and sword who-
ever should oppose him. The command,
dictated by revenge, was executed by
cruelty; and the march of Holofernes
through Mesopotamia, Cilicia and Syria,
was marked with desolation. The brave
inhabitants of Bethulia first dared to op-
pose his progress. Fired with indigna-
tion, he invested the city, cut off every
supply of water, and reduced the place
to the utmost distress. The beauty and
courage of Judith, if we believe the book
which bears her name, saved her city
and country from inevitable destruction.
Venturing to approach the hostile camp,
she soon insinuated herself into the tent
and affections of Holofernes ; and in the
dead of night, when her watchful eye
beheld him buried in sleep and wine, se-
vered his head from his body with his
own sword, and escaped to her friends.
The death of the leader struck his army
with consternation ; and in their sudden

flight, they lost their baggage, and were
pursued with great slaughter. Chynila-
don seems not to have long survived the
destruction of his army, and his throne
was filled by Sarac.

Sarac, who, if the supposition of Sir
Isaac Newton be well founded, was the
real Sardanapalus, upon his accession to
the throne, committed the government of
Chaldea to Nabopallasar who appears
from his name to have been an Assyrian,
and was perhaps a descendant of Nabo-
nassar king of Babylon, formerly men-
tioned. The weakness and effeminacy
of Sarac appears to have excited con-
tempt, and the kingdom of Babylon
roused the ambition of Nabopallasar, who
immediately rebelling against his sove-
seign, seized the throne, and maintained
the independence of that kingdom. In
order to establish his authority, he en-
tered into an alliance with Cyaxeres,
king of Media, and confirmed that alli-
ance by the marriage of his son Nebu-
chadnezzar with Amyte, the daughter of
Astyages, son of that monarch. The
union of their forces, and the invasion of
Assyria immediately followed. Sarac
was either afraid to meet the confede-
rates in the field ; or, if he did, was soon
driven within the walls of his capital.
The Assyrian monarch waited not the
issue of the siege, but, yielding to des-
pair when he saw the city invested, set
fire to his palace, and perished in its
ruins. The Babylonians and the Modes
took and destroyed the city ; and accord-
ing to the predictions of Isaiah, Nahum
and Zephaniah, subverted the Assyrian
empire, which, from the days of Pul, had
existed about 150 years.

ATHENS.

Athens, the celebrated city of Attica,
was, as history informs us, founded
about 1556 years before the Christian
era by Cecrops and an Egyptian colony.
It was, as history informs us, at first go-
verned by seventeen kings, the last of
whom was Codrus. The history of the
first twelve of these monarchs is mostly
fabulous. After the death of Codrus,

the state was governed by thirteen per-
petual, and 317 years after, by seven de-
cennial, and lastly B. C. 684, after an
anarchy of three years, by annual ma-
gistrates called Archons. The Atheni-
ans thought themselves the most ancient
nation of Greece, and supposed them-
selves the original inhabitants of Attica.
{See Greece.)

AUSTRIA.

Of the early history of Austria we
know but little. The Romans vanquished
the Noricons A. D. 33, and gained pos-
session of their country and the Danube.
These they held until the irruptions of
the northern barbarians in the 5th and
6th centuries. Subsequently the coun-
try was held by the Lombards, Wendi,
and Avars. In 791, Charlemagne con-
quered the Avars, and united the territo-
ry with. Germany, under the name of
Avaria, or Eastern Marchia, or Austria.
Many colonists, particularly from Bava-
ria, were sent by Charlemagne into the
new province, and a margrave was ap-
pointed to administer the government.
The archbishop of Salzburg was at the
head of ecclesiastical aflairs. After its
separation from Verdun, in 843, Avaria
formed the eastern boundary of the Ger-
man empire.

On the invasion of Germany by the
Hungarians, in 900, Avaria fell into their
hands, and was held by them till 955,
when the emperor Otho I, in conse-
quence of the victory of Augsburg, re-
united a great part of this province to the
empire. By the power and address of
its margraves the whole country was
joined again with Germany, and, in 1043,
under the emperor Henry HI, and the
margrave Albert I, (the Victorious), its
limits were extended to the Leytha.

From 982 to 1156, the niargraviate of
Austria was hereditary in the family of
the counts of Babenburg (Bamberg) ; the
succession, however, was not regulated
by primogeniture, but by the will of the
emperor. In ancient documents, men-
tion is made of the estates of Austria in
the year 1099. After Henry the Proud
(duke of Bavaria and Saxony) was put
under the ban of the empire, Leopold V,
margrave of Austria, received the duchy
of Bavaria, in 1138, from the emperor
Conrad. But when the margrave Henry,
son of Leopold, under the title of Ja-so-
mir-Gott (Yes-so-me-God) had again
ceded it, in 11 56, to Henry the Lion, the
boundaries of Austria were extended so
as to include the territory above the Ens,

and the whole was created a duchy with
certain privileges. Under this duke the
court resided at Vienna. Duke Leopold
VI, the son of Henry, received the
duchy of Styria, in 1 1 92, as a fief from
the emperor Henry VI, it having been
added to the empire by Otho I, in 955,
by his victory over the Hungarians. It
was this prince who imprisoned Richard
Coeur de Lion, king of England, on his
return from Palestine or the Holy Land,
1192. Duke Leopold VII, the youngest
son of the former, erected a palace within
the city of Vienna, which is still occu-
pied by the Austrian monarchs, under
the name of the old castle.

Leopold VII, called the Glorious, es-
tablished the hospital of the Holy Cross,
made Vienna, which had adopted a mu-
nicipal constitution in 1198, a staple-
town, and granted 30,000 marks of sil-
ver for the promotion of trade and com-
merce. In 1229, he purchased a part
of Carniola, from the ecclesiastical prin-
cipality of Freisingen, for 1650 marks,
and left the country in a flourishing con-
dition to the youngest of his three sons,
Frederic II, surnamed the Warrior. In
1236, this prince was put under the ban
of the empire, on account of his joining
the alliance of the cities of Lombardy
against the emperor Frederick II ; and
Otho, Duke of Bavaria, seized upon his
territory above the Ens as far as Lintz.
The rest of the country was granted, as
a fief, by the emperor, to a margrave,
and Vienna became an imperial city.
During the emperor's campaign in Italy,
Duke Frederic recovered the principal
part of his lands, and his rights were
confirmed by the emperor, at Verona,
1245. The rights of Vienna, as an im-
perial city, were abolished, and Frederic
was to be called king, as sovereign of
Austria and Styria ; but all his expecta-
tations of empire were disappointed by
his death in the battle of Leytha, against
Bela IV, king of Hungary, July 15, 1246,
in the thirty-fifth year of his age. Thus
the male line of the house of Bamberg
became extinct. The period from 1246

AUSTRIA.

to 1282 is styled the Austrian interreg-
num. The emperor Frederick II, decla-
red Austria and Styria a vacant fief, the
hereditary property of the German em-
perors, and sent a governor to Vienna,
the privileges of which, as an imperial
city, were once more renewed. But the
female relations of the deceased Duke
Frederic, his sister Margaret (widow of
the emperor Henry VI,) and his niece
Gertrude, by the persuasion of pope In-
nocent IV, in 1248, laid claim to the in-
heritance of their brother. The mar-
grave Hermann, with the aid of the pope
and a strong party, made himself master
of Vienna, and of several Austrian cities.
In Styria, he was opposed by the go-
vernor, Meinhard, count of Gorz. But
Hermann died in 1250, and his son Fre-
deric, who was afterwards beheaded,
in 1268, at Naples with Conradin of
Suabia, was then only a year old. The
whole country was distracted by various
parties, and the emperor Conrad IV, was
prevented, by disputes with his neigh-
bors, from turning his attention to Aus-
tria.

In 1251 the states of Austria and Sty-
ria determined to appoint one of the sons
of the second sister of Frederic the
Warrior, Constantia (widow of the mar-
grave Henry the Illustrious,) to the of-
fice of duke. Their deputies were on
the way to Misnia, when they were per-
suaded by king Wenceslaus, on their
entrance into Prague, to declare his son
Ottocar duke of Austria and Styria, who
made every eflbrt to support his appoint-
ment, by arms, money, and especially by
his marriage with the empress-widow,
Margaret. Ottocar wrested Styria from
Bela, king of Hungary, by his victory
of July, 1260, in the Marchfield ; and,
in 1262, forced the emperor Richard to
invest him with both duchies. Soon af-
ter, by the will of his uncle Ulrich,
the last duke of Carinthia and Friuli,
(who died 1269,) Ottocar became master
of Carinthia, a part of Carniola connect-
ed with it, the kingdom of Istria, and a
part of Friuli. But his arrogance soon
caused his fall. In 1272, he refused to
acknowledge count Rodolph of Haps-
burg emperor, and was obliged to defend
himself against his arms. After an un-

successful war, he was forced to cede all
his Austrian possessions, in Nov. 1276.
In 1277, he attempted to recover these
territories, but, in the battle of the March-
field, Aug. 26, 1278, he was slain, and
his son Wenceslaus was obliged to re-
nounce all claim to them, in order to pre-
serve his hereditary estates.

The emperor Rodolph remained three
years in Vienna, and then appointed his
eldest son governor. But, having suc-
ceeded in gaining the consent of the
electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh, of
the three ecclesiastical electors, and of the
count-palatine of the Rhine, he granted
the duchies of Austria and Styria, with
the province of Carinthia, to his two
sons, Albert and Rodolph, Dec. 27, 1282.
Albert and Rodolph transferred Carin-
thia to Meinhard, count of Tyrol, father-
in-law to Albert. In 1283, they conclu-
ded a treaty, by which Albert was made
sole possessor of Austria, Styria and
Carniola. Vienna, having again re-
nounced its privileges as an imperial
city, was made the residence of the
court, and the successors of Rodolph,
from this time, assumed Austria as the
family title. The introduction of the
Hapsburg dynasty was the foundation of
the future greatness of Austria.

The despotic Albert was assailed by
Hungary and Bavaria, But he soon
quelled by force this revolt, which his
avarice and severity had excited. This
success increased his presumption and
ambition. He inherited only the militaiy
qualities of his father ; but was anxious
to succeed him in all his dignities, and
without waiting for the decision of the
Diet, seized the insignia of the empire.
This act of violence induced the electors
to choose Adolphus of Nassau emperor.
The disturbances which had broken out
against him in Switzerland, and a disease
which had deprived him of an eye, made
him more humble. He delivered up the
insignia, and took the oath of allegiance
to the new emperor, Adolphus, how-
ever, after a reign of six years, lost the
regard of all the princes of the empire.
Albert endeavored to avail himself of this
change of feeling, and succeeded so far
by assumed mildness in deceiving the
princes, that they chose him emperor,

AUSTRIA.

after deposing Adolphus at the Diet in
1298. Adolphus, however, would not re-
sign his high dignity, — and force was
found necessary to remove him. The
rivals met with their armies near Gell-
heim, between Worms and Spire. Al-
bert enticed Adolphus by a feigned re-
treat to follow him with his cavalry only.
The leaders engaged hand to hand, — and
Adolphus exclaimed to his adversary,
"thou shalt at once lose thy crown and
thy life. " Heaven will decide," replied
Albert, striking him with his lance in the
face, Adolphus fell from his horse, and
was despatched by the companions of his
antagonist. In 1308, an insurrection,
broke out in Switzerland in consequence
of the unjust and oppressive measures of
the Austrian rulers. See Stoitzerland.

Albert had not only foreseen this con-
sequence of his oppression, but desired
it, in order to have a pretence for sub-
jecting Switzerland entirely to himself.
A new act of injustice, however, put an
end to his ambition and his life. Suabia
was the inheritance of John, the son of
his younger brother, Rodolph. John had
repeatedly asserted his right to it, but in
vain. When Albert set out for Switzer-
land, John renewed his demand, which
was contemptuously rejected by Albert,
who scoffingly offered him a garland of
flowers, saying, — " This becomes your
age ; leave the cares of government to
me." John in revenge conspired with
his governor, Walter of Eschembach, and
three friends against the life of Albert.
The conspirators improved the moment
when the emperor on his way to Rhein-
felden, was separated from his train by
the river Reuss, and assassinated him.
Albert breathed his last. May 1st 1308,
in the arms of a poor woman who was
sitting by the road.

The inheritance of John now fell to
the five sons of the murdered Albert —
Frederic, surnamed the Fair, Leopold,
Henry, Albert, and Otho. They were
forced to purchase of the emperor Henry,
VH, the investiture of their paternal es-
tates, consisting in 1308, of 26,572 square
miles, for 20,000 marks of silver. Un-
der their father, in 1301, the margraviate
of Suabia was added to the territories of
Austria, and the contest with Bavaria

ended in the cession of Neuberg. On
the contrary, the attempt of Duke Leo-
pold, in 1315, to recover the forest-towns
of Switzerland, which had been lost
under Albert, was frustrated by the valor
of the troops of the Swiss confederacy
in the battle of Mogarten. In 1314, his
brother Frederic, chosen emperor of
Germany by the electors, was conquered
by his rival, the emperor Louis (of Ba-
varia,) in 1322, at Muhldorf, and was his
prisoner, for two years and a half, in the
castle of Trausnitz. The dispute with
the house of Luxemburg, in Bohemia, and
with pope John XXII, induced the em-
peror, in 1325, to liberate his captive.
Upon this the latter renounced all share
in the government, and pledged himself
to surrender all the imperial domains
which were still in the possession of
Austria.

But Leopold considered the agreement
derogatory to his dignity, and continued
the war against Louis. Frederic, there-
fore, again surrendered himself a priso-
ner in Munich. Moved by his faithful
adherence to his word, Louis concluded
a friendly compact with Frederic, and
made preparations for their common gov-
ernment, Sept. 7, 1325. These prepa-
rations, however, were never carried into
execution ; for the agreement had been
concluded without the consent of the
electors.

Leopold died in 1326, and Henry of
Austria in 1327 ; Frederic also died
without children, Jan. 13, 1330, after
which his brothers, Albert II, and Otho,
came to a reconciliation with the empe-
ror Louis. After the death of their uncle,
Henry, margrave of Tyrol and duke of
Carinthia (the father of Margaret Maul-
tash,) they persuaded the emperor to
grant them the investiture of Tyrol and
Carinthia, in May, 1335; they ceded
Tyrol, however, to John, king of Bohe-
mia, by the treaty of Oct. 9, 1356, in be-
half of his son John Henrj'^, or rather of
his wife, Margaret Maultash.

In 1344, after the death of Otho and
his sons, Albert II, called the Wise,
united all his Austrian territories, which
by his marriage with the daughter of the
last Count of Pfirt had been augmented
by the estates of her father in 1324, and

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by the Kyburg estates in Burgundy, in
1326.

Of the four sons of Albert II, Rodolf 11
completed the chvirch of St. Stephan's,
and died at Milan, in 1365, without
children, a short time after his younger
brother, Frederic. In 1379, the two
surviving brothers divided the kingdom,
so that Albert III became entire mas-
ter of Austria, and gave the other ter-
ritories to his brother Leopold III, the
Pious. Leopold had made repeated at-
tempts to gain the Hapsburg possessions
in Switzerland. He was killed July 9,
1386, on the field of Sempach, where he
lost the battle in consequence of the va-
lor of Winkelried, and Albert adminis-
tered the government of the estates of
his brother's minor sons. Margaret
Maultash ceded Tyrol to him on the death
of Meinhard, her only son, who was mar-
ried to the sister of Albert. She retained
nothing but a few castles and 6000 marks
of gold. She also renounced her claims
to Bavaria, in consideration of receiving
Scharding and three Tyrolese cities,
Kitzbuhl, Ballenberg and Kuffstein, and
116,000 florins of gold.

In 1365, Leopold III had bought the
claims of the count of Feldkirch for
36,000 florins ; for 55,000 florins Austria
received Brisgau from the count of Furs-
tenberg, with the cities of Neuberg, Old
Brisach, Centzingen, and Billingen. The
remainder of Carniola and the Windisch
Mark, after the death of the last count of
Gorz, were purchased, together with the
county of Pludentz, from the earl of Wer-
denberg, and the possessions of the count
of Hohenberg, for 66,000 florins ; and
the city of Trieste was acquired, in 1380,
by aiding in the war between Hungary
and Venice. Moreover, the two govern-
ments of Upper and Lower Suabia were
pledged for 40,000 florins by the king of
Rome, Wenceslaus, to Duke Leopold.
The Austrian and Styrian lines, founded
by Albert III, and Leopold III, his
brother, continued for 78 years.

In 1395, when Albert III died, his
only son, Albert IV, was in Palestine.
On his return, he determined to take ven-
geance on Procopius, margrave of Mo-
ravia, for his hostile conduct ; but he was
poisoned, in 1404, at Znaym. His young

son and successor, Albert V, was de-
clared of age in 1410 ; and being the
son-in-law of the emperor Sigismund, he
united the crowns of Hungary and Bo-
hemia in 1437, and connected them with
that of Germany in 1438. But in the
following year the young prince died.
His posthumous son, Ladislaus, was the
last of the Austrian line of Albert, and its
possessions devolved on the Styrian line,
1457. From this time the house of Aus-
tria has furnished an unbroken succes-
sion of German emperors. Hungary and
Bohemia were lost for a time by the
death of Albert V, and, after the unhappy
contests with the Swiss, under Frederic
III, the remains of the Hapsburg estates
in Switzerland. But several territories
were gained ; and to increase the rising
splendor of the family, the emperor con-
ferred upon the country the rank of arch-
duchy. The dispute which broke out
between Frederic and his brothers, Al-
bert and Sigismund, relating to the divi-
sion of their paternal inheritance, ended
with the death of Albert, in December,
1464. In the course of the troubles
which resulted from this quarrel, the
emperor was besieged in the citadel of
Vienna by the citizens, who favored the
cause of the murdered prince. Sigis-
mund now succeeded to his portion of the
estate of Ladislaus, and Frederic became
sole ruler of all Austria. His son Max-
imilian, by his marriage with Mary, the
surviving daughter of Charles the Bold,
united the Netherlands to the Austrian
dominions. But it cost Maximilian much
anxiety and toil to maintain his power
in this new province, which he adminis-
tered as the guardian of his son, Philip.
His confinement at Bruges, in 1489, re-
sulted in an agreement which was deci-
dedly for his advantage ; but he lost at
the same time, the duchy of Guelders.
After the death of his father, which hap-
pened Aug. 19, 1493, he was made em-
peror of Germany, and transferred to his
son Philip the government of the Nether-
lands.

Maximilian I added to his paternal in-
heritance all Tyrol, and several other
territories, particularly some belonging to
Bavaria. He also acquired for his family
new claims to Hungary and Bohemia.

AUSTRIA.

During his reign, Vienna became the
great metropolis of the arts and sciences
in the German empire. The marriage
of his son Philip to Joanna of Spain,
raised the house of Hapsburg to the
throne of Spain and the Indies. But
Philip died in 1506, 13 years before his
father, and the death of Maximilian,
which happened Jan. 12, 1519, was fol-
lowed by the union of Spain and Austria :
his grandson (the eldest son of Philip,)
Charles I, king of Spain, was elected
emperor of Germany. In the treaty of
Worms, April 28, 1521, and of Ghent,
May 7, 1540, he ceded to his brother
Ferdinand all his hereditary estates in
Germany, and retained for himself the
kingdom of the Netherlands. The house
of Austria was now proprietor of a tract
of country in Europe comprising 360,230
square miles. The emperor, Charles V,
immediately increased the number of
provinces in the Netherlands to 17, and
confirmed their union with the German
states, which had been concluded by his
grandfather, under the title of the circle
of Burgundy. In 1526, Austria was re-
cognised as a Eiu-opean monarchy.

Ferdinand I, by his marriage with
Anna, the sister of Louis II, king of Hun-
gary, who was killed in 1526, in the bat-
tle of Mohacs, acquired the kingdoms of
Hungary and Bohemia, with Moravia,
Silesia, and Lusatia, the appendages of
Bohemia. Bohemia rejoiced to hail
Ferdinand its king. Notwithstanding the
divided opinion of the nobles, and the
rising fortune of his adversary John von
Zapolya, (see Hungary,) he was raised
to the throne of Hungary, Nov. 5, 1526,
by the Hungarian diet, and was crowned
Nov. 5, 1527. But Zapolya resorted for
assistance to the sultan Soliman II, who
appeared, in 1529, at the gates of Vienna.
The capital was rescued from nun solely
by the prudent measures of the Count of
Salm, general of the Austrian army, and
the imperial forces compelled Soliman to
retreat. In 1535, a treaty was made, by
which John von Zapolya was allowed to
retain the royal title and half of Hungarj^,
and his posterity were to be entitled to
nothing but Transylvania, But after the
death of John, new disputes arose, in
which Soliman was again involved, and

Ferdinand maintained the possession of
Lower Hungary only by paying the war-
like sultan the sum of 30,000 ducats an-
nually.

This took place in 1562. Ferdinand
was equally unsuccessful in the duchy
of Wurtemberg. This province had been
taken from the restless Duke Ulrich by
the Suabian confederacy, and sold to the
emperor Charles V ; and when his es-
tates were divided, it fell to Ferdinand.
Philip, landgrave of Hesse, the friend of
duke Ulrich, took advantage of the op-
portunity offered him by the embarrass-
ment of Ferdinand in the Hungarian war,
and with the aid of France, he conquered
Wurtemberg ; but France ceded it again
to Ulrich in the treaty of Caden, in Bo-
hemia, concluded June 29lh, 1534, on
condition that the province should still be
a fief of Austria, and after the extinction
of the male line of the duke, that it should
revert to that country. The remaining
half of Bregentz, the county of Thengen,
the city of Constance, were insufficient
wholly to compensate these losses; never-
theless, the territory of the German line
of the house of Austria was estimated at
114,468 square miles.

Ferdinand received the imperial crown
in 1556, when his brother Charles laid
by the sceptre for a cowl. He died July
25, 1564, with the fame of an able prince,
leaving three sons and ten daughters.
According to the directions given in his
will, the three brothers divided the patri-
mony, so that Maximilian 11, the eldest
son, who succeeded liis father as empe-
ror, obtained Austria, Hungary and Bo-
hemia ; Ferdinand, the second son, re-
ceived Tyrol and Upper Austria ; and
Charles, the third, became master of
StjTia, Carinthia, Carniola and Gorz.
But, in 1595, after the death of the arch-
duke Ferdinand, the husband of Philip-
pine Wesler, the fair maid of Augsburg,
his sons Andrew (cardinal and bishop of
Constance and Briexen, and governor of
the Netherlands for Spain,) and Charles
(margrave of Burgau,) were declared in-
competent to succeed their father, and
his possessions reverted to his relations.
In Hungary, the emperor Maximilian
met with far better fortune than his father
had done. The death of SoUman, at Si-

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geth, in 1566, was followed by a peace,
and, in 1572, Maximilian crowned his
eldest son, Rodolf, king of Hungary : he
was afterwards crowned king of Bohe-
mia, and elected king of Rome. In his
attempts to add the Polish crown to his
Austrian dominions, he was equally un-
successful with his fourth son, Maxi-
milian, who, engaged in a similar enter-
prise after the decease of Stephen Ba-
thori, in 1587

Maximilian died Oct. 12, 1576, and
Rodolf, the eldest of his five sons, suc-
ceeded to the imperial throne. The
most remarkable events by which his
reign is distinguished, are, the war
against Turkey and Transylvania, the
persecution of the Protestants, who were
all driven from his dominions, and the
circumstances which obliged him to cede
Hungary, in 1608, and Bohemia and his
hereditary estates in Austria, in 1611, to
his brother Matthias. From this time
we may date the successful exertions of
the Austrian sovereigns to put down the
restless spirit of the nation, and to keep
the people in a state of abject submission.
Mathias, who succeeded Maximilian on
the imperial throne, concluded a peace
for twenty years with the Turks ; but he
was disturbed by the Bohemians, who
took up arms in defence of their religious
rights. Mathias died March 20, 1619,
before the negotiations for a compromise
were completed.* The Bohemians re-
fused to acknowledge his successor,
Ferdinand, and chose Frederic V, the
head of the Protestant League, and elec-
tor of the palatinate for their king. After
the battle of Prague, 1620, Bohemia sub-
mitted to the authority of Ferdinand. He
immediately applied himself to eradicate
Protestantism out of Bohemia Proper and
Moravia. At the same time he deprived
Bohemia of the right of choosing her
king, and of her other privileges. He
erected a Catholic court of Reform, and
thus led to the emigration of thousands
of the inhabitants.

The house of Hapsburg has presented
an example, which stands alone in his-
tory, of the manner in which violence

* Ferdinand his successor, began the thirty
years' war against the Protestants, and carried I
it on during the remainder of hia life. |

and tyranny can check the progress of
civilization ; and Bohemia, the land of
Huss, the land where religious freedom
has been defended with such heroic zeal,
is now greatly inferior in cultivation to
every other country of western Europe.
The Austrian states, also, favoring, in
general, the Protestant religion, were
compelled by Ferdinand to swear alle-
giance to him, and Lutheranism was
strictly forbidden in all the Austrian do-
minions. The province of Hungary,
which revolted under Bethlen Gabor,
prince of Transylvania, was, after a long
struggle, subdued. This religious war
dispeopled, impoverished and paralyzed
the energies of the most fertile provinces
of the house of Austria.

During the reigii of Ferdinand HI, the
successor of Ferdinand, (1637-57,) Aus-
tria was continually the theatre of war.
In the midst of these troubles, Ferdinand
ceded Lusatia to Saxony at the peace of
Prague, concluded in 1 635 ; and, when
the war was ended, he ceded Alsace to
France, at the peace of Westphalia, in
1648. The emperor Leopold I, son and
successor of Ferdinand III, was victori-
ous through the talents of his minister
Eugene, in two wars with Turkey ; and
Vienna was delivered by John Sobieski,
(and the Germans,) from the attacks of
Kara Mustapha, in 1683. In 1687, he
changed Hungary into a hereditary king-
dom, and joined to it the territory of
Transylvania, which had been governed
by distinct princes. Moreover, by the
peace of Carlowitz, concluded in 1699,
he restored to Hungary the country lying
between the Danube and the Theiss. It
was now the chief aim of Leopold to se-
cure to Charles, his second son, the in-
heritance of the Spanish monarchy, then
in the hands of Charles II, king of Spain,
who had no children to succeed him ; but
his own indecision, and the artful policy
of France, induced Charles II, to appoint
the grandson of Louis XIV, his successor.
Thus began the war of the Spanish suc-
cession, in 1701. Leopold died May 5,
1705, before it was terminated. The
emperor, Joseph I, his successor, and
eldest son, continued the war, but died
without children, April 17, 1711. His
brother Charles, the destined king of

AUSTRIA.

Spain, immediately hastened from Bar-
celona to his hereditary states, to take
upon him the administration of the gov-
ernment. He was elected emperor, Dec.
24, of the same year ; but was obliged to
accede to the peace of Utrecht, conclu-
ded by his allies, at Rastadt and Baden,
in 1714. By this treaty, Austria received
the Netherlands, Milan, Mantua, Naples
and Sardinia.

In 1720, Sicily was given to Austria
in exchange for Sardinia. The duchy of
Mantua, occupied by Joseph in 1708,
was now made an Austrian lief, because
it had formed an alliance with France,
prejudicial to the interests of Germany.
This monarchy now embraced 191,621
square miles, and nearly twenty-nine mil-
lion inhabitants. Its annual income was
betAveen thirteen and fourteen million
florins, and its army consisted of 130,000
men;*but its power was weakened by
new wars with Spain and France. In
the peace concluded at Vienna, 1735 and
1738, Charles VI was forced to cede
Naples and Sicily to Don Carlos, the in-
fant of Spain, and to the king of Sardi-
nia a part of Milan, for which he receiv-
ed only Parma and Placenza. In the
next year, by the peace of Belgrade, he
lost nearly all the fruits of Eugene's vic-
tories, even the province of Temeswar ;
for he was obliged to transfer to the
Porte, Belgrade, Servia, and all the pos-
sessions of Austria in Wallachia, Orsova
and Bosnia. All this Charles VI wil-
lingly acceded to, in order to secure the
succession to his daughter Maria The-
resa, by the Pragmatic Sanction. This
law of inheritance was passed 1713 —
1719, and acknowledged, one after ano-
ther, by all the European powers.

By the death of Charles VI, Oct. 20,
1740, the male line of the Austrian house
of Hapsburg became extinct ; and Maria
Theresa having married Stephen, duke
of Lorraine, ascended the Austrian
throne. On every side her claims were
disputed, and rival claims set up. A vio-
lent war began, in which she had no pro-
tector but England. Frederic II, of
Prussia, subdued Silesia ; the elector of
Bavaria was crowned in Lintz and
Prague, and, in 1742, chosen emperor,
under the name of Charles VII. Hun-

gary alone supported the heroic and
beautiful queen. But, at the peace of
Breslau, concluded June 4, 1742, she
was obliged to cede to Prussia, Silesia
and Glatz, with the exception of Teschen,
Jagerndorf, and Troppau. Frederic II,
by assisting the party of Charles VII,
soon renewed the war. But Charles
died, January 20, 1745, and the husband
of Theresa was crowned emperor of
Germany, under the title of Francis I.
A second treaty of peace, concluded
December 25, 1745, confirmed to Fred-
eric the possession of Silesia. By the
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, October 18,
1748, Austria was obhged to cede the
duchies of Parma, Placenza and Guas-
taila, to Philip, infant of Spain, and sev-
eral districts of Milan to Sardinia. The
Austrian monarchy was now firmly es-
tablished ; and it was the first wish of
Maria Theresa to recover Silesia. With
this object in view, she formed an al-
liance with France, Russia, Saxony and
Sweden. This was the origin of the
seven years' war ; but, by the peace of
Hubertsberg, 1763, Prussia retained Si-
lesia, and Austria had sacrificed her
blood and treasures in vain. The first
paper money was now issued in Austria,
called state obligations, and the emperor
Francis erected a bank to exchange them.
After his death, Aug. 18, 1765, Joseph
II, his eldest son, was appointed col-
league with his mother in the govern-
ment of his hereditary states, and elected
emperor of Germany.

To prevent the extinction of the male
line of her family, Maria Theresa now
established two collateral hues ; the house
of Tuscany, in her second son, Peter
Leopold ; and the house of Este, in the
person of the archduke Ferdinand. For
these separations, Maria Theresa indem-
nified the country by the confiscation of
several cities, formerly pledged to Poland
by Hungary, without paying the sum for
which they stood pledged ; by obtaining
Galicia and Lodomira in the first profli-
gate division of the Idngdom of Poland, in
1772 ; and by the capture of Bukowina,
which was ceded by the Porte, in 1777.
In the peace of Teschen, May 13, 1779,
Austria received Innvierstel, and the va-
cant county of Hohenembs, in Suabia,
8

AUSTRIA.

the county of Falkenstein, and the Sua-
bian territories of Tettnang and Argen ;
and thus, at the death of the empress,
Nov. 28, 1780, Austria contained 234,684
square miles ; it had lost 16,366 square
miles, and gained 34,301. The popula-
tion was estimated at 24,000,000 ; but
the public debt, also, had increased to
160,000,000 florins.

The administration of the empress was
distinguished by the most useful institu-
tions of government, agriculture, trade and
commerce, the education of the people,
the promotion of the arts and sciences,
and of religion. The foreign relations of
the kingdom, also, even those with the
Roman court, were happily conducted by
the talents of her minister, Kaunitz. Her
successor, Joseph II, was active and
restless ; impartial, but two often rash
and violent. While a colleague with his
mother in the government, he diminished
the expenses of the state, and introduced
a new system in the payment of pensions
and of officers. But, after the death of his
mother, all his activity and talent as a
sovereign was fully developed. As se-
vere to the military as to the civil offi-
cers, he adhered, however, to liberal
principles. The censorship of the press
was reformed ; the Protestants received
full toleration, and the rights of citizens;
the Jews were treated with kindness ;
900 convents and religious establish-
ments were abolished, and even the visit
of Pius VI made no alteration in Jo-
seph's system of reformation. The sys-
tem of education he subjected to revision
and improvement ; and he encouraged
manufactures by heavy duties on foreign
goods. But his zeal excited the opposi-
tion of the enemies of improvement. The
Low Countries revolted, and his vexation
probably led him to attempt the exchange
of the Netherlands, under the title of the
kingdom of Austrasia, for the palatinate
of Bavaria, under an elector. But the
project was frustrated by the constancy
and firmness of the Duke of Deux-Ponts,
and by the German league, concluded by
Frederic II. Joseph was equally unsuc-
cessful in the war of 1788 against the
Porte. His exertions in the field de-
stroyed his health ; and grief at the re-
bellious disposition of his ^hereditary

states accelerated his death, which hap-
pened Feb. 20, 1790.

Joseph II was succeeded by his eldest
brother, Leopold II, formerly grand duke
of Tuscany. By his moderation and
firmness, he quelled the turbulent spirit
of the Netherlands, and restored tran-
quillity to Hungary. The treaty of
Reichenbach, with Prussia, July 27,

1790, and the treaty of Sistova, Aug. 4,

1791, led to a peace with the Porte.
The unhappy fate of his sister and her
husband, Louis XVI, of France, induced
him to form an alliance with Prussia ;
but he died March 1, 1792, before the
revolutionary war broke out. Soon after
the accession of his son, Francis II, to
the throne, and before the 14th of July,

1792, when he was elected emperor of
Germany, France declared war against
him as king of Hungary and Bohemia.
The limits of this work will not permit
us to give a sketch of the several cam-
paigns or of the principal battles that
were fought. In May, 1796, Buonaparte
gained a celebrated victory at Lodi (a
large town in Austrian Italy,) over the
Austrians under Beaulieu. Buonaparte,
in his negotiations with the court of Tu-
rin, had insisted on having Valenza, on
Avhich was a bridge over the Po. He
had done so in order to deceive Beau-
lieu into the belief that he intended to
pass there. The Austrian was caught
in the snare ; posted his army at the
confluence of the two rivers, and pre-
pared to dispute the passage. Instead,
however, of their crossing both streams
in following a straight line upon Milan,
a circuit on the right bank of the Po
would bring the French to Piacenza,
farther down the stream than where the
Tesin meets it. By crossing there, in
lieu of Valenza, the latter stream was
altogether avoided, and Beaulieu's re-
treat threatened to be cut ofl". Buona-
parte, to efiect this, undertook a forced
march of thirty-six hours to Piacenza,
which he reached on the 7th of May.
With the aid of what boats he could
seize, a bridge was thrown over the Po,
and the army passed on the 9th. He did
not hesitate to attack the nearest Aus-
trian division, which was routed, and fled
to Pizziliitone on the Adda. No river or

AUSTRIA.

Buonaparte crossing the bridge at Lodi.

line of defence now intervened betwixt
the French and Milan. Beaulieu, anti-
cipated and foiled in hi.s project of de-
fending the bridge of Valenza on the Po,
hurried to place himself behind the Adda,
the next river eastward of Milan. The
French general instantly resolved to
force this line of defence ere the Aus-
trians had time to strengthen it. Until
this was achieved, he deferred taking
possession of Milan. Pizzihitone, the
nearest town that contained a bridge over
the Adda, was too well garrisoned and
defended. Buonaparte pressed on to the
next bridge, tracing upwards the course
of the river. This was at Lodi.

Beaulieu had made good his retreat
thus far. Half of his army, however, he
had been obliged to send by a circuitous
direction, in order to throw a garrison
into the castle of Milan. This half the
French general hoped to intercept, if he
could succeed in routing the remainder,
about 12,000 men, which Beaulieu kept
with himself at Lodi. To drive the ad-
vanced guard of this body from Lodi and
beyond the Adda, was an easy task. But
to dispossess them of the bridge was an
attempt so rash, that the Austrians con-

sidered it impossible. Otherwise they
would have destroyed the bridge, or at
least an arch of it. But it was now too
late for this, as the French cannon were
instantly ordered to play upon it. Beau-
lieu, on his side of the bridge, raked it
with thirty cannon. On either side the
shower of grape-shot was dreadful ; but
the French were covered by the walls
and houses of Lodi, whilst the Austrians
were exposed. Their general, in conse-
quence, drew them out of reach of the
shot; thus trusting the defence of the
bridge to the formidable battery alone.
Seeing this, Buonaparte formed his
stoutest grenadiers in column, and pre-
pared to cross, whilst the cavalry men-
aced to pass by a ford at no great dis-
tance. At a word the column rushed on
the bridge. Its front was shattered,
almost ere it was formed, by the shower
of shot. It even hesitated, till the gene-
rals placed themselves at its head, and
cheered it on ; whilst the light troops,
dropping down the wooden buttresses of
the bridge, passed underneath to distract
the enemy. The first fire of the battery
was the chief obstacle ; that withstood, the
French rushed on the Austrian guns, and

AUSTRIA.

bayoneted the cannoneers. The caval-
ry followed, and had time to form and
charge ere the main line of the tardy
Austrians could come up. These with-
stood the assault but for a few minutes.
They gave way and fled, leaving behind
their artillery, colors, and some thousand
prisoners. Thus was completed the rout
of Beaulieu, the shattered remains of
whose army retired towards the Tyrol
and the provinces of Venice.

In the first articles of peace, dated at
Campo-Formio, Oct. 17, 1797, Austria
lost Lombardy and the Netherlands, and
received, as a compensation, the largest
part of the Venitian territory : two years
previous, in 1795, in the third division
of Poland, the Austrian dominions had
been enlarged by the addition of West
Gallicia. In the beginning of the year
1799, the emperor Francis, in alliance
with Russia, renewed the war with
France. But Napoleon extorted the
peace of Luneville, Feb. 9, 1801, and
Francis acceded to it, without the con-
sent of England. By the conditions of
the treaty, he was to cede the county of
Falkenstein, and the Frickthal. Ferdi-
nand, grand duke of Tuscany, at the
same time, renounced his claim to this
province, and received, in return for it,
Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, with a part
of the territory of Passau, and was after-
wards made master of the largest part of
Eichstadt, and honored with the title of
elector. Austria obtained the Tyrolese
archbishoprics Trent and Brixen, and,
notwithstanding its cessions of territory
to France, had gained, including its ac-
quisitions in Poland, 9580 square miles :
this made the whole extent 253,771
square miles. The public debt had also
increased to 1220 million florins.

Aug. 11,1 804, Francis declared him-
self hereditary emperor of Austria, and
imited all his estates under the name of
the empire of Austria. Immediately after
this important act, he took up arms once
more, with his allies, Russia and Great
Britain, against the government of France.
The war of 1 805 was terminated by the
peace of Presburg (Dec. 26, 1805.) By
the conditions of this treaty, Francis was
obliged to cede to France the remaining
provinces of Italy ; to the king of Bava-

ria, Burgau, Eichstadt, a part of Passau,
all Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Hohenembs, Ro-
thenfels, Tettnang, Argen and Lindau ;
to the king of Wurtemberg, the five towns
lying on the Danube, the county of Ho-
henberg, the landgraviate of Nellenburg,
Altdorf, and a part of Brisgau ; and to the
gTand duke of Baden, the remainder of
Brisgau, Ortenau, Constance and the
commandery of Meinau. He received,
in return, Salzburg and Berchtesgaden ;
the elector of Salzburg was compensated
by the province of Wurzburg ; and the
dignity of grand master of the Teutonic
order was made hereditary in the house
of Austria.

Thus ended a war which cost the Aus-
trian monarchy, besides the territories
just enumerated, 90 million florins, which
were carried away by the French from
Vienna, and 800 millions for the other
expenses of the war ; of which Francis
paid a large proportion from his private
purse. After the formation of the con-
federation of the Rhine (July 12, 1806,)
Francis was forced to resign his digTiity
as emperor of Germany (Aug. 6, 1806,)
which had been in his family more than
500 years. This was one of the most
important consequences of the war. He
now assumed the title of Francis I, em-
peror of Austria, and resolved, in 1809,
on a new war with France, aided only
by Great Britain, who did little more than
furnish some pecuniary assistance, and
make a tardy attack on Walcheren. Aus-
tria fought courageously, but in vain.
The peace of Vienna (October 14, 1809,)
cost the monarchy 42,380 square miles
of territory, 3,500,000 subjects, and more
than 1 1 million florins of revenue. The
public debt was also increased to 1200
million florins, and all the paper money
in circulation was estimated at 950 mil-
lions. Napoleon, after tearing from the
Austrian monarchy its fairest provinces,
the duchy of Salzburg, with Berchtesga-
den, Innviertel,Western Hausruckviertel,
Carniola and Gorz, Trieste, the circle of
Villach, a large part of Croatia, Istria,
Rsezuns in the Grisons, the Bohemian
territories in Saxony, all West Galicia,
the circle of Zamoski in East Galicia,
Cracow, with half the salt-works of Wie-
liezka, the circle of Tarnopol, and many

AUSTRIA,

other provinces which were given to
Russia, — formed a personal connexion
with the ancient family of Hapsburg, by
his marriage with Marie Louise, daugh-
ter of the emperor of Austria, and, March
14, 1812, concluded an alliance with
the emperor Francis against Russia.
But the emperor of France was repulsed
on his invasion of this country ; Prussia
rose up against him ; the congress of
Prague met and separated again without
accomplishing any thing ; and Francis,
August 10, 1813, declared war against
France, and formed an alliance, Septem-
ber 9, 1813, at Teplitz, with England,
Russia, Prussia and Sweden, against his
son-in-law.

In the battle of Leipzic, the Austrian
troops took an honorable part. The
firmness with which the emperor signed
the act of proscription against his son,
and fixed the fate of his daughter and
her infant, excited general respect. He
signed the same act against Napoleon
a second time, when he returned from
Elba. He also opposed Murat in Italy.
Yet the Austrian cabinet endeavored to
provide for young Napoleon in the set-
tlement of the aftairs of France. By
the peace of Paris, 1814, Austria gained
the portion of Italy which now forms
the Lombardo-Venitian kingdom, and
recovered, together with Dalmatia, the
hereditary territories which it had been
obliged to cede. The former grand
duke of Wurzburg, on the contrary, ce-
ded his territory to Bavaria, and again
took possession of Tuscany.

In the new system of Europe, es-
tablished at the congress of Vienna,
which met in 1815, and by the treaty
concluded with Bavaria, of Munich
(April 14, 1816,) the Austrian monarchy
not only gained more than 4238 square
miles of territory, but was also essen-
tially improved in compactness ; and its
commercial importance was increased
by the accession of Dalmatia and Ve-
nice. The influence of this power
among the states of Europe, in conse-
quence of the congress of Vienna, as
the first member of the great qxxadruple
alliance (changed, by the congress of
Aix-la-Chapelle, 1818, to a quintuple
alliance,) and as the head of the German

confederation, has been continually in-
creasing since the congress at Aix-la-
Chapelle, as is evident to those who
feel an interest in the history of the
age. Of the foreign affairs of the gov-
ernment, which have been conducted
by the Prince von Metternich, the most
important is the connection of Austria
with the German confederation. The
Imperial cabinet overruled the delibera-
tions of the German confederates at
Frankfort, through its minister, Count
Buol-Schauenstein (who was succeeded
in 1823, by the Baron of Munch-Bel-
linghausen,) so that all the degrees made
in the congress of Carlsbad, in August,
1819, relating to a general censorship
of literary institutions, the suppression
of liberal opinions and writings, and
of secret societies, were unanimously
adopted and published, September 20,
1819, renewed in 1824, and also in
1831. A congress was held in Vienna,
November 25, 1819, composed of all
the ministers of the German confede-
rates, to draw up a constitution for the
confederated states. It was signed at
Vienna, May 15, 1820; and June 8, of
the same year, it was acknowledged at
Frankfort as the universal law of the
German confederation. The ideas of
the Austrian Cabinet in regard to the
political condition of Germany, were
made known to the public by the re-
markable Lett re C07ifidentielle de S. A.
le Prince de Metternich d M. Ic Baron
de Berstetf, premier ministre du grand
duche de Baden, June, 1820. The uni-
ted influence of Austria and Prussia,
in the military committee of the confede-
ration, laid the foundation of the German
military system, and regulated the num-
bers and distribution of the army of
the confederacy, and the occupation
and command of the fortresses of the
empire.

Saxony and Bavaria formed a closer
connexion with the house of Austria,
by a family union, in 1819, and 1824.
November 4, 1824, the second Impe-
rial prince, the Archduke Francis, (born
1802,) was married to Sophia, princess
of Bavaria, half-sister of the empress of
Austria.

The harmony which existed between

BABYLON.

the three founders of the Holy Alliance,
led to the establishment of the princi-
ples of legitimacy ; and every one knows
the important consequences of this union,
in the maintenance of principles con-

trary to the spirit of the age, and the
law of nations ; as in the law rela-
ting to the armed interference, Austria
executed the decrees of the congress as
far as related to Naples and Piedmont.

BABYLON

The empire of Babylon, may be con-
sidered as the first great monarchy of
which any records are to be found in his-
tory. It appears to have been founded a
short time after the flood ; and (according
to the astronomical tables sent by Alex-
ander to Aristotle) about 2234 years be-
fore Christ. Of this first Babylonian
kingdom there is very little to be known,
except what is related in sacred scrip-
ture; that, about 2000 years B. C, it
consisted, under Nimrod, of four cities.
Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh; that,
about 100 years afterwards, it was en-
larged by Ashur, who built several other
cities, and particularly the first Nineveh,
on the eastern bank of the Tigris, 300
miles above Babylon ; and that it con-
tinued till the year B. C. 1230, when Ni-
nus, having overrun the greater part of
Asia, founded a second Nineveh, between
the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, about
50 miles from Babylon, and thus estab-
lished what is called the Assyrian mon-
archy. But what is generally understood
by the Babylonian empire, began about
606 years before Christ, when Belesis,
or Nebopolassar, hereditary satrap of
Babylon, revolted against the Assyrian
monarch Sardanapalus ; and having de-
stroyed that prince and his capital Nin-
eveh, transferred the seat of power to his
own city. Thus there may be said to
have been two distinct kingdoms in Ba-
bylon; one preceding, and the other fol-
lowing, the Assyrian empire. Or, rather,
more properly speaking, there were three
great eras of the same monarchy in the
country of Assyria. The first of these
commences with Nimrod, in the year
B. C. 2000, when Babylon was the seat
of power ; the second with Ninus, in the
year 1230, when Nineveh became the

metropolis of the empire ; and the third
with Belesis, in the year 606, when Ba-
bylon once more beheld the sovereigns of
the East residing in her palaces. This
subject indeed is beset with inextricable
difficulties, and involved in impenetrable
darkness ; but the above statement, which
is founded upon the observation of the
learned and ingenious Dr Gillies, in his
History of the World, (vol. i, p. 50 — 130,)
seems much more simple in itself, as
well as more consistent with history,
than either the common account, which
makes the Assyrian monarchy almost
coeval, but altogether unconnected with
the first kingdom in Babylon ; or that of
Sir Isaac Newton, who dates its origin so
late as the year B. C. 770.

Leaving our readers to decide this
point for themselves, we proceed to the
proper subject of this article, namely, to
give a short sketch of the second Baby-
lonian empire, established by Belesis, or
Nebopolassar, upon the ruins of the As-
syrian monarchy, about 606 years B. C.

Nebopolassar, or, as he is also called,
Nebuchadnezzar, continued in close
alliance with Cyaxares the Mede, by
whose assistance he had acquired the
sovereignty, and by whose friendship he
became so powerful as to excite the ap-
prehensions of the neighboring princes.

While he was employed in resisting
the Scythians, who had made themselves
masters of Upper Asia, Necho, king of
Egypt, invaded his dominions in the
south, reduced the city Carehemish, or
Circesium, and encouraged the Syrians
in that quarter to revolt. Nebopolassar,
being now well advanced in years, sent
his son Nebuchadnezzar, whom he had
associated with himself in the empire, to
reduce those countries to their former

BABYLON.

subjection. The young prince defeated
. the army of Necho near the Euphrates,
retook the city of Carehemish, and quell-
ed the insurgents in Syria : entered Ju-
dea, and took possession of Jerusalem ;
restored Jehoiakim to his throne, but
carried to Babylon great numbers of the
principal Jews, with the treasures of the
palace, and part of the sacred vessels in
the temple. In the mean time Nebopo-
lassar died, and was succeeded by his son
upon his return from his expedition.

Nebuchadnezzar II, called also La-
BYNETUs, occupied himself, during the
first years of his reign, in enlarging and
embellishing his capital; and during this
period occurred those events which are
related in the book of Daniel, chap. ii.
His tranquillity was interrupted by the
revolt of Jehoiakim in Judea, who was
soon reduced by the Babylonian gene-
rals ; but Jechonias his son, having also at-
tempted to shake off the Assyrian yoke,
Nebuchadnezzar went in person to the
seigeof Jerusalem; and having made him-
self master of the city, he carried to Baby-
lon all its treasures and sacred utensils,
leaving the government to Zedekiah, the
uncle of Jechonias. Recalled in a short
time to Judea by the revolt of Zedekiah,
he defeated the Egyptians, who had
come to the assistance of the Jews, took
Jerusalem by storm, after a twelvemonth's
siege, gave it up to pillage and slaugh-
ter, put out the eyes of the king, and car-
ried him away captive. Upon his return
to Babylon he erected a golden statue in
the plain of Dura, sixty cubits in height,
and commanded all his subjects to wor-
ship it as a divinity. {Dan. chap, iii.)
About three years after this event, he
again led his forces against the western
nations, made himself master of Tyre
after a siege of 13 years, overran the
whole country of Egypt, returned to adorn
his capital with the booty which he had
acquired ; and,havingsufferedthe punish-
ment of his pride, as related in Daniel,
chap, iv, he died in the 44th year of his
reign.

Evil-Merodach, who succeeded his
father Nebuchadnezzar, is described as a
weak and licentious prince, and was mur-
dered by his own relatives, after having
reigned little more than two years.

Nerigi.issar, the husband of Evil-
Merodach's sister, and one of the chief
conspirators, reigned in his stead. Imme-
diately after his accession, he began to
make preparations for resisting the grow-
ing power of the Medes and Persians.
After spending three years in forming al-
liances, and collecting troops, he march-
ed to meet his opponents Cyaxares and
Cyrus ; and, in a bloody engagement
with the latter, was defeated and slain.

Laborosoarchod, his son, succeeded
to the throne. By his cruelty and oppres-
sion, he provoked several of his govern-
ors to raise the standard of rebellion, and
to call in the aid of Cyrus. Marching
to suppress these commotions, he was
met by the Persian prince, defeated with
great loss, and pursued to the very walls
of his metropolis. After Cyrus had re-
tired with his army, the Babylonian mon-
arch indulged his vicious propensities to
such excess, that his own subjects, una-
ble any longer to endure his tyrannical
conduct, conspired against his life, and
put him to death, in the ninth month of
his reign. He was succeeded by

Nabonadius, who is called also La-
BYNETUs, and who is the same with
Belshazzar mentioned in sacred scrip-
ture. He was the son of Evil-Merodach,
by his queen Nitocris ; and was the
grandson of the great Nebuchadnezzar.
His mother Nitocris, who was a woman
of extraordinary talents, took upon her-
self the management of public affairs ;
and while her son was pursuing his plea-
sures, she made every exertion to pre-
serve the tottering empire. She com-
pleted many of the works which Nebu-
chadnezzar had begun ; and, when Cyrus
renewed his attacks upon the frontier
towns, she employed the utmost activity
in constructing new fortifications for the
defence of the capital. Belshazzar at
length, in the fifth year of his reign, re-
paired in person to the court of Croesus,
king of Lydia, carrying with him an im-
mense treasure ; and with the aid of that
prince, as well as by the influence of liis
wealth, framed a very formidable con-
federacy against Cyrus. Having liired a
numerous army of Egj-ptians, Greeks,
and other nations in Lesser Asia, he ap-
pointed Croesus to the command, and

BABYLON.

directed him to make an incursion into
Media. These auxiliaries having been
completely routed, Croesus taken and
dethroned, and Cyrus again advancing to
Babylon, Belshazzar attempted to make
head against him in the field, but w^as
soon put to flight, and closely blockaded
in his capital. After a siege of two years,
the city was taken, as has been related
in the preceding article ; Belshazzar w^as
slain in the assault upon his palace ; and
with him terminated the empire of the
Babylonians, about 538 years before
Christ.

Many of the statements recorded in
ancient authors, respecting the wonders
of Babylon, are unquestionably greatly
exaggerated ; but, after every abatement
that can fairly be made, this city is un-
derstood to have comprehended a regular
square, 48 miles in circuit. For the
space of 26 years after the death of Ne-
buchadnezzar, it continued to retain its
glory ; and was at once the seat of an
imperial court, the station of a numerous
garrison, and the scene of a most exten-
sive commerce. It was at length invest-
ed, about 540 years before Christ, by the
victorious armies of Cyrus the Great.
Crowded with troops for their defence,
surrounded with such lofty w^^s, and
furnished with provisions for 20 years,
the citizens of Babylon derided the efforts
of their besieger, and boasted of their
impregnable situation. On the other
hand, the conqueror of Asia, determined
to subdue his oidy remaining rival in the
empire of the eastern world, left no ex-
pedient untried for the reduction of the
city. By means of the palm trees, which
abounded in that coimtry, he erected a
number of towers higher than the walls ;
and made many desperate attempts to
carry the place by assault. He next
drew a line of circumvallation around the
city ; divided his army into 12 parts ;
appointed each of these to guard the
trenches for a month ; and resolved to
starve his enemy to a surrender. After
spending two years in this blockade, he
was presented with an opportunity of
effecting his purpose by stratagem. Hav-
ing learned that a great festival was to
be celebrated in the city, and that it was
customary with the Babylonians, on that

occasion, to spend the night in drunk-
enness and debauchery ; he posted a
part of his troops close by the spot where
the river Euphrates entered the city, and
another at the place where it went out,
with orders to march along the channel,
whenever they should find it fordable.
He then detached a third party to open
the head of the canal, which led to the
great lake already described ; and, at the
same time, to admit the river into the
trenches, which he had drawn around
the city. By these means the river was
so completely drained by midnight, that
his troops easily found their way along
its bed ; and the gates, which used to
shut up the passages from its banks,
having been left open in consequence of
the general disorder, they encountered
no obstacle whatever in their progress.
Having thus penetrated into the heart of
the city, and met, according to agreement,
at the gates of the palace, they easily
overpowered the guards ; cut to pieces
all who opposed them ; slew the king
Belshazzar, while attempting to make
resistance ; and received the submission
of the whole city within a few hours.
From this period Babylon ceased to be
the metropolis of a kingdom ; and its
grandeur very rapidly decayed. Its citi-
zens were very impatient under the Per-
sian yoke ; and their pride was particu-
larly provoked by the removal of the
imperial seat to Susa. Taking advantage
of the disorders of Persia, in consequence
of the sudden death of Cambyses, and of
the massacre of the Magians, they con-
tinued, during the space of four years, to
make secret preparations for a revolt.
At length, in the fifth year of Darius Hy-
staspes, about 518 years before Christ,
they openly raised the standard of rebel-
lion ; and thus drew upon themselves the
whole force of the Persian empire. De-
termined upon a desperate defence, and
desirous to make their provisions last as
long as possible, they adopted the bar-
barous resolution of destroying all such
persons in the city as could be of no
service during the siege. Having sacri-
ficed the lives of their friends, and reso-
lutely regardless of their own, they re-
sisted successfully all the strength and
stratagems of the Persians, for the space

BABYLON.

of 18 months ; and fell at length into the
hands of Darius by the following extra-
ordinary instance of fortitude in one of
his officers. Zopyrus, one of the prin-
cipal noblemen in the Persian court,
appeared in the presence of his prince,
covered with blood, deprived of his nose
and ears, torn with stripes, and woimded
in various parts of his body ; unfolded
to the astonished monarch his design of
deserting to the enemy, and arranged his
future plan of operations. Approaching
the walls of the city, he was carried be-
fore the governor, detailed the cruel
treatment which he professed to have
received from Darius ; offered his ser-
vices to the Babylonians, who were Avell
acquainted with his rank and abilities ;
acquired their confidence by several suc-
cessful sallies ; obtained at length the
chief command of their forces, and thus
easily found means to betray the city to
his master. As soon as Darius was in
possession of Babylon, he ordered its
hundred gates and its impregnable walls
to be demolished ; put to death 3000 of
those who had been principally concern-
ed in the revolt ; and sent 50,000 women
from different parts of his empire, to sup-
ply the place of those who had been so
cruelly destroyed at the commencement
of the siege. In the year B. C. 478,
Xerxes, the successor of Darius, return-
ing from his inglorious invasion of Greece,
passed through the city of Babylon ; and,
partly from hatred of the Sabian worship,
partly with a view to recruit his treasure,
plundered the temple of Belus of its im-
mense wealth, and then laid its lofty
tower in ruins. In this state it continu-
ed till the year B. C. 324, when Alex-
ander the Great made an attempt to
rebuild this sacred edifice, and to restore
its former magnificence. But, though he
employed about 10,000 men in this work
for the space of two months, his sudden
death put an end to the undertaking be-
fore the ground was cleared of its rubbish.
This mighty city declined very rapidly
under the successors of Alexander ; and,
in the year 294, A. C, was almost ex-

hausted of its inhabitants by Seleucus
Nicator, who built in its neighborhood
the city of Seleucia, or New Babylon.
It suff'ered greatly from the neglect and
violence of the Parthian princes before
the Christian era ; and every succeeding
writer bears testimony to its increasing
desolation. Diodorus Sicuhis, B. C. 44;
Strabo, B. C. 30; Pliny, A. D. 66; Pau-
sanias, A. D. 150; Maximus Tyrius, and
Constantino the Great, as recorded by
Eusebius, — all concur in describing its
ruined condition ; and Jerome at length
informs us, that, about the end of the 4th
century its walls were employed by the
Persian princes as an enclosure for wild
beasts, preserved there for the pleasures
of the chase. It was visited about the
end of the 12th century by Benjamin of
Tudela, in Navarre, who observed only a
few ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace
remaining, but so full of serpents and
other venomous reptiles, that it was dan-
gerous to inspect them nearly. A simi-
lar account is given by other travellers ;
by Texeira, a Portuguese ; by Rauwolf,
a German traveller, in 1574 ; by Petrus
Vallensis in 1616; by Tavernier, and
by Hanway ; but so very slight are the
vestiges now to be found of ancient Ba-
bylon, that it is diflicult to ascertain
exactly the spot on which it once stood,
so completely has been fulfilled the pre-
diction of Isaiah : — " Babylon, the glory
of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees
excellency, shall be as when God over-
threw Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall
never be inhabited, neither shall it be
dwelt in from generation to generation ;
neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there.
But wild beasts of the desert shall lie
there, and their houses shall be full of
doleful creatures ; and owls shall dwell
there, and satyrs shall dance there : and
the wild beasts of the islands shall cry
in their desolate houses, and dragons in
their pleasant palaces." The striking
accomplishment of scripture prophecies,
in the conquest, decline, and desolation
of Babylon, is very fidly illustrated in
RoUin's Ancient History.
9

BRAZIL,

BRAZIL.

Brazil was discovered by Pedro Alva-
rez Cabral. Emanuel, king of Portugal,
had equipped a squadron for a voyage to
the East Indies, under the command of
Cabral. The admiral quilting Lisbon,
March 9, 1500, fell in accidentally, April
24, with the continent of South America,
which he at first supposed to be a large
island on the coast of Africa. In this
conjecture he was soon undeceived, when
the natives came in sight. Having dis-
covered a good harbour, he anchored his
vessels, and called the bay Ptierto Se-
guro. On the next day he landed with
a body of troops, and having erected the
cross, took possession of the country in
the name of his sovereign, and called it
Santa Cruz ; but the name was after-
wards altered by king Emanuel to that of
Brazil, from the red-wood which the
country produces.

The Portuguese entertained, for some
time, no very favorable opinion of the
country, not having been able to find either
gold or silver; and, accordingly, they
sent thither none but convicts, and
wom.en of abandoned character. Two
ships were annually sent from Portugal,
to carry to the new world the refuse of
the human race, and to receive from
thence cargoes of parrots and dye-woods.
Ginger was afterwards added, but in a
short time prohibited, lest the cultivation
of it might interfere with the sale of the
same article from India. In 1548, the
Jews of Portugal, being banished to Bra-
zil, procured sugar canes from Madeira,
and began the cultivation of that article.
The court of Lisbon began to perceive
that a colony might be beneficial without
producing gold or silver, and sent over a
governor to regulate and superintend it.
This was Thomas de Souza, a wise and
able man. De Souza found it very diffi-
cult to succeed in inducing the natives
to fix on settled habitations, and to sub-
mit to the Portuguese government. Dis-
satisfaction ensued, which at length ter-
minated in war. De Souza did not bring
with him a sufficient number of men to
conclude hostilities speedily. By build-

ing St. Salvador, in 1549, at the bay of
All Saints, he established a central and
rallying point for the colony ; but the
great object of reducing the Indians to
submission was effected by the Jesuits,
who gained their affections by presents
and acts of kindness.

The increasing prosperity of Brazil,
which became visible to Europe at the
beginning of the 17th century, excited
the envy of the French, Spaniards and
Dutch, successively. The latter, how-
ever, were the principal enemies with
whom the Portuguese had to contend for
the dominion of Brazil. Their admiral,
Willekens, in 1624, took possession of
the country in the name of the United
Provinces. Having plundered the peo-
ple of St. Salvador, he returned to Europe,
leaving a strong garrison. The Spaniards
next sent out a formidable fleet, laid
siege to St. Salvador, and compelled the
Dutch to surrender. When the affairs
of the Dutch assumed a more favorable
aspect at home, they despatched admiral
Henry Lonk, in the beginning of 1630,
to attempt the entire conquest of the
country. He succeeded in reducing
Pernambuco, and on his return to Eu-
rope, left behind him troops which re-
duced in 1633, 1634 and 1635, the pro-
vinces of Temeraca, Paraiba and Rio
Grande. These, as well as Pernam-
buco, furnished yearly a large quantity of
sugar, a great deal of wood for dyeing,
and other commodities. The Dutch now
determined to conquer all Brazil, and in-
trusted Maurice of Nassau with the
direction of the enterprise. This distin-
quished officer reached the place of his
destination in the beginning of 1637, and
subjected Seara, Seregippe, and the
greater part of Bahia. Seven of the fif-
teen provinces which composed the
colony had already submitted to them,
when they were suddenly checked by
the revolution, which removed Philip IV
from the throne of Portugal, and gave to
the Portuguese independence, and a na-
tive sovereign. The Dutch then, as
enemies of the Spaniards, became friends

BRAZIL.

to the Portuguese, and the latter con-
firmed the title of the Dutch to the seven
provinces, of which they were in posses-
sion. This division gave rise to the
name of the Brazils, in place of the for-
mer appellation.

The Dutch government soon began to
oppress the Portuguese colonists, who,
after an obstinate contest, drove them out
of several of the provinces. Finding
they were not able to retain possession
of the country, the Dutch ceded all their
interest to the Portuguese for a pecuniary
compensation. The dominion of Portugal
was now extended over all Brazil, which,
during the 18th century, remained in the
peaceful possession of the Portuguese.

The value of Brazil to Portugal was
on the increase from the discovery of the
gold mines, in 1698, and the discovery
of the diamond mines, in 1782. Up to
the year 1810, Brazil had sent to Portu-
gal 14,280 cwt. of gold, and 2001 pounds
of diamonds, which foreign countries,
and especially Great Britain, at last suc-
ceeded in purchasing, at the Lisbon mar-
ket. Rio Janeiro now became the mart
for the proceeds of the Brazilian mines
and native productions. But the admin-
istration was any thing but adapted to
promote the prosperity of the country.
The attention of the government was
turned, almost exclusively, to the gold
washings, and to the working of the dia-
mond mines ; and the policy of the ad-
ministration consisted in the exaction of
taxes and duties, which were collected
from the fortified ports, to which the
trade was solely confined. Foreigners
were excluded, or jealously watched, and
trade was paralysed by numerous re-
strictions. In the interior, the lands sit-
uated on the great rivers, after being
surveyed, were frequently presented, af-
ter the year 1641, by the kings of the
house of Braganza, to the younger sons
of the Portuguese nobility, whom the
system of entails excluded from the pros-
pect of inheritance. These grantees
enlisted adventurers, purchased Negro
slaves by thousands, and subjected the
original inhabitants, or drove them from
their districts, and ruled their dominions
with almost unlimited sway. The mis-
sions of the Jesuits also received similar

donations from the kings. They orga-
nised a ferocious militia from the con-
verted savages and their descendants,
and bore the sword and cross farther
and farther into the interior. Equally
independent with the secular lords of the
soil, they united the converted savages
into villages and parishes along the rivers.
The celebrated Jesuit Vieyra introdu-
ced the cultivation of spices, in which
Holland alone had hitherto traded. As
these Brazilian proprietors defrayed, from
their own means, the above-mentioned in-
demnification made to the Dutch, the Por-
tuguese government, in return, confirmed
and enlarged all the privileges of the an-
cient planters, extending them to the
present and future possessions of these
noble families. But, in the end, the gov-
ernment multiplied its own monopolies,
and assumed prerogatives interfering
with the interests of the ancient and rich
landlords. Even from 1808 to 1821, as
long as the court resided in Rio Janeiro,
the Portuguese by birth continued to
have the preference, in the high offices
of state, before the chief native famihes ;
and the system of taxing the productions
of Brazil, and the importation of articles
needed by the Brazilian nobility for
themselves and slaves, was even extend-
ed. The government finally placed ob-
stacles in the way of increasing the num-
ber of the latter, which the rich landlords
deemed indispensable for the establish-
ment of new plantations. The vassals,
moreover, always had a stumbling-block
in their way in the fiscal prerogative of
the court, that the land which the vassal
called his own, but which he had hith-
erto neglected to search for gold or for
diamonds, in case of any future discov-
ery of such treasures, should become
the property of the crown, or, at least,
the object of high taxation. In the
grants of the ancient plantations, the
crown had not indeed provided for such
a contingency, and had reserved no such
rights. Even the humanity of the gov-
ernment, in attempting to ameliorate by
laws the condition of the slaves, was a
subject of offence, because it appeared
to the lords to be an injury to their legal
property to proceed in such a matter
without their consent.

BRAZIL.

The removal of the Portuguese govern-
ment to Brazil, January 19, 1808, when
the royal family landed in Bahia, (whence
it transferred its residence to Rio Ja-
neiro in March, till the departure of king
John VI to Lisbon, April 26, 1821,)
was the commencement of the prosperity
of Brazil. As early as January 28, 1 808,
all the ports were opened for the uncon-
ditional extrance of friendly and neutral
vessels, and for the exportation of Bra-
zilian productions, under certain duties,
with the sole exception of Brazil wood.
Brazil now entered, also, into an imme-
diate connexion with Germany, which
had an equally beneficial influence on its
agriculture, intellectual improvement and
commerce. The treaty of alliance and
commerce concluded -with England at
Rio Janeiro, February 19, 1810, per-
mitted the British even to build and
repair vessels of war in the harbors of
Brazil ; and the then prince-regent of
Portugal promised never to introduce the
inquisition into Brazil, and to co-operate
in earnest to effect the abolition of the
slave-trade, excepting such as was car-
ried on in the Portuguese possessions in
Africa.

The decree of November 18, 1814,
next allowed all nations free intercourse
with Brazil. In 1815, the prince-regent
promised Brazil independence and equal
privileges with Portugal. December 1 6,
1815, he made it a monarchy. Finally,
by the marriage of the ex-emperor, Don
Pedro, with the archduchess Leopoldine,
daughter of Francis I, of Austria, No-
vember 6, 1817, Germany was in various
ways brought into contact with Brazil.

After the conclusion of the congress
of Vienna, Spain refused to cede Oliven-
za to Portugal ; on which account the
Banda Oriental, with its capital, Monte
Video, an important portion of the Span-
ish province of Buenos Ayres, was taken
possession of by Brazil, and maintained
with effect against the claims of the re-
public of Buenos Ayres, after it had
attained independence.

An insurrection in Pernambuco, in
April, 1817, where a party raised the
republican standard, was suppressed by
the Portuguese troops stationed in Brazil.
But when the revolution broke out in

Portugal, August, 1820, having for its
object the establishment of a constitution,
the Portuguese troops in Brazil also ob-
tained a constitution in behalf of the
latter country. Don Pedro, the then
crown-prince, proclaimed the acceptation
of the Portuguese constitution in the
name of himself and father, February 2G,
1821. King John VI now commanded
the choice of deputies (March 7th) to
meet with the cortes assembled in Lis-
bon, and was desirous to embark wdth
them for that city. But the bank being
unable to make the necessary advances
of money, a bloody insurrection ensued.
The king therefore changed the bank
into a national bank, and, to defray the
sums loaned, appropriated to it the charge
of the diamond mines, and the regulation
of the trade in diamonds.

The king soon after (April 21 and 22)
saw himself compelled to order the mili-
tary to disperse the assembly of electors,
who demanded the adoption of the Span-
ish constitution. On the other hand, he
repeated the ratification of the (then in-
complete) Portuguese constitution, and,
April 22, appointed his son Don Pedro
prince-regent of Brazil. He now era-
barked for Portugal, April 26. But, as
the Portuguese cortes were not willing
to grant the entire equality of civil and
political relations demanded by the Bra-
zilians, and, without waiting for the arrival
of the Brazilian deputation, had framed
the articles of the constitution which re-
lated to Brazil, and subsequently rejected
the additional articles proposed by the
Brazilian deputies, and, finally, had ex-
pressly declared, that Brazil was to be
divided into governments, and ruled by
the ministry of state at Lisbon, and the
prince-regent was to be recalled to Por-
tugal,— such violent convulsions were
excited at Rio Janeiro, and various parts
of Brazil, December, 1821, that it was
explicitly declared to the prince-regent,
that his departure would be the signal
/or establishing an independent republic.
The prince, therefore, resolved to remain
in Brazil, and gave a public explanation
of his reasons, January 9, 1822, to his
father, to the cortes in Portugal, and to
the people of Brazil. The Portuguese
troops were removed from Brazil. The

BRAZIL.

prince-regent assumed, May 13, 1822,
the title of perpetual defender of Brazil,
and, in June, convened a national assem-
bly, composed of one hundred deputies,
to frame a separate constitution for the
country. The cortes in Lisbon, on the
other hand, declared this constitution
void, September 19, 1822, and demand-
ed the return of the prince-regent to
Europe, on pain of forfeiting his right
to the throne. Meanwhile, the national
assembly of Brazil had declared the se-
paration of that country from Portugal,
August 1, 1822, and, October 12, ap-
pointed Don Pedro the constitutional
emperor of Brazil. The new emperor
retained, at the same time, the title of
perpetual defender of Brazil.

Soon after the establishment of the
empire, began the struggle with the re-
publican party. In this party were many
freemasons.

The ministers succeeded in causing
secret societies to be prohibited, by
which means they gained a pretence for
imprisoning many whose sentiments were
republican. This augmented the public
dissatisfaction, and, when the emperor,
having been severely injured by a fall
from a horse, did not appear in public for
a month, the enemies of the ministers
became more bold in their outcries, and
even sent threatening representations to
the emperor. Meanwhile, the royal
power had been restored in Lisbon in
May, 1 823 ; but the Brazilians demand-
ed the more loudly a free constitution
and a separation from Portugal. The
emperor, therefore, refused to receive
the envoy of the king his father, the
count de Rio Mayor, September 6, 1823,
because he could not give assurance of
the acknowledgement of the indepen-
dence of Brazil. At the same time, the
congress authorised a loan of 2,500,000/.
in London, which has subsequently been
increased about 700,000/. (Seventy-live
per cent, only was paid in specie, and
six per cent, interest !) The constitution
of August 10, 1823, which the national
assembly had accepted with some alter-
ations, was finally laid before the em-
peror, but, in consequence of a revolution
which suddenly ensued, not accepted,
because it resembled the Spanish and

Portuguese constitutions, and restricted
too much the authority of the sovereign.

The provinces, also, were the theatre
of many turbulent scenes. In Pernam-
buco, the violent dissolution of the con-
gress gave rise to much dissatisfaction,
and it was difficult to appease the hatred
of the Brazilians against the Portuguese.
A second national assembly was finally
convened at the end of November, 1823,
and the emperor caused a constitution,
drawn up by his council of state, to be
laid before the cabildo (the municipality)
of the capital, December 1 1, 1823, which
collected the votes of the citizens re-
specting it in writing. As all assented
to this constitution, the oath was admin-
istered January 9, 1824. The same
course was pursued in the provinces :
but here many citizens voted against the
constitution ; among others, the president,
Man. de Carvalho Paes d'Andrade of
Pernambuco. March 25, 1824, the oath
to observe the constitution was also taken
by the emperor and empress. In its
fundamental principles, this constitution
coincided with those previously projected.
The four branches of civil authority — the
legislative, the mediative, the executive
and the judicial — were to be administered
by the representatives of the people.
The government to be monarchical, hered-
itary, constitutional, and representative.

The president, Man. de Carvalho Paes
d'Andrade, recalled by the emperor, at-
tempted to unite the northern provinces
into one republic, called the Unio7i of the
Equator. But, as soon as the emperor
had no longer cause to fear an attack
from Portugal, his forces invaded Per-
nambuco, in August, by land and sea,
under the command of lord Cochrane and
general Lima. Carvalho and Barros,
with a portion of the inhabitants, made
an obstinate resistance ; but, on the 17th
of September, 1824, the city was taken
by assault. Carvalho had fled to an
English ship of war ; the others into the
interior of the country. In the following
year, the emperor sent general Brandt
and the chev. de Carneiro to London, to
negotiate there, with the Portuguese
minister, the marquis de Villareal, re-
specting the independence of Brazil.

Similar negotiations afterwards took

BRAZIL.

place in Lisbon, through the British en-
voy extraordinary, Sir Charles Stuart,
who finally concluded, at Rio Janeiro,
with the Brazilian minister of foreign
affairs, Luis Jose de Carvalho e Mello,
a treaty between Brazil and Portugal,
August 29, 1825. About this time, the
government of the United Provinces of
the Plata urged the restoration of the
Banda Oriental, which Brazil had held
in possession since 1816. The empe-
ror, therefore, declared war against Bue-
nos Ayres, December 10, 1825, and
caused the mouth of the La Plata to be
blockaded by his vessels of war. But
the people of Ci.splatino, with the natives
of Monte Video, had already taken up
arms, for the sake of a union with the
United Provinces of the Plata. The in-
surgents took Maldonado. General Le-
cor, (viscount de Laguna,) however,
maintained himself in Monte Video. On
the other hand, the republic of the Plata
formally received the Banda Oriental
into its confederacy, and, at the close of
the year 1825, Brazil possessed but two
points in the Banda Oriental — Monte
Video and the colony del San Sagra-
mento.

A question of much importance now
arose, whether the emperor don Pedro
should succeed his father, king John VI,
in the kingdom of Portugal. The king
died March 10, 1826, having appointed
his daughter, the infanta Isabella Maria,
provisional regent. According to the
constitution of Brazil, don Pedro could
not leave the country without the consent
of the general assembly. He therefore
entered upon the government of Portu-
gal, and gave this kingdom a represen-
tative constitution, but renounced the
crown of Portugal in his own person by
the act of abdication of May 2, 1 826,
and resigned his right to his daughter
donna Maria da Gloria, princess of Beira,
born in 1819, who was to marry her
uncle don Miguel, born in 1802 ; mean-
while, the emperor confirmed the present
regent of Portugal. Soon after. May 8,

he opened the second constitutional as-
sembly of Brazil at Rio Janeiro. He
had previously, April 16, 1826, founded
the new Brazilian order of Pedro I. The
war with Buenos Ayres was continued
in the Banda Oriental with little vigor,
and with little prospect of advantage to
either party, but with a ruinous charge
upon the finances of both. A negotiation
for peace was at length opened, under
the mediation of Great Britain, which
terminated in the execution of a treaty,
August 27, 1828. In April, 1830, the
nation had become divided into the con-
stitutionalists or republicans, who were
Brazilians, — and the absolutists, or those
in favor of an absolute government, who
were Portuguese. An attempt, which
was made to induce the troops to declare
the emperor absolute, failed, and he now,
in appearance, embraced the republican
party. In March, 1831, while on a tour
in the mining districts, Pedro made use
of language which offended and alarmed
the liberal party, and on his return to
Rio Janeiro, there were manifestations
of popular excitement, in which the troops
joined. The rigor which he used on
this occasion, and his subsequent vacil-
lation of conduct, served at once to thin
his own ranks, and to increase the dis-
affection ; and revolutionary movements
were soon perceptible. Disturbances
began, April 3, and continued for several
days. Many persons were killed in the
attempts to suppress them, and when, on
the 7th, a change of ministry was an-
nounced, the people assembled to demand
the reinstatement of the old ministers ;
the troops joined in the insurrection, and
the next morning the emperor abdicated
in favor of his infant son, don Pedro II,
and embarked on board an English ship
of war for Europe. The deputies ap-
pointed a regency, and the new emperor
was proclaimed. He is much beloved
by the Brazilians, because he was born
in the country ; and since that event the
government has continued in a tranquil
state. See Portugal.

BIRMAH.

The Birman empire comprehends the
kingdoms of Ava, Pegu, Arracan, and the
adjacent states on the North. It is
bounded on the north by Thibet, Assam,
and China ; on the west, it is separated
from the British possessions by a chain
of high mountains and the river Naaf.
In the 16th century, the Birmans in
Ava made themselves independent of
Pe^; but, in 1741, they were subju-
gated anew by this state. Alompra, one
of their leaders, however, with about ] 00
faithful adherents, almost immediately
summoned the people again to arms, and
in 1753, conquered the city of Ava. De-
feat and victory succeeded alternately,
till Alompra, in 1757, conquered the city
of Pegu. This celebrated monarch died
in 1761, at the age of 50 years. He la-
bored to make his subjects happy by
promoting agriculture, by restricting the
arbitrary exercise of power on the part
of his officers, and improving the public
morals.

Every act of the magistrates, in the
Birman empire, was required to be pub-
lic, and every decree to be made known :
even commercial treaties, and all rela-
tions estabUshed with foreign countries,
were registered among the laws of the
state, and open to the inspection of every
one. Namdogee, his eldest son and suc-
cessor, who died in 1764, inheriting his
father's spirit, adopted from other nations
whatever was of general utility to his
own, and was anxious to do away abuses.
Both father and son attended particularly
to the administration of the East India
company. Shambuan, the emperor's
brother, became regent, as guardian for
his nephew Mornien ; but he usurped
the throne himself, and conquered Siam.
In 1771, however, this province recov-
vered its independence, while the princi-
pal part of the Birman forces were en-
gaged in a war with China. In this
war they were victorious, and compelled
the Chinese, whom they took prisoners,
to intermarry with the Birman females,
and to remain in their territory.

Fortune continued to attend this

prince ; and, in 1776, he left his empire,
much enlarged, to his son Chengenza.
This prince lived in the unrestrained in-
dulgence of every appetite, till, in 1782,
he was dethroned and put to death. In
consequence of this revolution, Shem-
buan Menderagan, the fourth son of
Alompra, ascended the throne. He or-
dered his nephew Mornien, who was a
state prisoner, to be drowned, and, in
1783, subdued the kingdom of Arracan.
He then engaged in a war with Siam,
which continued till 1793, and finally
compelled it to submission on certain
conditions. About this period, some
highway robbers fled from the Birman
empire, and took refuge in the territory
of the East India company. Shembuan
demanded that they should be delivered
up. His demands were not immediately
complied with, and he marched, with a
strong force, into the offending country.
At the same time, he carried on a friendly
negotiation with the government in Cal-
cutta, Avhich resulted in the surrender of
the criminals, and the conclusion of a
treaty of amity and commerce between
the two governments, which agreed to
afford each other mutual aid, in case of
an invasion from China. It was negoti-
ated by captain Symes. Shembuan was
succeeded, in 1819, by his grandson.
The last victory of the Birmans was in
1822, over the northern mountainous
province of Assam, at the source of the
Burrampooter. The party driven from
Assam, together with the Birman rebels,
fled to the British territories, whence
they intended to invade Birmah. The
British government forthwith disarmed
the insurgents, but refused to deliver them
up or to drive them from the island of
Shapin-i, which they had occupied. The
court at Ummerapoora, therefore, attempt-
ed to set the Mahrattas and all Hindostan
in arms against the English.

At length, the monarch with the golden
feet (one of the titles of the sovereign of
Birmah) demanded of the government at
Calcutta the cession of northern Bengal,
as being a part of Ava ; and, in January,

BIRMAH.

1824, the Birman forces marched into
Kadschar, which had deposed its rulers,
and put itself under British protection.
Lord Amherst, as governor-general of
the British East Indies, now declared
war against Birmah, and general Archi-
bald Campbell prosecuted it so success-
fully, that, after the victory at Prome
(Dec. 1-3, 1825,) he obliged the mon-
arch to conclude a very unequal peace
at Panlanagh, Dec. 31, 1825. As the
treaty was not ratified, on the part of Boa,
the Birman emperor, by the time speci-
fied, (Jan. 18, 1826,) Campbell renewed
the war on the 19th, and stormed the for-
tress cf Murmun. Feb. 24, the peace
was ratified, and the war concluded. The
king ceded to the company the provinces
of Arracan, Merguy, Tavoy and Yea, and
paid them a sum amounting to rather
more than 1,000,000/. sterling. Assam
was made once more independent, and
rajahs were appointed by the company
to govern the northern provinces of Mun-
nipore, Assam, Kadschar and Yeahung.
The important city of Rangoon was de-
clared a free port. Thus all the western
coast of the Birman empire was ceded
to the East India company, and the most
powerful of the East Indian states was
divided and weakened.

The following circumstantial accounts,
relating to the foregoing events, are taken
from a "Narrative of the Burmese War,"
by major Snodgrass, an ofiicer engaged

" The moving masses, which had so
very lately attracted our anxious attention
had sunk into the ground ; and, to any
one who had not witnessed the whole
scene, the existence of these subterra-
nean legions would not have been credit-
ed : the occasional movement of a chief,
with his gilt chittah (umbrella,) from
place to place, superintending the progress
of their labor, was the only thing that
now attracted notice. By a distant ob-
server, the hills, covered with mounds
of earth, would have been taken for any
thing rather than the approaches of an at-
tacking army ; but to us, who had watch-
ed the whole strange proceeding, it
seemed the work of magic or enchant-
ment.

" In the afternoon, his Majesty's thir-
teenth regiment and the eighteenth Ma-

dras Native Infantry, under major Sale,
were ordered to move rapidly forward
upon the busily-employed and too-confi-
dent enemy ; and, as was suspected, they
were found wholly unprepared for such
a visit, or for our actii^g in any way
against such numerous opponents, on the
offensive. They had scarcely perceived
the approach of our troops before they
were upon them, and the fire Avhich they
at last commenced proved wholly inade-
quate to checking their advance. Hav-
ing forced a passage through their in-
trenchments, and taken the enemy in the
flank, the British detachment drove the
Avhole line from their cover with consid-
erable loss ; and having destroyed as
many of their arms and tools as they
could find, retired unmolested before the
numerous bodies which were now form-
ing on every side around them.

"The trenches Avere found to be a suc-
cession of holes, capable of containing
two men each, and excavated, so as to
afford shelter, both from the weather and
the fire of an enemy ; even a shell light-
ing in the trench could at most but kill
two men. As it is not the Burmese sys-
tem to relieve their troops in making
these approaches, each hole contained a
sufficient supply of rice, water, and even
fuel for its inmates ; and under this ex-
cavated bank, a bed of straw or brush-
wood was prepared, in which one man
could sleep while his comrade watched.
When one line of trench is completed,
its occupiers, taking the advantage of the
night, push forward to where the second
line is to be opened, their place being
immediately taken up by fresh troops
from the rear, and so on progressively, —
the number of trenches occupied varying
according to the force of the besiegers,
to the plans of the general, or to the na-
ture of the ground. The Burmese, in
the course of the evening, reoccupied
their trenches, and recommenced their .
labors, as if nothing had occurred ; their
commander, however, took the precaution
of bringing forward a strong corps of re-
serve to the verge of the forest, from
which his left wing had issued, to pro-
tect it from any future interruption in its
operations."

The Burmese have mreat faith in as-

BIRMAH.

trology, and it appears that a considerable
corps of bigots or impostors accompany
their army. The Invulnerables form
another and singular portion of their
troops : these men, excited by opium, and
emboldened by superstition, show a mark-
ed contempt of danger ; some of them
exhibited a war-dance of defiance, upon
the most exposed parts of the defences,
even during the heat of the action. To
this corps was confided the dangerous
task of driving our troops from their post
in the great temple near Rangoon.

" At midnight, on the 30th, the attempt
was accordingly made ; the Invulnerables,
armed with swords and muskets, rushing
in a compact body from the jungle under
the Pagoda ; a small piquet, thrown out
in our front, retiring in slow and steady
order, skirmishing with the head of the
advancing column, until it reached the
stairs leading up to the Pagoda, at the
summit of which the troops were drawn
out, silently awaiting the approach of the
Invulnerables, whose numbers in the
darkness of the night (the moon having
set previous to the commencement of the
attack) could only be guessed at, by the
noise and clamor of their threats and im-
precations upon the impious strangers, if
they did not immediately evacuate the
sacred temple, as, guided by a few glim-
mering lanterns in their front, they bold-
ly and rapidly advanced in a dense mul-
titude along the narrow pathway leading
to the northern gateway. At length vivid
flashes, followed by the cannon's thun-
dering peals, broke from the silent ram-
parts of the British post, stilling the tu-
mult of the advancing mass, while show-
ers of grape and successive volleys of
musketry fell with dreadful havoc among
their crowded ranks, against which the
imaginary shield of self-deceit and impo-
sition was found of no avail, leaving the
unfortunate Invulnerables scarcely a
chance between destruction and inglori-
ous flight. Nor did they hesitate long
upon the alternative ; a few devoted en-
thusiasts may have despised to fly, but
as they all belonged to the same high
favored caste, and had brought none of
their less-favored countrymen to witness
their disgrace, the great body of them
soon sought for safety in the jungle,
10

where they, no doubt, invented a plausi-
ble account of their night's adventure,
which, however efljectual it may have
proved in saving their credit, had also
the good eflect to us of preventing them
in future from volunteering upon such
desperate services, and contributed, in
some degree, to protect the troops from
being so frequently deprived of their
night's rest."

From this epoch, the Burmese leaders,
convinced of the hopelessness of coping
with the invaders in the field, reverted
for some time to their much more formi-
dable system, of fortifying themselves in
the most inaccessible parts of the forest,
straitening the quarters of the British, and
harassing our worn out troops by desul-
tory skirmishes and nightly inroads. It
was once more necessary to force them
to a general encounter ; and on the 8th
of July, in the most inclement part of
the rainy season. Sir Archibald Campbell
moved out to attack their stockaded camp
at Kummeroot on the river, five miles
from the town, by land and water. Ten
stockades were carried by escalade ;
with the captiure of thirty pieces of cannon,
and with a loss to the Burmese of their
chief commander and eight hundred
killed, while all the surrounding jungles
were filled with their miserable wounded
and dying.

" The corps of Maha Nemiow had for
some days remained stationary within a
morning's walk of Prome, assiduously
occupied in strengthening their hidden
position in the jimgles of Simbike and
Kyalaz, on the Nawiue river, maintaining
so close and vigilant a watch, and con-
ducting matters with so much secrecy,
as to prevent us from gaining the slight-
est information either as to the extent or
nature of their defences, or the intention of
their leader, when finished. Eight thou-
sand men of his corps d'armee were
Shans, who had not yet come in contact
with our troops, and were expected to
fight with more spirit and resolution than
those who had a more intimate acquaint-
ance with their enemy. In addition to

numerous list of Chobwas and petty
princes, these levies were accompanied
by three young and handsome women of
high rank, who were believed, by their

BIRMAH.

superstitious countrymen, to be endowed
not only with the gift of prophecy and
foreknowledge, but to possess the mira-
culous power of turning aside the balls of
the English, rendering them wholly in-
nocent and harmless. These Amazons,
dressed in warlike costumes, rode con-
stantly among the troops, inspiring them
with courage and ardent wishes for an
early meeting with their foe, as yet only
known to them by the deceitful accounts
of their Burmese masters.

" On the 30th of November arrange-
ments were made for attacking the ene-
my on the following morning, beginning
with the left, and taking the three corps
d'armee rapidly in detail, which their
insulated situation aftbrded every facility
for doing. Commodore Sir James Bris-
bane, with the flotilla, was to commence
a cannonade upon the enemy's post, upon
both banks of the Irravvaddy, at daylight,
and a body of Native infantry was at the
same time to advance along the margin
of the river, upon the Kee Whongee's
position at Napadee, and to drive in his
advanced posts upon the main body,
drawing the enemy's whole attention to
his right and centre, while the columns
were marching out for the real attack
upon the left, at Simbike. Leaving four
regiments of Native infantry in garrison,
at daylight, on the morning of the 1st of
December, the rest of the force was as-
sembled, and formed in two columns of
attack at a short distance in front of
Prome. One, under brigadier-general
Cotton, marched by the straight road
leading to Simbike, while the other, ac-
companied by the commander of the
forces, crossed the Nawine river, moving
along its right bank, for the purpose of
attacking the enemy in the rear, and cut-
ting off his retreat upon the Kee Whon-
gee's division. The columns had scarce-
ly moved off, when a furious cannonade
upon our left announced the commence-
ment of operations on the river, and so
completely deceived the enemy, that we
found the piquets of his left withdrawn,
and the position at Simbike exposed to a
sudden aud unexpected attack. Briga-
dier-general Cotton's column first reach-
ed the enemy's line, consisting of a suc-
cession of stockades erected across an

open space in the centre of the jungle,
where the villages of Simbike and Kya-
laz had stood, having the Nawine river
in the rear, a thick wood on either flank,
and assailable only by the open space in
front, defended by cross fires from the
zigzaging formation of the works. The
brigadier-general, having quickly made
his dispositions, the troops, consisting of
His Majesty's forty-first in front, and the
flank companies of His Majesty's Royal
and eighty-ninth regiments, with the
eighteenth Madras Native infantry in the
flank, moved forward with their usual in-
trepidity. The Shans, encouraged by the
presence of their veteran commander,
who, unable to walk, was carried from
point to point, in a handsomely gilded
litter, and cheered by the example and
earnest exhortations to fight bravely, of
the fearless Amazons, offered a brave
resistance to the assailants ; but no soon-
er was a lodgment made in the interior
of their crowded works, than confusion
ensued, and they were unable longer to
contend with, or check the progress of
the rapidly increasing line which formed
upon their ramparts, and from whose de-
structive volleys there was no escaping :
the strongly built enclosures, of their
own construction, every where prevent-
ing flight, the dead and dying blocked
up the few and narrow outlets from the
work. Horses and men ran in wild con-
fusion from side to side, trying to avoid
the fatal fire ; groups were employed in
breaking down, and trying to force a
passage through the defences ; while the
brave, who disdained to fly, still offered
a feeble and ineflectual opposition to the
advancing troops. The grey headed
Chobwas of the Shans, in particxdar,
showed a noble example to their men,
sword in hand, singly maintaining the
unequal contest ; nor could signs or ges-
tures of good treatment induce them to
forbearance. Attacking all who offered
to approach them with humane or friend-
ly feelings, they only sought the death
which too many of them found. Maha
Nemiow himself fell while bravely urg-
ing his men to stand their ground ; and
his faithful attendants, being likewise
killed by the promiscuous fire while in
tlie act of carrying him off, his body, with

BUENOS AYRES.

his sword, Whongee's chain, and other
insignia of office, were found among the
dead. One of the fair Amazons also re-
ceived a fatal bullet in the breast ; but the
moment she was seen, and her sex was
recognised, the soldiers bore her from the
scene of death to a cottage in the rear,
where she soon expired.

" While this was passing in the inte-
rior of the stockades, Sir Archibald Camp-
bell's column, pushing rapidly forward to
their rear, met the defeated and panic-
struck fugitives in the act of emerging
from the jungle and crossing the Nawine

river. The horse-artillery was instantly
unlimbered, and opened a heavy fire upon
the crowded fort. Another of the Shan
ladies was here observed flying on horse-
back with the defeated remnant of her
people ; but before she could gain the
opposite bank of the river, where a friend-
ly forest promised safety and protection,
a shrapnel exploded above her head, and
she fell from her horse into the water ;
but whether killed, or only frightened,
could not be ascertained, as she was
immediately borne off by her attend-
ants,"

BUENOS AYRES

The accidental discovery of Brazil by
the Portuguese admiral, Cabral, on his
way to the East Indies, in 1500, was
the first circumstance which led to the
exploration of the South American con-
tinent. In the following year, Americus
Vespucius coasted along its eastern shore
as far as the 52d degree of south lati-
tude ; but was compelled, by the cold-
ness and tempestuousness of the weather,
to return to Portugal, without making
any discovery of importance. In 1516,
Juan Dias de Solis, grand pilot of Cas-
tile, who had been entrusted, by the
court of Spain, with an expedition, con-
sisting of three vessels, for continuing
the discovery of Brazil, first entered the
Rio de la Plata, to which he gave his
own name. Fearful, however, of ven-
turing far up the river with his squadron,
on account of the difficulty and danger of
the navigation, he sailed along its north-
ern coast in his long-boat ; and discov-
ering some savages on the beach, who,
by their gestures and signs, seemed to
invite him on shore, he imprudently land-
ed with a few men, and without taking
any precautions for his safety. He and
his followers were immediately massa-
cred and devoured by the Indians, with-
in sight of their companions, who re-
mained in the boat, but who were unable
to afford them any assistance. The ex-
pedition returned to Spain, and this dis-

covery was for some years neglected or
forgotten.

The first attempt of the Portuguese to
explore the interior of this continent,
was equally unfortunate. The reports
of the immense riches which the Span-
iards had gained in Peru, had reached
the ears, and excited the avarice, of the
governor of Brazil. He dispatched Al-
exis de Garcia, and four others, to pene-
trate the country by an overland journey.
Garcia was assassinated by the natives.

These disasters prevented, for a lime,
any similar attempts at conquest in this
quarter, until 1526, when Sebastian Ca-
bot, grand pilot of Castile, who had been
dispatched by the emperor Charles V,
upon a voyage of circumnavigation by
the Straits of Magellan, anchored in the
La Plata, then called Rio de Solis, near
the islands of San Gabriel. Having re-
ceived the most flattering description of
the riches and beauty of the country
from some Spaniards whom he found in
the port of Patos, and who had deserted
from the army of Solis, he determined to
relinquish the original object of the ex-
pedition, and to accomplish farther dis-
coveries upon the Paraguay. After an
unsuccessful attempt of one of his cap-
tains to explore the river Uraguay, which
he took for the true Rio de Solis, he pro-
ceeded up the Parana, and built a small
fort at the mouth of the Rio Tercero.

BUENOS AYRES.

This fort he garrisoned with sixty sol-
diers, and called it Santi Espiritu, or the
Fort of the Holy Ghost. He then fol-
lowed the course of the river as high as
27^ degrees of latitude, where he met
with some Indians, who wore in their
ears small pieces of gold and silver.
These they exchanged with the Span-
iards for some European trifles, but could
give them no information where these
metals were to be found, except that they
had received them from some of the
tribes upon the Parag-uay. Cabot im-
mediately ascended that river, but a party
of his men being cut off by the natives,
who had deluded them on shore, with
the promise of showing them their riches,
he returned to Santi Espiritu. Satisfied
that the pieces of gold and silver which
he had obtained from the Indians on the
Parana, were the produce of the mines
in the neighborhood, he gave to the river
the name of Rio de la Plata, or River of
Silver ; and dispatched Ferdinand Cal-
deron to Spain, to inform the emperor of
his discoveries and operations. The
emperor was so delighted with the ap-
pearance of the pieces of silver, Avhich
were the first that had been brought from
America to Spain, that he not only ap-
proved of Cabot's deviation from his
original instructions, and of all that he
had hitherto done, but he ordered a great
armament to be fitted out for accomplish-
ing the complete conquest of the country.
Six years, however, elapsed before this
armament was ready for sea; and, dur-
ing that time, the fort of Santi Espiritu
had been destroyed, and the country en-
tirely evacuated by the Spaniards.

Such was the situation of affairs in
Paraguay when the Spanish armament
arrived in 1535, under the command of
Don Pedro de Mendoza, who was ap-
pointed governor and captain-general of
all the countries that might be discovered
as far as the South Sea. This arma-
ment consisted of fourteen vessels, car-
rying 72 horses, 2500 Spaniards, and
150 Germans, Flemings or Saxons. The
first care of Mendoza was to select a
convenient station for a new settlement,
and having fixed upon a spot on the
south bank of the river, he there founded
the city of Buenos Ayres, on the 2d of

February, 1535. The natives, who at
first brought provisions, and seemed well
disposed towards the Spaniards, soon
showed a determined hostility to the set-
tlers. They cut off their foraging par-
ties, intercepted their provisions, and
massacred every European whom they
found straggling in the country. They
even attacked the city, killed thirty Span-
iards, and burnt almost all the houses.
This opposition, added to the ravages of
famine and disease, which had begun to
rage in the colony, determined the gov-
ernor to look out for a more eligible sit-
uation for an establishment, and for that
purpose proceeded up the river. Having
rebuilt the fort of Santi Espiritu, under
the name of Buena-Esperanza, he des-
patched his lieutenant Ayolas, with three
barks well manned, to continue the voy-
age ; and required him, if he did not re-
turn within four months, to transmit an
account of his operations and discoveries.
Mendoza soon after became dangerously
ill, and naming Ayolas his successor in
the government, embarked for Spain, but
died on his passage. Ayolas pushed up
the river, and treated amicably with all
the natives whom he met upon his voy-
age, until he came to the 25th deg-ree of
latitude, where the Indians declined all
kind of intercourse with the Spaniards.
He immediately landed his forces, and
fought the Indians in the valley of Guar-
nipitan. They were defeated with great
slaughter, and an immediate peace was
the consequence, when the Indians not
only supplied him with provisions, but
also brought seven young females for
Ayolas, and two for each of his soldiers.
Here Ayolas built a small fort, which he
called Assumption, from the day on
which the battle was fought, being the
15th of August, 1536. Proceeding upon
his voyage, he landed at Puerto de Can-
delaria, in latitude 21° 5', where, being
assured by the Guarinis Indians, that
there were several nations to the west-
ward who possessed a great deal of
gold and silver, he resolved to go in quest
of them ; and leaving his brigantines un-
der the command of Irala, with orders to
wait six months for his return, he pene-
trated by Chaco and the province of
Chiquitos as far as Peru, and returned

BUENOS AYRES,

to Candelaria loaded with treasure. Ira-
la, however, had departed before the ap-
pointed time ; and Ayolas, attempting to
form a settlement among the Payaguas,
was surprised and killed, along with all
his followers.

While the progress of discovery was
thus interrupted on the Paraguay, the
colonies on the La Plata were suffering
all the horrors of famine. Galan, the
governor of Buenos Ayres, had exposed
himself, by his severity and oppression,
to the universal detestation of the inhab-
itants ; and his arbitrary and perfidious
conduct towards the Indians in the neigh-
borhood of Buena Esperanza awakened
all the ancient animosity of the Timbuez,
who drove the Spaniards from that set-
tlement. During these melancholy oc-
currences, three vessels arrived from
Spain with reinforcements under the
command of Alphonso Calrera, who also
brought out a commission from the em-
peror, appointing Ayolas governor and
captain-general of the Rio de la Plata.
In case of his death, however, and no
successor being chosen by the chiefs of
the expedition, he was enjoined, by an
imperial CeduUa, to assemble them for
the election of a new governor. For this
purpose they met at Assumption in the
month of August, 1538, when the choice
fell unanimously upon Irala. At this
meeting it was also resolved to abandon
Buenos Ayres, and to concentrate all
their forces at Assumption, which had
already begun to assume the appearance
of a city. But of three thousand Euro-
peans who had entered the La Plata,
scarcely six hundred remained to com-
pose the population of Assumption. —
These, however, were soon afterwards
reinforced, by the arrival of four hundred
Spaniards, under the command of Don
Alvarez, who had been sent out by the
emperor to take upon him the govern-
ment of the Rio de la Plata in case of
the death of Ayolas. Irala submitted
with a good grace, but set himself secret-
ly to foment divisions among the officers
of the garrison, and to procure the remo-
val of his rival. The first steps of the
new governor were to secure the friend-
ship of the neighboring Indians ; and by
his mild and prudent conduct, he not only

gained their affections, but converted
many of them to the Christian faith ; and
by firm and decisive measures he repres-
sed the insolence of those more fierce
and savage tribes, who were constantly
committing hostilities against the Span-
iards. Farther discoveries were also
prosecuted on the Paraguay. Irala, with
ninety Spaniards, had advanced towards
the sources of that river, and anchored at
the mouth of the lake Xarayes, in lati-
tude 17° 57', which he called Puerto de
los Reyes. Proceeding west by land,
he fell in with several nations, among
whom he found a great deal of wrought
gold and silver; but he was unable to
discover whence they obtained it.

As soon as Alvarez was made ac-
quainted with this circumstance, he re-
solved upon undertaking a similar ex-
pedition in person, and of opening a way
into Peru. Leaving Los Reyes with
300 Spaniards, and provisions for twen-
ty days, he directed his course westward
through a woody country, sometimes so
impenetrable, that he was obliged to cut
a passage for his troops. On the sixth
day he reached the banks of a river,
whose waters were very warm and trans-
parent. Here several nations sent dep-
uties to him with compliments and pro-
visions, while others attempted to oppose
his passage. Proceeding on, he is said
to have come to a large town, consisting
of 8000 houses or huts, in the centre of
which stood a wooden tower, containing
a monstrous serpent, which was deified
by the Indians. The capture of this
town, and the destruction of its divinity,
terminated the expedition ; for he was
compelled to return by the murmurings
of his troops, who refused to accompany
him farther.

The moderation and upright conduct
of Alvarez towards the Indians, and his
determined firmness in resisting the ava-
rice and tyranny of his countrymen, had
increased the partizans of Irala, who now
resolved upon his removal. He was
seized on the 26th of April, 1541, and
afterwards sent prisoner to Spain, ac-
companied with many grievous accusa-
tions, which, however, were never sub-
stantiated. But it was not until after
eight years delay, that he was fully ac-

BUENOS AYRES.

quitted, and rewarded with a pension of
2000 gold crowns, and a seat in the
council of the Indians, and in the royal
audience of SeA'ille.

The humane and temperate proceed-
ings of Alvarez were soon forgotten un-
der the usurpation of Irala. The Indian
villages became scenes of pillage and
oppression, which produced frequent re-
volts; and even the Spanish colonists
themselves were not free from the rapa-
city of his soldiery. Tyrannical and sus-
picious, he was continually surrounded
with spies ; and imprisonment or death
was inflicted upon all, who were sus-
pected of convej'ing intelligence of his
conduct, either to Spain, or the viceroy
of Peru. His measures, however, though
often severe, were executed with firm-
ness and decision, and tended greatly to
the extension of the Spanish power in
America.

In 1547, the city of Assumption was
erected into a bishopric by Pope Paul
III ; but it was not until 1554, that the
bishop Francis Pedro de la Torre arrived
with his retinue in Paraguay. He was
accompanied by three vessels full of
men, arms, and ammunition, under the
command of Martin de Urua, who brought
out a commission from the emperor, con-
tinuing Irala in his government ; and also
various orders and regulations respect-
ing the encomiejidas and personal services
of the Indians. The number of Indians,
already reduced or converted, were in-
sufficient to supply all the Spaniards
who laid claim to their services; new
settlement were consequently resolved
upon, and detachments were sent out to
discover proper situations for the estab-
lishment of encomiendas, and to reduce
the natives under their power. With
this view, Ciudad Real was founded in
the province of Guayra, in 1 557, when
40,000 Indians were trained to habits of
industry; and a few years after, the en-
comienda of Santa Cruz de la Sierra vvas
established in Los Chiquitos, compre-
hending nearly 60,000 inhabitants. Of
this system, however, Irala did not live
long to promote the eftects ; but being
seized with a fever, he died at Assump-
tion in 1557, after nominating his son-
in-law, Don Gonzalez de Mendoza, lieu-

tenant-general and commander of the pro
vince, until the emperor's pleasure should
be known. Mendoza survived liis ex-
altation scarcely a year ; and his death
was succeeded by rebellious and civil
dissensions throughout the province. —
The Spanish chiefs, ambitious of wealth,
and impatient of control, and far remov-
ed from the authority of the parent state,
often disputed for pre-eminence. One
governor refused to acknowledge the su-
premacy of another, and frequently re-
tained, or seized by violence or fraud,
dignities to which a successor had been
appointed. But amidst the fierceness
of contention, the India'ns found no relief
from their intolerable bondage. Expos-
ed to the arbitrary exactions and capri-
cious cruelty of their task-masters, they
were fast hastening to extinction ; and
had not some farther regulations been
adopted by the Spanish court, its pos-
sessions in this country would soon have
been converted into an uninhabited de-
sert. The preservation and increase of
the Indian population, however, was
chiefly owing to the labors of the Jesuits,
who by their mildness and humanity, not
only reduced them under the dominion
of the cross, but established a political
government amongst them, of which
promises and persuasion were the prin-
cipal engines of authority.

In 1609, Father Torrez, the provincial
of the Jesuits, received full power from
the governor of Paraguay, which was
sanctioned by the bishop, to collect their
newly converted Indians into townships,
which were to be independent of all the
other Spanish establishments ; to civilize
and to instruct them ; and to oppose, in
the king's name, all who should endeavor
to subject them to personal service. —
They were only to acknowledge the sove-
reignty of the king of Spain, of whom
they were to be considered as the im-
mediate vassals. This power was af-
terwards confirmed by Philip HI, and
his successors; and such were the zeal
and labors of the Jesuits, that, in the
course of 20 years, they had established
21 reductions upon the Parana and the
Uraguay.

The Spaniards had extended their
power over the vast plains which lie

BUENOS AYRES.

between the Paraguay and the ChiUan
Cordillera. Los Charcas, after an ob-
stinate and vigorous resistance, had sub-
mitted to Gonzalez Pizarro, soon after
the subjugation of Peru ; and Tucuman
had also been subdued, and settled by
the conquerors of that country. The re-
establishment of Buenos Ayres had been
resolved upon by the governor of Para-
guay, and carried into execution in
1580, — the want of a proper harbor at
the mouth of the La Plata rendering that
undertaking absolutely necessary. This
city was at first exceedingly annoyed by
the adjacent Indians, and remained long-
in a state of poverty. It, however,
emerged by degrees into distinction, and
rose to be the capital of the viceroyalty.
A new province, distinct from that of
Paraguay, had also been established
about 1620, under the name of Rio de la
Plata, now Buenos Ayres, of which Don
Diego Gongora was appointed governor.

Nothing of much importance occurred
in the history of this country till 1679,
when the Portuguese attempted a settle-
ment on the north bank of the Rio de la
Plata. This settlement gave rise to
many disputes between Portugal and
Spain, till it was ceded to the Spaniards
in 1778.

The increasing prosperity of the Je-
suits about 1730, began to attract the at-
tention of the Spanish government. Be-
sides their settlements upon the Parana
and the Uraguay, they had established
reductions among the Chiquitos and the
Moxos ; and also several of the Pampas
Indians had been united in a reduction
called Conception, a little south-east of
Buenos Ayres. The number and strength
of these establishments rendered them
objects of considerable apprehension to
the .Spanish colonists, who, imagining
that they beheld them advancing with a
decided step to independent empire,
were alarmed at the stability and impor-
tance which they had acquired. They
were also exasperated at the subduction
of so many tribes of Indians, Avho, they
asserted, belonged to them by right of
conquest, and ought to have been divided
in encomiendas. Repeated attempts
were consequently made to ruin the
Jesuits at the court of Madrid. They

were loaded with accusations and asper-
sions, and were solemnly charged with
alienating the Indians from the crown of
Spain. But many of these imputations
having been found to be either ground-
less or exaggerated, they were confirmed
by a royal decree, in 1745, in all their
rights and immunities. The revolt of
the Guarinis, however, which soon fol-
lowed, greatly diminished the power of
the Jesuits.

The expulsion of their order from
Spain, in 1767, was immediately follow-
ed by the subversion of their empire in
America. Their missions were con-
verted into regular Spanish settlements,
called Presidencies ; and they were suc-
ceeded in their spiritual labors by the
the monks of St. Francis, St. Dominic,
and the order of Mercy. We may form
some estimate of the prosperity of these
reductions, from the number of cattle
which they possessed at the time of
their annexation to the government of
Paraguay, viz ; 769,353 horned cattle,
94,983 horses, and 221,537 sheep.
• The difficulties attending the direction
of such an extensive viceroyalty as that
of Peru, determined the Spanish court to
disjoin the provinces of Buenos Ayres,
Paraguay, Tucuman, Los Charcas, and
Cuyo, from that government, and to
erect them into a separate viceroyalty,
with Buenos Ayres for its capital. This
arrangement was soon found to be most
conducive to the prosperity of the coun-
try, as well as to the advantage of the
parent state ; for, except some partial
insurrections among the Indians of Los
Charcas, and the Guarinis presidencies,
nothing of importance occurred to dis-
turb the tranquility of the colonists until
1806, when a British squadron appeared
in the mouth of the Rio de la Plata.

This expedition, under the command
of Major General Beresford and Sir
Home Popham, anchored off Point de
Quilmes, about twelve miles from Bue-
nos Ayres, on the 25th of June, 1806.
The debarkation of the troops was efiect-
ed in the course of the afternoon and
night, without the least opposition from
the enemy, who, though stationed at the
village of Reduction, only about two
miles from the beach, remained quiet

BUENOS AYRES.

spectators of their operations. After a
feeble resistance on the following day,
they fled with precipitation, leaving be-
hind them four field pieces, and one tum-
bril ; and, taking up a new position on
the Rio Chuelo, nearly three miles from
the city, attempted to oppose the pas-
sage of the British troops. A few dis-
charges of artillery, however, and the
determined appearance of the army,
soon compelled them to disperse, when
General Beresford entered the capital
without opposition. The conquest of
this important settlement was thus effect-
ed with a very trifling loss, and the cap-
tors were rewarded with a rich booty in
specie and colonial produce. Short
lived, however, was the triumph of the
English; for no sooner did the Span-
iards discover the inconsiderable force
which had possession of their capital,
than they immediately determined upon
its recovery, and, before reinforcements
should arrive from England, to expel
from their country these daring intru-
ders. A thousand regular troops from
Monte Video, under the command of
Colonel Liniers, supported by an armed
mob, amounting to nearly 20,000 men,
marched against the city. But the Brit-
ish troops, consisting of only 1300 men,
received them with such cool and deter-
mined resistance, that they were at first
repulsed and thrown into confusion. By
repeated attacks, however, they prevail-
ed. The British were at last overpow-
ered, and obliged to surrender, on the
12th of August, with the loss of 1 14 men
killed and wounded. Scarcely was the
re-capture accomplished, when succours
arrived from the Cape of Good Hope ;
with which Sir Home Popham, after
having made an abortive attempt upon
Monte Video, took possession of Mal-
donado, a strong position at the mouth
of the La Plata.

The people of England were so de-
lighted with the intelligence of their new
conquest, and so buoyed up with the
prospect of a free and ready market for
their manufactures, that the ministry, in
compliance with the public feeling, but
contrary to their own better judgment,
resolved to retain a possession which
had been acquired without either their

consent or approbation. Sir Samuel
Achmuty was consequently dispatched
with a strong reinforcement ; but, before
his arrival, Buenos Ayres had been lost.
He, however, took Monte Video by-
storm, and then sent a small detachment
under Colonel Pack, to occupy Colonia
del Sacramento, which lies on the north
side of the river, opposite to Buenos
Ayres.

The English general waited now only
for farther succours to proceed against
the Spanish capital. The Spaniards, in
the mean time, however, had made every
preparation for defence. Their ancient
animosity against the English, which
had been excited by the ravages of
Drake, of Cavendish, and of the Bucca-
neers, was now revived ; and they de-
termined upon a stout and resolute op-
position. Every avenue to the city was
barricaded with bullock's hides, placed
from fifteen to twenty feet thick, against
which it would be in vain to fire. Many
of the houses which had parapet walls,
were planted with small artillery ; and
every citizen that could carry arms had
his appointed station. Conspiracies
were also forming in the very heart of
the British troops. The Spanish inhab-
itants of Monte Video had secreted arms
and ammunition in their houses, with the
intention of rising upon their conquerors ;
and a Spanish gentleman and his servant
were executed, for endeavoring to entice
some of the 9th light dragoons to join
the Spanish army.

General Whitelocke arrived at Monte
Video on the 10th of May, 1807, to take
the chief command of the British force ;
and, on the 15th of June, was joined by
General Craufurd, with the expedition
which had been destined against Chili,
but which the British government, upon
receiving intelligence of the recapture
of Buenos Ayres, had commanded to re-
pair to the Rio de la Plata. With this
united force of 8000 men, consisting of
some of the finest troops in the British
service. General Whitelocke sailed from
Monte Video on the 21st of June, and,
haAdng landed on the 28th in the bay
of Barragan, proceeded against Buenos
Ayres. After a tedious march of above
thirty miles, through a coimtry intersect.

BUENOS AYRES.

ed by swamps and deep muddy rivulets,
during which the army were exposed to
incredible hardships and privations, being
obliged to leave their artillery and bag-
gage behind, and to fight with several
detachments of the enemy, which en-
deavored to oppose their advance, they
reached the environs of the city. Here
the English commander, having fonned
his troops into a line, extending along
the suburbs, from the convent of Reco
leta on the left, to nearly the Residencia
on the right, issued his orders concern
mg the plan of attack, which he propos'
ed should be pursued on the following
day. Two six pounders, covered by the
carabineers under Lieutenant Colonel
Kingston, and three troops of dragoons,
were ordered along the central street ;
Sir Samuel Auchmuty was directed to
penetrate with his brigade the streets on
the left, and with the 38th regiment to
take possession of the Plaza de Toros
and the adjacent strong grounds ; and
General Craufurd was to proceed down
the streets on the right, and with the
42d regiment to take possession of the
Residencia. Each column, preceded
by two corporals armed with crows, for
the purpose of breaking open the doors
of the houses, was ordered to advance
until it reached the last square of houses
next the river La Plata, of which it was
to possess itself, and forming on the flat
roofs, there to wait for turther orders.
No firing was to be permitted, until the
troops had reached their points of des-
tination, and formed ; and a cannonade
in the centre was to be the signal for
the whole to come forward.

According to this arrangement, the
army moved forwards on the morning of
the 5th of July ; but this extraordinary
mode of attack was met, on the part of
the Spaniards, by a most vigorous and
efficacious resistance. Some of the
streets were intersected by deep ditches,
planted with cannon, wliich poured
showers of grape on the advancing col-
umns ; and a heavy and continued fire
of musketry from the roofs and windows
of the houses, assailed the British troops
at every step of their progress. The
left division, under General Auchmuty,
by the most spirited and successfiU gal-
11

lantry, had gained the Plaza de Toros,
and taken 32 pieces of cannon, 600 pris-
oners, and an immense quantity of am-
munition, with the loss, however, of
the whole of the 88th regiment, which
had been overpowered and taken pris-
oners. The centre division had scarce-
ly entered the street, when they were ar-
rested by a destructive and superior fire,
and took up a position in front of the
enemy, a little in advance of what it held
in the morning. A small part only of
the right division reached the Residen-
cia; the rest, under General Craufurd,
having taken refuge in the convent of the
Dominicans, after a vigorous and pro-
tracted resistance, were at last compelled
to surrender at four in the afternoon.
What human intrepidity could accom-
plish, was performed by the British troops
in this unequal conflict; but what was
most galling to brave men in the midst
of danger, they were doomed to suffer,
without a possibility of retaliating upon
their enemies. Their bayonets could
not reach their distant and often unseen
opponents, whose destructive fire issued
from the windows and roofs of the houses,
the doors of which were so strongly barri-
caded, that it was almost impossible to
force them. " The nature of the fire,"
says the commander of the expedition, in
his public despatches, " to which the
troops were exposed, was violent in the
extreme ; grape-shot at the corners of all
the streets, musketry, hand-grenades,
bricks and stones from the tops of all the
houses ; every householder with his ne-
groes defended his dwelling, each of
which was in itself a fortress ; and it is
not perhaps too much to say, that the
whole male popvdation of Buenos Ayres
was employed in its defence." The dis-
asters of this day, which amounted to the
loss of nearly a third of the British army
in killed, wounded and prisoners, without
having gained any material advantage —
and the consideration that these prisoners
were in the hands of an exasperated pop-
ulace, whose animosity to their invaders
no power could restrain, if offensive mea-
sures were persisted in — induced the
English commander to agree to an armi-
stice proposed by General Liniers, on
the morning of the 6th. This armistice

CANADA.

issued in a convention, by which it was
engaged, that the British should evacu-
ate the La Plata in two months ; and
that all the prisoners on both sides, cap-
tured in South America since the com-
mencement of the war, should be restor-
ed. The Spaniards were now, for a
time, freed from foreign hostility, for
which they considered themselves as in-
debted to the incapacity and presumptuous
temerity of the English leader ; and those
bright prospects of wealth which the
British merchants had been led to in-
dulge, from the expectation of a ready
market for their manufactures, and which
had induced them to enter into the most
hazardous speculations, to the amount, it
is said, of three millions sterling, were
dissipated for ever. So great, indeed,
was the antipathy of the Spaniards to the

British, that though greatly in want of
their merchandise, and knowing that this
visit to South America would perhaps be
their last, yet they could not be prevailed
upon to purchase a single article.

Upon the breaking out of the Spanish
revolution in 1808, the inhabitants of
Buenos Ayres, refused to acknowledge
Joseph Bonaparte as their rightful sove-
reign, and a junto was appointed to ad-
minister the affairs of the government
until Ferdinand VJ.I should be restored
to his throne. {See Spain.) A general
disposition soon began to prevail through-
out the provinces in favor of throwing
off their allegiance to the mother coun-
try, and in 1816, they declared them-
selves independent, under the title of
" The United Provinces of South Ame-

CANADA.

Canada is an extensive tract of coun-
try in North America. It is divided into
two provinces, called Upper and Lower
Canada.

The French appear to have availed
themselves of the information derived
from Cabot's voyage to North America,
before any other nation. We hear of
their fishing for cod on the banks of New-
foundland very early in the sixteenth
century. About 1506, a Frenchman,
named Denys, is said to have drawn a
map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and,
two years afterwards, Aubert, a master
of a vessel belonging to Dieppe, carried
over to France some of the natives of
Canada. Several years, however, pass-
ed away before public attention was
again turned to it. In 1524, Francis I
sent four ships, under Verazani, a Flor-
entine, to prosecute discoveries in this
country. The particulars of his first ex-
pedition are not known. He returned to
France, and, the next year, undertook a
second, which appears to have produced
no beneficial result. On a third voyage,
he and all his company perished. In
April, 1534, James Cartier, of St. Maloes,
sailed, by commission from the king, with

two small ships and 122 men, and May
1 0, came in sight of Newfoundland ; but
the earth was covered with snow, and
great quantities of ice were about the
shore. Having sailed to the fifty-first
degree of latitude, in the vain hope of
passing to China, he returned to France
without making a settlement. In the
following year he sailed a second time
from France, with three ships, proceeded
up the St. Lawrence 300 leagues, to a
great and swift fall ; built a fort, and
wintered in the country.

The French Avere well received by
the natives, but were soon infected with
the scurvy, of which disease twenty-five
of their number died. The next spring,
Cartier returned, with the remains of his
crew, to France. Between 1540 and
1 549, a nobleman of Picardy, de la Roque,
lord of Roberval,made an attempt to found
a colony in Canada, but perished, on his
second voyage, with a great number of
adventurers. At last, Henry IV ap-
pointed the marquis de la Roche lieuten-
ant-general of Canada and the neighbor-
ing countries. In 1598, he landed on
the isle of Sable, which he absurdly im-
agined to be a suitable place for the

CANADA.

establishment of a colony, though it was
without any port, and produced no other
crop than briers. Here he left about
forty malefactors, the gleanings of the
French jails. After cruising for some
time on the coast of Nova Scotia, with
out being able to relieve these unfortunate
settlers, he returned to France. H
colony must have perished, had not a
French ship been wrecked on the island,
from which a few sheep were driven
ashore. With the boards of the ship
they erected huts, and, while the sheep
lasted, they lived upon them, feeding af-
terwards upon fish. Their clothes wear-
ing out, they made garments of seal-skins,
and in this miserable condition spent
seven years, when Henry IV ordered
them to be brought home to France, and,
on seeing their miserable appearance,
was so much moved, that he forgave
them their offences, and presented each
with fifty crowns to begin the world anew.

In 1600, M. Chauvin, a commander in
the French navy, made a voyage to
Canada, from which he returned- with a
profitable cargo of fiurs. The public now
began to turn more attention to this coun-
try. An armament was equipped, and
the command given to Pontgran. He
sailed in 1603. In 1608, the city of
Quebec was founded, and from this pe-
riod the establishment of a permanent
French colony commenced.

The settlement was, for many years,
in a feeble condition, and was often in
danger of being totally exterminated by
the Indians. The French, however, con-
cluded a treaty of peace with them, and
finally, by their address, obtained entire
control over them, to the great inconve-
nience of the neighboring English settle-
ments. In 1628, a company of French
merchants obtained a patent for the ex-
clusive trade with Canada. The next
year, an English expedition, under Sir
David Keith, took possession of Quebec ;
but it was surrendered again to the French,
by the treaty of St. Germains. In 1663,
the charter of the company of merchants
was taken away, and new privileges were
granted, for forty years, to the West In-
dia Company. From this period, Cana-
da appears to have remained in a state
of tranquillity until 1690, when a bold at-

tempt was made by the people of New
England to reduce it to subjection to the
crown of England. An armament was
equipped for this service, and the com-
mand given to Sir William Phipps. The
effective men, to the number of between
1200 and 1300, landed a little below the
town of Quebec, and were fired on from
the woods by the French and Indians.
Having found the place too strong for
them, they re-embarked with precipita-
tion, and returned to Boston. The at-
tempt was renewed, 1711, by a powerful
force of British veteran troops, assisted
by about 4,000 provincials and Indians.
Such were the difficulties and losses,
however, experienced in passing up the
river, that the design was abandoned by
the British officers, to the great mortifi-
cation of the provincial troops. Canada
continued in the occupation of the French,
without any further molestation, until the
breaking out of the war between France
and England, in 1756. Great prepara-
tions were then made, on both sides, for
attack and defence.

In 1759, the British Government form-
ed the project of attempting the conquest
of Canada by three different but simulta-
neous attacks. One division of the army
was to ascend the St. Lawrence, and
lay siege to Quebec. The central and
main body was to be conducted against
Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The
third was to proceed against Niagara,
and, after the reduction of that place, to
descend the St. Lawrence to Montreal.
The division which ascended the St.
Lawrence was commanded by general
Wolfe, and was defeated in its first oper-
ations by the French. The English, how-
ever, finally obtained possession of Que-
bec, after a gallant resistance on the part
of the French, Avhose brave commander,
Montcalm, had been killed in the action.
The English general, Wolfe, was also
killed.

The British army, amounting to 8,000
men, landed in June, on the island of
Orleans, below Quebec. The city of
Quebec stands on a rock, at the con-
fluence of Charles and Iroquois rivers ;
it is naturally a place of great strength,
and was well fortified and defended by a
force of 10,000 men, under the command

CANADA.

IL #

^^M^

^^Sffl

Death of Gen. Wolf at Quebec.

of general Montcalm. Gen. Wolfe had
to contend with immense difficulties, and,
after having failed in several attempts to
reduce the city, he conceived the bold
project of ascending with his troops, a
steep, craggy cliff of from 150 to 200
feet, by which he would reach the plains
of Abraham, south and west of the city.
This almost incredible enterprise was
effected in the night, and by day light,
(Sept. 13,) the army was formed, and
ready to meet the enemy.

"To Montcalm, the intelligence that
the English were occupying the heights
of Abraham, was most surprising. The
impossibility of ascending the precipice,
he considered certain, and therefore had
taken no measures to fortify its line.
But no sooner was he informed of the
position of the English army, than he
perceived a battle no longer to be avoid-
ed, and prepared to fight. Between nine
and ten o'clock, the two armies, about
equal in numbers, met face to face.

"The battle now commenced. Inat-
tentive to the fire of a body of Canadians
and Indians, 1500 of whom Montcalm
had stationed in the corn-fields and bush-
es, Wolfe directed his troops to reserve
their fire for the main body of the French,

now rapidly advancing. On their ap-
proach within 40 yards, the English
opened their fire, and the destruction be-
came immense.

" The French fought bravely, but their
ranks became disordered, and notwith-
standing the repeated efforts of their ofli-
cers to form them and renew the attack,
they were so successfully pushed by the
British bayonet, and hewn down by the
Highland broadsword, that their discom-
fiture was complete.

" During the action, Montcalm was on
the French left, and Wolfe on the Eng-
lish right, and here they both fell, in the
critical moment that decided the victory.
Early in the battle, Wolfe received a ball
in the wrist, but binding his handkerchief
around it, he continued to encourage his
men. Shortly after another ball pene-
trated his groin ; but this wound although
much more severe, he concealed, and
continued to urge on the contest, till a
third bullet pierced his breast. He was
now obliged, though reluctant, to be car-
ried to the rear of the line.

" Gen. Monckton succeeded to the
command, but was immediately wounded
and conveyed away. In this critical
state of the action the command devolv-

CARTHAGE.

ed on Gen. Townsend. Gen. Montcalm,
fighting in the front of his battalion, re-
ceived a mortal wound about the same
time, and General Jennezergus, his se-
cond in command, fell near his side.

"Wolfe died in the field, before the
battle was ended ; but he lived long enough
to know that the victory was his. While
leaning on the shoulder of a lieutenant,
who kneeled to support him, he was seiz-
ed with the agonies of death ; at this mo-
ment was heard the distant sound, ' They
fiy — they fly.' The hero raised his
drooping head, and eagerly asked, ' Who
fly.' Being told that it was the French
— ' Then,' he replied, ' I die happy,'
and expired.

"This death," says Professor Silliman,
"has furnished a grand and pathetic sub-
ject for the painter, the poet and the his-
torian, and undoubtedly, (considered as
a specimen of mere military glory,) it is
one of the most sublime that the annals
of war afford,

" Montcalm was every way worthy of
being the competitor of Wolfe. In tal-
ents— in military skill — in personal cour-
age, he was not his inferior. Nor was his
death much less sublime. He lived to

be carried to the city, where his last
moments were employed in writing with
his own hand, a letter to the English
General, recommending the French pris-
oners to his care and humanity. When
informed that his wound was mortal, he
replied, 'I shall not then live to see the
surrender of Quebec' "

In 1775, Canada was invaded by a
body of provincial troops, under General
Montgomery. Montreal was taken, and
a gallant but unsuccessful attempt was
made on Quebec, in which the brave
Montgomery was killed. No other at-
tempt Avas made on this province during
the revolutionary war. We have few
records of Canadian history from this
period until the late war between this
country and the United States. Upper
Canada then became the theatre of a
sanguinary contest. The American troops
were unable, however, to make any per-
manent conquests, and the province has
since remained subject to Great Britain.
In 1825, the restrictions upon its com-
merce, under which it had labored, with
the other colonies of Great Britain, were
principally removed, and its trade has
since greatly increased.

CARTHAGE

The materials we possess for compiling
a history of the Carthaginians, bear no
proportion to the importance of the sub-
ject. Every page of ancient history con-
tains some reference to this remarkable
people, some circumstance with which
they were directly or indirectly concern-
ed ; yet are we almost wholly ignorant
of their internal polity, and of all the se-
cret springs which gave energy to their
exertions. We find them bearing a part
in the most important transactions of the
civilized states, pushing their maritime
discoveries and their system of coloni-
zation into the remotest regions, and at
last striving with Rome herself for the
mastery of the world. Yet of their re-
sources we know scarcely any thing,
except from analogy and conjecture ; and
of the events of their domestic history,

our accounts are meager and unsatisfac-
tory. The information we possess is
for the most part derived from the casual
notices of the Greek and Roman histo-
rians, few of whom had the opportunity,
some, as it appears, not even the inclina-
tion, to give fidelity and accuracy to their
narratives. It is our business, therefore,
to put together the fragments which lie
scattered throughout the ancient histo-
rians ; from these something like a con-
tinuous narrative maybe formed ; though
still we must content ourselves with a
partial and imperfect knowledge of many
important points.

According to Procopius, the whole dis-
trict of Africa, from Egj^pt to the pillars
of Hercules, was first peopled by the
tribes that fled before Joshua from the
countries of Canaan ; and it seems un-

CARTHAGE.

questionable, that the system of coloni-
zation which had been begun by the
great Phoenician cities, received a very
powerful impulse from the revolution
which that conquest produced ; an im-
pulse which was feh, not only on the
northern shore of Africa, but throughout
all the countries of Europe.

According to the most probable ac-
counts, Carthage was founded B. C. 869,
by Elissa or Dido, who as Justin informs
us, quitted Tyre at the head of a nu-
merous colony, to avoid the oppression
of her brother Pygmalion. After touch-
ing at Cyprus, where she obtained an ad-
dition to her numbers, she proceeded to
the African coast. A Phoenician settle-
ment had been previously established at
Utica, by which they were gladly receiv-
ed ; the natives, too, welcomed their ar-
rival, being eager to avail themselves of
the commercial advantages which the
arrival of the strangers held out. A ne-
gotiation was speedily entered upon for
an allotment of land ; — the artifice which
Dido is said to have practised in obtain-
ing the allotment is well known. She
covenanted for as much land as the hide
of an ox would enclose, [quantum loci bo-
vis tergo circumdare potuerint,) then cut-
ting the hide into shreds, she claimed as
much as she could surround with them.
The site of the infant colony was well
chosen. A bold projection of the African
coast marks almost exactly the central
point of the southern shore of the Medi-
terranean. A noble bay, formed by the
promontories of Juno and Apollo, supplies
all the advantages of a sheltered and ca-
pacious roadstead. At the bottom of this
bay stretches a peninsula, about 45 miles
in circmnference, connected with the
mainland by an isthmus of the breadth of
little more than three miles. Upon this
isthmus. Dido laid the foundation of her
new town.

By her wise regulations and salutary
laws, the infant colony rapidly increased
in numbers, and the city flourished to such
an extent that Jarbas, a native prince, was
induced to make himself master of it.
He desired that ten of the most noble
Carthaginians should be sent to him as
ambassadors ; to these he proposed him-
self as the suiter of Dido, and having

induced them by threats and promises to
enter into his views, he dismissed them.
By an artifice they procured from Dido a
promise to comply with their wishes ;
but she, to avoid the fulfilment of the con-
tract, and the imputation of slighting the
memory of her first husband, Sichaeus,
devoted herself to a voluntary death.

How long the monarchial form of gov-
ernment continued at Carthage, we have
no means of ascertaining, nor are we ac-
quainted with any of the circumstances
which befel the infant state. There is
a chasm in the histor)'^ of the Carthagi-
nians, of no less than three hundred
years. Their progress in this interval
could not have been slow ; for from the
first notice we have of their existence as
a people in the ancient historians, we
find them in alliance with the Tuscans,
bringing forward a fleet of 120 sail, and
combating with the Phocaeans, who had
settled in the island of Corsica, in their
progress from Asia to the southern shores
of France.

After this period, the Carthaginians
entered into an alliance with the Per-
sians under Xerxes, in which it was
stipulated that the Carthaginians should
invade Sicily, while Xerxes should at-
tack Greece; the Carthaginians and
Persians, however, suffered a terrible
defeat.

When the Carthaginians began to look
abroad after this overthrow, their atten-
tion was again attracted towards Sicily.
A dispute between the cities of Egista
and Selinus supplied them with a pretext.
Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, who
was at this time one of the Sufletes, or
chief magistrates, had ascendency in
their commonwealth, and under his com-
mand they again hazarded all their force,
upon the chances of a Sicilian campaign.
He landed B. C. 409, near the promon-
tory of Lilybaeum and advanced to Seli-
nus, which, after a idgorous resistance,
he took by assault. He appears to have
treated this city with an excess of bar-
barity, which even Carthaginian ferocity
does not prepare us to expect. Sixteen
thousand of the inhabitants were put to
the sword, 5,000 were carried away cap-
tives, and the miserable remainder es-
caped to Agrigentum. The city itself

CARTHAGE.

was utterly destroyed. Himera was his
next object, not only from its importance,
and from its unvarying animosity to the
Carthaginians, but as it was the scene of
his grandfather's overthrow, he was eager
to subdue it. The citizens made a most
desperate but ineflectual resistance. Di-
odorus has given minute details of this
siege, which are highly curious, as they
aflbrd information of the state of military
science at this period. The city expe-
rienced the same fate as Selinus ; and
Hannibal, leaving a small body of troops
to assist the confederates, before the con-
clusion of the year returned to Carthage,
where he was received with the most
distinguished honor.

The Carthaginians were so elated with
their recent success, that they seriously
meditated the conquest of the whole
island of Sicily. They made the great-
est preparatiori for this renewed attack ;
and having joined Hamilcar, the son of
Hanno, in commission with Hannibal,
who, from his age and infirmities, was
unequal to the various duties of the chief
command, the expedition set forth.

For a long time, the Carthaginians
through many successes and reverses,
attempted the entire conquest of Sicily.
At one time the Syracusians applied to
Corinth, who supplied them with a body
of troops under the celebrated Timoleon,
who completely overthrew the Carthagi-
nian army B. C. 340.

In the year B. C. 309, they invaded
Sicily. All the principal places yielded
to their arms, and Agathocles the sove-
reign, in despair, shut himself up in
Syracuse. The Carthaginians invested
the place with their whole force ; when
Agathocles,findinghimself deprived of all
resources, and on the point of falling into
the enemies' hands, adopted the spirit-
ed and almost incredible determination of
carrying the war at once into Africa. The
mouth of the harbor was closely blocka-
ded by the Carthaginian fleet, yet Aga-
thocles watched his opportunity so art-
fully, and availed himself of circumstan-
ces so adroitly, that he managed to elude
their vigilance, and sailed straight for
Africa. The Carthaginian admiral was
not slow in the pursuit, but did not come
up with the Syracusan fleet till they were

in sight of the African coast. A partial
engagement ensued, but Agathocles was
not to be diverted from his main object ;
he made good his landing, and then, un-
der pretence of fulfilling a vow he had
made to Ceres and Proserpine, he set
fire to his ships.

The consternation at Carthage, when
the news of this descent of Agathocles
arrived, was excessive. The flower of
their army was in Sicily ; their city was
wholly unprepared for defence, and the
country, which had now for a long period
been exempt from the calamities of war,
was filled with dismay and confusion.
Agathocles advanced to Tunis, and rav-
aged the Avhole neighborhood of Car-
thage. In this conjuncture, Hanno and
Bomilcar were appointed to command
the forces, which had been hastily
brought together ; and eager to check
the tyrant's destructive ravages, they' in-
stantly took the field. They advanced
with no small confidence, for their army
consisted of 40,000, while that of Aga-
thocles did not amount to 14,000 men.
This confidence was their destruction ;
they were routed. Hanno Avas slain,
and Bomilcar, with difficulty drew off the
shattered remains of his army. Diodo-
rus attributes this discomfiture in a great
degree to the treachery of Bomilcar, who
covertly aimed at the sovereign authori-
ty, and who wished to convert this inva-
sion of Agathocles into an instrument for
effecting his design.

The citizens of Carthage were ex-
tremely disheartened by the result of this
engagement, as they persuaded them-
selves that the tutelar deities of their
country must have taken part against
them. To appease these offended dei-
ties, they resolved to renew their offer-
ings to the Tyrian Hercules ; and as they
had failed in the exact performances of
the sacrifices to Saturn, they made iiorri-
ble atonement, by selecting two hundred
infants of the noblest famihes for immo-
lation ; and more than three hundred
persons of both sexes voluntarily offered
themselves victims to their bloody idols.

They then dispatched messengers to
Hamilcar, who commanded in Sicily, re-
quiring him to come to the relief of his
country ; he does not, however, seem to

CARTHAGE.

have been aware of the extreme urgency
of the case, as he contented himself with
dispatching 5,000 men. By pressing the
siege of Syracuse, he thought to draw
Agathocles from his purpose ; but in an
attempt to surprise it by night, he was
slain, and his troops completely discom-
fited.

In the meantime Agathocles had made
himself master of all the open country,
and Carthage itself must have fallen, had
it not been for a mutiny which broke out
in the invader's camp.

We have now reached that period when
Rome and Carthage, which had for some
time menaced each other from a distance,
came actually in contact ; when the great
question, whether the seat of universal
empire should be fixed in Africa or in
Europe was decided. Before we enter
into the detail of circumstances which
gave rise to the first Punic or Carthagi-
nian war, it will be expedient to take a
short survey of the actual state of Car-
thage, the extent of her dominion, and the
nature of her influence.

The limits of the Carthaginian domin-
ions in Africa had been progressively
advanced, till they extended from the
western borders of Cyrenaica to the Pil-
lars of Hercules, or straits of Gibraltar ;
but at this distance of time, and with our
scanty means of information, it is impos-
sible to trace the various stages of this
progression. The period in which the
Carthaginians first settled in Spain is in-
volved in great obscurity ; but as Diodo-
rus intimates that the mines of Spain
were the great nerve of the Carthaginian
power, by which they were enabl'id to
fit out such wonderful fleets, and bring
such formidable armies into the field, we
may conclude that they had established
themselves in that country at a very ear-
ly period, previously to the reigns not
only of Darius and Xerxes, but also of
Cyrus himself.

Justin states, that they were, in the
first instance, led to intermeddle in the
affairs of Spain, with a view of assisting
that sister colony which the Phcenicians
had established at Gades, now Cadiz.
The assistance afforded by them was ef-
fectual in defending it against the attacks
of the neighboring people ; but not con-

tent with this, they managed to obtain
possession of the colony itself, and of
the whole province in which it was sit-
uated. This event probably took place
about the middle of the second century,
after the foundation of Carthage ; for
Diodorus distinctly states, that at this
time a colony was established in the island
of Ebusus, now Ivica, and in all like-
lihood the whole of the Balearic islands
were colonized at the same time. Now,
it seems reasonable to suppose, that the
advance of the Carthaginian colonization
was progessive, and therefore that the
settlement at Cadiz would be subsequent
to that at Ebusus ; hence, we may per-
haps be allowed to infer, that the Car-
thaginians made their first descent into
Spain about 160 years after the building
of their city. Nevertheless, it appears,
from the accounts of Livy and Polybius,
that the greatest part of Spain remained
unsubdued till the wars of Hamilcar, As-
drubal, and Hannibal.

In Sardinia, their settlements were al-
most coeval with their existence as a
people ; the whole island appears to
have been in subjection to them at the
period of their first treaty with the Ro-
mans.

Corsica, too, was occupied by them
from very ancient times : they probably
succeeded immediately to that colony
which the Phocaeans were compelled to
abandon. Herodotus mentions the Cor-
sicans among those nations which were
united to form that vast armament with
which the Carthaginians invaded Sicily
in the days of Gelon.

The small islands of Melita and Gau-
los, now Malta and Goza, were likewise
in subjection to the Carthaginians. Ac-
cording to Diodorus, these islands were
first peopled, either from Carthage or
Phcenicia.

This rapid survey may suffice to give
us some idea of the actual extent of the
Carthaginian influence. The Romans,
on the other side, had now begun to feel
their strength, and were considerably
elated by their recent success against
Pyrrhus. That experienced commander
foresaw the collision which was about
to take place between these powerful ri-
vals, and is said, upon leaving Sicily, to

CARTHAGE.

have pointed out that island as the sub-
ject and the first scene of the contest.

Notwithstanding the Carthaginians had
been thus successful in dislodging the
Epirots from Sicily, they had still two
powerful enemies to contend with, the
Syracusans and the Mamertines. The
former had recently appointed Hiero for
their leader, who is imiformly represent-
ed by the ancient historians as a consum-
mate hero, and most amiable prince : un-
der his command the Syracusan forces
obtained several considerable advantages
over the Carthaginians.

The Mamertines were originally a
body of Campanian mercenaries, which
Agathocles had retained in his service.
They were afterwards involved in a dis-
pute with the citizens of Syracuse, as to
their right of giving votes in the election
of magistrates ; the consequence of which
was, an agreement that the Campanians
should evacuate Sicily within a limited
time. Under pretence of embarking for
their native country, they retired to Mes-
sina, of which town they took possession
by treachery, expelling or assassinating
all the inhabitants, and assuming to them-
selves the name of Mamertini, a word
which, in the ancient language of south-
ern Italy, is used to signify a warlike
people.

In this horrid action they soon found
imitators. Some Roman troops, to the
number of about 4,000, had been posted
at Rhegium, during the late wars in Italy,
under the command of one Decius, a
Campanian. These, assisted by the Ma-
mertines, murdered the citizens, and
seized their property ; but they were
speedily punished by the Romans with
exemplary vigor. The Mamertines, on
their side, were closely pressed by Hiero,
who was eager to retaliate upon them
the injuries they had committed. They
were at length reduced to such distress,
that they resolved to surrender them-
selves to the first power that could afford
them protection ; but being divided in
their choice, one party made an ofter of
submission to the Carthaginians, another
to the Romans. The latter scrupled to
avow themselves the protectors of a crime
which they had so lately punished ; but
while they hesitated, the Carthaginians,
12

availing themselves of the delay, and of
the neighborhood of their own military
stations, got the start of their rivals, and
were received into Messina. This unex-
pected advantage, gained by a power of
which they had so much reason to be
jealous, roused the Romans : they in-
stantly sent orders to the consvd Appius
Claudius, who had charge of the forces
in the neighborhood of Rhegium, to assem-
ble all the shipping which could be found
on the coast, from Tarentum to Naples,
and to pass with his army into Sicily.
As soon as his fleet appeared, the party
in the city which had favored the admis-
sion of the Romans, took arms, and forced
the Carthaginians to evacuate the place.

Thus conmienced the first Punic war.
The first object of either party was no
more than to command the passage of
the straits, by securing the possession of
Messina ; but their views were gradually
extended, and the contest quickly as-
sumed its real form, a struggle for the
sovereignty of the whole island and the
dominion of the seas.

The Romans perceiving that, notwith-
standing their success by land, their
coasts of Italy still continued open to the
depredations of the Carthaginian fleets,
resolved at once to equip a fleet which
might enable them to cope with their foe,
even on his own peculiar element. This
attempt, so bold in its conception, and so
important in its ultimate consequences,
induced Polybius, as he himself states,
to write the history of this war, " in order
that the circumstances which attended
the first formation of the Roman marine
might never be forgotten." A Carthagi-
nian vessel, which had been accidentally
stranded at Messina, served them for a
model, and within the short period of
sixty days, they had fitted out, and man-
ned for sea, 100 galleys of five benches
of oars and twenty triremes. These ves-
sels were extremely rude, both in their
materials and construction, yet the labor
of building them must have been im-
mense, as a quinquereme was capable of
carrying 300 rowers and 200 fighting
men.

While the galleys were building, the
Romans exercised their rowers on benches
erected on the beach. And in order to

CARTHAGE.

counterbalance the advantage which the
Carthaginians were likely to derive from
their superior seamanship, they invented,
(or rather in the opinion of some writers,
improved,) the machine called the corvus
by which they were enabled to grapple
and bind the vessels together, so as to
give to their soldiers full scope for the
exertion of their bodily strength and ac-
tivity.

In the first rencounter of the hostile
fleets, the Carthaginians were, as it might
be expected, successful ; but in a subse-
quent engagement, they met with a se-
vere check, and their admiral, Hannibal,
having lost the greater part of his ships,
with difficulty made his escape. The
command of the Roman fleet had now de-
volved upon the consul Duilius, to whom
is attributed the invention of the corvus.
He engaged the Carthaginian fleet with-
out delay, and by the help of his new
engine, succeeded in giving them a com-
plete overthrow, B. C. 260. The loss of
the Carthaginians is variously related ;
Hannibal, having been obliged to aban-
don his own vessel to the enemy, re-
turned to Carthage, where he obtained
reinforcements for his shattered fleet.
Putting to sea again, he steered for the
coast of Sardinia, where he was surprised
by the Romans Avhile at anchor, who car-
ried off some of his ships, and took great
numbers of his men prisoners ; this so
incensed the rest, that they seized their
admiral and crucified him. The alTairs
of the Carthaginians in Sicily had, in this
interval, assumed a more favorable as-
pect. Hamilcar, their commander, avail-
ing himself of a dispute which had oc-
curred between the Roman legions and
their auxiliaries, surprised their camp,
put 4,000 to the sword, and dispersed the
rest. Notwithstanding this disaster, the
terror of the Roman arms was still sus-
tained by the vigilance and bravery of
the consul Florus, while his colleague
Cornelius Scipio, made a descent on
Corsica, and menaced the coasts of Sar-
dinia. Several engagements, both by
land and sea, ensued, with various results,
but for the most part to the advantage of
the Romans, who were thus, by degrees,
encouraged to prepare for an invasion of
Africa itself, as the only means by which

they could oblige the enemy to evacuate
Sicily. In the ninth year of the war,
the consuls Manlius, Dulso and Attilius
Regidus, with the fleet under their com-
mand, consisting of 350 galleys of difler-
ent sizes, held their rendezvous at Mes-
sina. Having taken their land forces on
board, they proceeded along the coast.
The Carthaginian fleet, which, as to the
number of vessels, was about equal, was
lying at Lilybaeum, under the comand of
Hanno and Hamilcar. The hostile squad-
rons met near Heraclea Minoa. The
Roman commanders drew up their fleet in
the form of a wedge, the Carthaginians
were in line. The consuls observing
that this line was weak towards the cen-
tre, caused it to be vigorously attacked
in that part. A most obstinate conflict
ensued, which terminated in favor of the
Romans, who lost in the action only 24
galleys, whilst the Carthaginians had 30
sunk and 63 taken. After the battle,
Hamilcar sent Hanno to make proposals
of peace to the consuls, which being re-
jected, the war continued to rage with as
much fierceness as ever ; and the con-
suls soon after setting sail for Africa,
landed without opposition near Clupia ;
or as Polybius calls it, Aspis. Nothing
could exceed the terror and astonish-
ment which the news of the Roman in-
vasion caused at Carthage. These were,
however, in some degree diminished by
the intelligence that, contented with rav-
aging the whole country almost to the
very gates of the capital, one of the con-
suls had returned to Rome with the best
part of the troops, leaving the manage-
ment of the war to his colleague Regulus,
with only 40 ships, 15,000 foot, and 500
horse. Hamilcar was recalled from Si-
cily, and was joined with Asdrubal and
Bostar, in the command of the army.
Regulus having spent the winter at Cly-
pea, hearing that the Carthaginian army
was in motion, advanced with his forces,
and encamped upon the Bagrada in the
neighborhood of Carthage. Here he is
said to have met with that monstrous ser-
pent, of which several ancient writers
make mention : the descriptions are pro-
bably hyperbolical, yet it is impossible
to refuse all credit to a story for which
there are so many authorities.

CARTHAGE.

The Carthaginian generals advanced
to give him battle, but most unwisely
took up a position in ground that was un-
fit for the operations of elephants or
horse, in which the great part of their
strength consisted. Regulus profited by
this mistake, attacked them in the night,
and entirely defeated them. This vic-
tory was productive of the most import-
ant consequences ; Utica opened its gates,
Tunis was forced to submit, and nothing
now remained but to lay siege to Car-
thage itself

To complete the misfortunes of the
Carthaginians, their territory was, at this
time, invaded by the Numidians, who
committed the most dreadful ravages.
The Roman consul, elated by his good
fortune, and desirous to terminate the
war before the arrival of a successor,
offered to treat with the vanquished, but
on terms so extravagant, that they were
at once rejected by the senate.

At this conjuncture, a Carthaginian
officer who had been sent to Greece to
levy soldiers, returned with a body of
mercenaries, amongst whom was one
Xantippus, a Spartan, who had some re-
putation for military science. To him
the command of the remaining forces
was entrusted ; and he succeeded in in-
fusing into them some knowledge of the
Grecian tactics, and an unbounded confi-
dence in his own skill and experience.
Regulus was little prepared for this
change ; when he saw the Carthaginian
army again advancing, flushed with the
hope of new victories, he at once led his
men to the attack, and ventured even to
cross the river which separated the two
armies. This rashness led to the entire
destruction of his army. Xantippus pro-
fited to the utmost of his antagonist's mis-
conduct, and only two thousand of the
Romans escaped from the field. Regu-
lus himself was taken prisoner. The
Carthaginians treated all their captives
with great humanity, except the general.
The story of his sufferings and constancy
is well known. * Xantippus, to whose

* Regulus was sent with ambassadors from
Carthage to Rome, to negotiate a treaty of peace,
under the most solemn oath to return as a pris-
oner, should the negotiation fail. The proposals
were rejected by the Roman senate at the urgent

conduct the whole of this success must
be attributed, withdrew from Carthage
immediately afterwards. " Wisely and
prudently," says Polybius, " as the splen-
dor of his action must have excited a de-
gree of jealousy and envy sufficient to
overwhelm even a citizen ; how much
more a stranger and a foreigner."

The Romans sent out a strong squad-
ron to bring oft' the remains of the defeat-
ed army, but in the passage to Sicily on
their return, they met with a dreadful
tempest, in which they lost almost their
whole fleet. This, and several subse-
quent calamities, so greatly dispirited
them, that they determined for a season
to lay aside all naval operations. The
Carthaginians were thus left masters of
the sea. The theatre of war was now
again removed to Sicily, where it raged
with imabated violence. The affairs of
the Carthaginians were in a state of
progressive deterioration, till the appoint-
ment of Hamilcar, surnamed Barcas, to
the chief command. His valor and enter-
prise restored for a short time the droop-
ing fortunes of his country, but in the end
he was obliged to yield. The Romans
had soon become sensible of the absolute
necessity they were under of restoring
their ships ; and they did so with a res-
olution and vigor which enabled them
once more to prevail over the superior
skill and address of their enemy. Ano-
ther defeat at sea compelled Hamilcar to
seek for peace, B. C. 242. It was grant-
ed, but upon conditions so harsh, and
dictated by the Romans with so much
insolence, that Hamilcar from that mo-
ment conceived an invincible aversion to
the Roman name. He concluded peace,
only that he might give his country time
to breathe, and that they might after-
desire of Regulus himself, and he returned to
Carthage. Nothing could equal the fury and dis-
appointment of the Carthaginians when they
learned from their ambassadors, that instead of
hastening a peace, he had given his opinion for
continuing the war. They accordingly prepared
to punish his conduct with the most studied tor-
tures. His eyelids were cut off, and after several
days, he was put into a barrel stuck full of nails that
pointed inwards ; and in this painful condition he
remained until he died. It may be proper to ob-
serve, that he bore all his sufferings with patient
silence, and died as heroically as he had lived.

95t

CARTHAGE,

wards be able to chastise the insolence
to which they were at present compelled
to submit. The terms of peace were
these : That the Carthaginians should
evacuate Sicily ; that they should not, for
the future, make war on Hiero king of
Syracuse, or any of his allies; that they
should release all Roman captives with-
out ransom ; and within twenty years,
pay to the Romans a sum of three thou-
sand Euboic talents. * The people of
Rome refused to ratify this treaty, till
they had sent ten commissioners into
Sicily to examine into the actual state of
affairs. By these, some additional arti-
cles were added of inferior importance,
but still of harsher tendency. The rati-
fications were then interchanged, and
Asdrubal retired to Lilybseum, where he
resigned to Cisco the care of transporting
the troops to Africa.

Thus after twenty three years' continu-
ance, ended the first Punic war ; leaving
the contending parlies weakened, indeed,
but not dispirited ; — with their resources
exhausted, but their mutual animosity in-
creased and exasperated beyond measure.
The excellent Polybius, in a recapitula-
tion of the most remarkable circumstan-
ces of the contest, gives the preference
to the Roman soldiers above the Cartha-
ginian ; but at the same time he allows,
that Hamilcar Barcas proved himself,
both in bravery and conduct, the greatest
captain of the age.

Carthage had no sooner relieved itself
from the pressure of this bloody and ex-
pensive war, than it found itself involved
in another, which had very nearly proved
fatal. The mercenary troops, when they
returned to Africa, found that the public
treasury was too much exlaausted to dis-
charge their arrears of pay. They quick-
ly became clamorous, and committed the
gi-eatest disorders in the city and other
places.

Carthage was now reduced to a state
of the utmost distress ; the tributary
states of Africa joined themselves to the
mutineers ; and thus she saw herself
siu-rounded on all sides by active and ir-
ritated enemies, and deprived, at the
same time, of all her resources and ac-

About $2,500,000.

customed means of defence. Notwith-
standing these adverse circumstances,
she did not despond. All citizens capa-
ble of bearing arms were mustered, new
levies were made wherever soldiers could
be procured, and the fleet was refitted
with all expedition. The command of
the forces waB given to Hanno, who at
first gained some slight advantages ; but
was soon after surprised in his camp, and
even suffered the mercenaries to possess
themselves, without opposition, of the
isthmus which connected the city with the
main land of Africa. To remedy these
disasters, Hamilcar Barcas was once
more called to the head of affairs. He
marched against the enemy with about
10,000 men, horse and foot, which were
all the troops the Carthaginians could
at that time assemble for their defence.
He was however, successfid, and the
Carthaginians retained Africa in sub-
jection.

Hamilcar, by the happy conclusion of
the Libyan war, had restored tranquillity
to his country ; but he found that she
would be still unable to cope with her
haughty rival. He determined, there-
fore, to undertake the entire conquest of
Spain, in the hope that it would supply
to the Carthaginians both a school of
military discipline and a magazine of
warlike stores, whenever they should
renew the contest with Rome. Hamil-
car did not attempt to disguise his hatred
to the Roman name ; he publicly avow-
ed the motives of his expedition, and took
with him Hannibal his son, and Hasdru-
bal his son-in-law, having inspired them
both with an implacable aversion against
those whom he considered as the de-
stroyers of his country's grandeur. Nine
years he fought in Spain, subjecting
either by force or by persuasion, the
greatest part of the country to the Car-
thaginian power, and at last fell glorious-
ly in the field of battle at the head of
his troops. The army elected Hasdru-
bal to succeed him, which appointment
was confirmed by the senate of Carthage.
He conducted himself with great pru-
dence ; and to secure the acquisitions of
his predecessor, built a city, which was
afterwards called New Carthage, B. C.
227. The Romans viewed the progress

CARTHAGE,

of the Carthaginian arms in Spain with
considerable jealousy. For the present,
however, they contented themselves with
concluding a treaty, the articles of which
were, 1st, That the Carthaginians should
not pass the Iberus. 2d, That the Sa-
guntum, with the neighboring Greek col-
onies which had implored the protection
of Rome, should enjoy their ancient rights
and privileges. Hasdrubal still pushed
on his conquests, though he was cautious
not to pass these limits. Having man-
aged the Carthaginian affairs in Spain for
eight years, he was at last assassinated
by a Gaul, whose master he had put to
death. Hasdrubal three years before had
written to Carthage, to desire that Han-
nibal, then twenty-two years of age,
might be sent out to him. This was op-
posed by Hanno, who represented that it
would give undue weight to the Barcine
party. The objection was overruled, and
the young soldier was suffered to depart.
He quickly drew upon himself the atten-
tion of the whole army, who were eager
to hail the opening virtues of the son of
Hamilcar. Even Livy himself seems,
in speaking of Hannibal, to lay aside his
animosities as a Roman, and to dwell
with delight on the various qualities of
this extraordinary man. " Never," says
he, " was there a disposition better qual-
ified even for the most opposite things,
whether for obedience or for command.
Boldly adventurous in undertaking dan-
gers, he displayed eminent skill and
presence of mind when engaged in them.
No labors could exhaust his body or de-
press his spirits. He was capable alike
of enduring heat and cold, and in his
food consulted only the demands of na-
ture, not the suggestions of appetite. No
stated hours were allotted by him for
sleep or study, either by night or day. It
was only the time unoccupied by busi-
ness that he gave up to repose, courting
it neither by silence nor the softness of j
his bed. On the contrary, he was often
seen lying on the ground, amidst the sen-
tinels and guards. He was distinguished
from his equals by no superiority of dress,
but his arms and his horses were always
conspicuous. In the performance of mil-
itary duties, whether of cavalry or infantry,
he was ever foremost ; the first in entering

the combat, he was the last to quit the
field."

Such was the man, who now, by the
unanimous voice of the army, was called
to conduct the affairs of the Carthagini-
ans in Spain. He was in his twenty-
sixth year, full of confidence and hope.
From the first moment of his appoint-
ment, he conducted himself as though
Italy had been the province allotted to
him. After several successful enterprises
against the natives of Spain, which served
both to secure his previous conquests and
to augment his resources ; then having
with singular address, furnished himself
with all things necessary for the impor-
tant enterprise, without affording to the
Romans a pretext for declaring war, he
on a sudden laid siege to Saguntum ; and
thus, by the infraction of Hasdrubal's
treaty, struck the first blow in this event-
ful war, B. C. 219. The train for this
tremendous explosion had been laid long
before. Polybius mentions thrge causes,
which more immediately led to the sec-
ond Punic war ; the fraudulent and ty-
rannical conduct of the Romans with res-
pect to Sardinia; the jealousy which was
entertained of witnessing the progress of
the Carthaginian arms in Spain ; and,
lastly, that bitter hatred to the Roman
name and nation, which Hamilcar had
bequeathed to his son Hannibal, and
which was in both, the predominant feel-
ing influencing the whole conduct of their
lives.

Hannibal opened the siege of Sagun-
tum with an army consisting of 120,000
foot, and 20,000 horse. The defence is
one of the most memorable in history.
The limits of this work do not allow us
to enter into the minute details which
Livy and Polybius supply. We must be
content with stating, that, after a contest
of eight months continuance, almost un-
paralleled for its fierceness and obstinacy,
the city was razed, and its inhabitants
without distinction of age or sex, put to
the sword, or sold for slaves.

Hannibal had probably long devised
the invasion of Italy, and had convinced
himselfofthe practicability of the attempt.
War being now declared, he made his
dispositions for the safety of Spain and
Africa, and collected his troops for that

CARTHAGE.

great undertaking, the conduct of which
had procured for him a reputation supe-
rior to all other military commanders, He
had well weighed the difficulties of the
enterprise, the various dangers of the
march, and the uncertainty of procuring
supplies. To these were opposed, the
advantages which would accrue from car-
rying the war into the heart of the en-
emy's country ; the assistance he might
expect, if he could once reach Italy in
force, from those states which were ac-
tually in rebellion against the Roman au-
thority, or bore to it only a feigned and
uncertain allegiance. Let us not, there-
fore, magnify the courage of this cele-
brated warrior at the expense of his judg-
ment, nor suffer the xmwarrantable rash-
ness of inexperience to shelter itself be-
hind the great name of Hannibal.

In his march to the Iberus, he experi-
enced no interruption Thence to the
Pyrenees he was obliged to force his
way ; and apprehending some inconve-
nience from the leaving an hostile peo-
ple in his rear, he stationed his brother
Hanno, with 10,000 foot and 1,000 horse,
to observe their motions, and secure the
passes of the mountains. During the
passage of the Pyrenees, a considerable
body of the Spanish allies deserted. Lest
this example should prove contagious, he
gave out that they had fallen back by his
express order, and that he meant to spare
a few more troops of the same nation.
By these separations, his numbers were re-
duced from 90,000 to 50,000 foot; he had
likewise 9,000 horse and 37 elephants.

After entering Gaul, his march was for
some time hindered by the jealousy of
the natives ; but upon his convincing
them he had no object in view besides a
mere passage through their territories,
he was suffered to proceed without mo-
lestation. The river Rhone presented
the first serious obstacle. As the Gauls
who inhabited the country contiguous to
it, seemed resolved to oppose his pas-
sage, he contrived to disperse their
forces by a stratagem ; but a new diffi-
cidty occurred, he had no means of waft-
ing the elephants over this broad and
rapid current. The difficulty was at last
obviated, by the construction of a sort of
flying bridge, by means of which they

were all transported in perfect safety.
[Livy. Polyb. ut supra.)

Hannibal crossed the Rhone at Lauri-
ol, in Dauphiny. Hence he marched up
the left bank of the river, towards the
midland parts of Gaul ; not because this
was the direct road to the Alps, but be-
cause he thought the further he advanced
from the sea the less likely he was to
meet the Romans. Nor was he mis-
taken ; for at that very time he reached
the banks of the Rhone, Scipio, (the
father of Africanus,) landed at the mouth
of it, and a rencounter actually took
place between some detachments of cav-
alry from the two armies. Brancus, a
prince of the AUobroges, having offered
to become his guide, he advanced to-
wards the Alps, following the course of
the Rhone. Turning to the right, he
passed through the country of the Tri-
castini ; from the grand angle of the
Rhone at Lyons, to the deep indent
which it forms at St. Genis. Here he
entered Savoy, ranging along the limits
of the Vocontian dominions, from this in-
dent to the Sier. Hence he passed
through the country of the Tricorrii to
Geneva, without impediment, crossing
the Arve (Druentia) in his march. From
Geneva he proceeded to Martigny. Here
the hills have an opening to the south
80 paces in width, which, in the days of
Hannibal, formed the only channel of
communication between Gaul and Italy.
The Seduni had occupied this pass ; but
Hannibal, in the night, seized the heights
which commanded it, and obtained pos-
session of their chief city, now St. Bran-
chiere. Here the Salassi met him in a
friendly manner, and offered to conduct
him to Italy by a better road than that he
was pursuing. Under their guidance, he
turned to the right into the Val de Bag-
nes, where, in passing a defile, the Sa-
lassi fell upon him unawares. The steadi-
ness of his troops saved him from this
imminent danger. His infantry got pos-
session of a white rock, (that on which ■
the village of Lultier now stands,) from j
whence they resisted all the assaults of
the enemy. Bewildered by this treach-
ery, he wandered through the Alps for
some days, and at last reached the regu-
lar road only seven miles from the point

CARTHAGE.

HanmhaVs army passing the Alps.

at whicli he had quitted it. It is uncertain
by what pass he at last actually reached
Italy. LiA'y does not give any positive
opinion. Many circumstances conspire to
prove,thatitmust have been by the Mons
Penivms, (Great St. Bernard.) Hence
he descended to St. Remy, having excited
the ardor of his troops, by pointing out
to them the rich vales of Italy, and the
site of Rome itself. At this point the
road, which was before steep, had, by a
recent subsidence of the earth, been ren-
dered precipitous. The chasm extended
across the road to the distance of a thou-
sand feet. It was an even wall of stone,
such that even a man on foot could not
descend it without difficulty. Hannibal
endeavored to find a path by which he
might avoid this ravine, but his horses,
elephants and baggage, sunk in the snow,
and he found it impossible to proceed.
They rested on the bare ground for the
night. The next morning, the Cartha-
ginians employed themselves in felling a
number of large trees, and raised a vast
pile of fuel on the crags. The trees be-
ing of a resinous nature soon flamed, and
the rocks appeared glowing beneath
them ; they then applied vinegar to soften
them, and finally opened a path through

the burning rocks with their pick-axes.
This account has been derided by many
historians as an incredible fiction, yet
if stripped of the marvellous circumstan-
ces which have been added to it by some
writers, it contains nothing improbable,
nothing which could not have been
efiected by the ingenuity and indefatiga-
ble labor of such a leader, and such an
army.

The events of this war are so involved
with the affairs of Rome, or rather they
form so completely an integral part of
the Roman history, that we must refer
the reader for its details to that article.
The domestic history of Carthage during
this eventful period, though it offers but
few circumstances Avorthy of observation,
conveys a most important lesson.

In all governments which are in any
degree popular, there must be two par-
ties in the state. Those who conduct
public affairs, must expect to have their
measures scrutinized and thwarted by all
who are desirous either of diminishing
their influence, or succeeding to the pos-
session of their power. In Carthage,
a party such as this, (which in modem
times we have taught ourselves to call
" the opposition,") was regularly organ-

CARTHAGE.

ized, and its exertions were systematic
and incessant. The avowed leader of
this party was that Hanno, whose inca-
pacity and misconduct we have more
than once had occasion to notice. His
constant object was to undermine and
destroy the influence which Hannibal,
by his talents, success, and family con-
nections, possessed in the state. So
violent was his animosity against the
Barcine party, that he appears to have
disregarded all the real interests of his
country, so long as he could cripple their
exertions, and mar the execution of their
designs. The peculiar fault of the Car-
thaginian constitution, as we have noticed
in the outset, was, that in all cases
which produced a difference of opinion,
and, on this account would deserve
graver and more mature deliberation, it
lost its representative character, and an
appeal was directly made to the blind-
ness and party zeal, the narrow^ concep-
tions, and infuriated prejudices of the
populace. Hanno did not lose sight of
the power which this singular anomaly in
the constitution afforded him. He avail-
ed himself of it on every occasion, and it
enabled him to work the destruction of
his political opponents ; but his country
fell with him. The power of Carthage
was annihilated on the plains of Zama ;
and the short remainder of its history
contains nothing but a detail of insolent
aggressions on the part of its victorious
rival. These were met by the Cartha-
ginians on their side by the most unwor-
thy concessions. They gave up their
general ; they submitted to endure the
most unwarrantable interposition of their
affairs ; in short, they drank the cup of
humiliation to its very dregs, in the hope
of protracting their existence. But the
hope was vain; the haughty spirit of the
Roman people could not endure, that a
city, which had for a long time resisted
the progress of their arms, and even
made them tremble in the Capitol, should
continue to exist ; and the military skill
of Scipio iEmilianus was called upon to
effect that destruction, which the savage
ambition of the elder Cato had resolved
upon. It was necessary for the aggran
dizement of their city, that Carthage
should be destroyed, and they cared little

what means were used to accomplish its
destruction. This event took place in
the year of Rome 608, about 146 years
before the commencement of the Chris-
tian era.

Such was the fate of Carthage. Its
decay and final destruction ought to be
attributed to the intrigues and miscon-
duct of its factious citizens, rather than
to the actual power of its rival, however
formidable it might appear. The treasure
carried off by iEmilianus, even after the
city had been delivered up to the soldiers
to be plundered, was immense. The
destruction was complete ; and the sen-
ate issued a decree, enjoining, that it
should never again be inhabited, and de-
nouncing the most dreadful imprecations
against those who should attempt to re-
build any part of it.

Notwithstanding the denunciations of
the senate against all who should attempt
to rebuild Carthage, they were induced
in a very short period themselves to sanc-
tion the undertaking. Twenty-four years
after the victory of ^milianus, B. C.
142, the sedition of Tiberius Gracchus
began to be formidable to the patricians,
since he was supported by the great
body of the people, in his endeavors to
pass an Agrarian law. Gracchus finding
himself unable to accomplish his purpose,
was probably not unwilling to accept the
offer made him by the senate, of becom-
ing the leader of 6,000 citizens to the
site of Carthage, for the purpose of its
restoration. Gracchus was terrified by
prodigies from proceeding in his purpose.
It seems probable, however, that a few
buildings began to spring up among the
ruins ; and we have reason to conclude
that, from this time for many centuries,
they increased in number, beauty and
convenience. Compared with its former
glory, the city was long considered as in
ruins. When Marius took refuge there,
outcast and deserted, he is said to have
dwelt in a hovel amidst the ruins of Car-
thage ; and Sulpicius, addressing Cicero,
speaks of it as razed to the foundation.
Julius Caesar, too, when in Egypt, in
consequence of a dream, in which he
beheld a numerous army weeping, deter-
mined to rebuild Corinth and Carthage.
His death prevented the execution of his

CHILI.

purpose. Augustus, finding a record of his
intention among his papers, piously ful-
filled it, and sent 3,000 Romans thither,
who were joined by the inhabitants of
the neighboring country. These estab-
lished a colony adjacent to the ancient
city, but not upon the very spot, lest they
should be obnoxious to the curse invoked
by the seriate. Such at least is the
account of Appian ; yet Strabo speaks of
Carthage as the second city in the Ro-
man empire for wealth and power, and
he wrote in the reign of Tiberius. This
time is scarcely sufficient for so great an
advance to be made towards its former
magnificence. Perhaps, we shall form a

just notion of the fact, if we conceive,
that Appian has lessened, and Strabo
has exaggerated, its importance. Pliny
mentions it as a very considerable colony ;
and it was soon after the commencement
of the Christian era, regarded as the me-
tropolis of Africa.

The precise period of the introduction
of Christianity we are unable to ascer-
tain, but it is evident that it should be
fixed very early. For in the middle of
the second century, arose Tertullian, the
first Latin father of the church with
whose writings we are acquainted, and
he speaks, as of a notorious fact, of the
wide extent of Christianity in Africa.

CHILI.

Little is known respecting the histo-
ry of Chili, until its invasion by the Span-
iards under Diego Almagro, A. D. 1535.

These brave but unprincipled adven-
turers had already conquered Mexico,
and overrun, with incredible success, the
whole kingdom of Peru. Still, however,
unsatisfied, their avarice and their ambi-
tion were yet farther allured, by the rich
mines and the beautiful plains of Chili.
Almagro left Cusco with 570 Spaniards,
and 15,000 Peruvian auxiliaries. Disre-
garding all the remonstrances of his con-
federates, he preferred passing the Cor-
dilleras, to the other more distant, but, at
that season, less dangerous entrance, by
the desert of Atacama. Unfortunately,
however, winter had already commenced
when they reached the Cordillera Neva-
da, and, in the course of their passage,
the snow fell in such abundance, and the
cold became so intense and overpower-
ing, that not less than 10,000 Peruvians,
with 150 Spaniards, perished in the
march ; the rest were happily extricated
by the activity of their leader. Almagro
with a few horse having reached the
plain, procured assistance and provisions
for his exhausted soldiers.

They were received in Copiapo with
the most benevolent hospitality, and, in
a short time, were completely recovered
13

of their fatigues. The northern provin-
ces had been subdued, and were still
tributary to the Peruvians ; and here the
Spaniards were unexpectedly gratified by
the distribution of 500,000 ducats, which
Paulu, the Peruvian leader, well ac-
quainted with the views and disposition
of his associates, had exacted from the
inhabitants, and presented to Almagro.
This present gave a strong impression
of the riches of Chili, and animated the
soldiers in the prosecution of their enter-
prise.

Before leaving Copiapo, they were
joined by reinforcements from Peru ;
and, in their progress southwards, were
every where treated by the natives with
liberality and respect. They were even
regarded as beings of a higher nature,
more allied to divinity than to the com-
mon race of mortals. This convenient
persuasion was as industriously propaga-
ted as it was credulously believed. But
we must here notice an occurrence,
which served in no small degree, to un-
deceive the deluded inhabitants, and to
develope, in its true light, the character
of their new friends. Two stragglers
from the Spanish army being put to
death, and we may suppose not without
suflicient grounds for the severity, by the
people of Guasco, Almagro instantly pro-

CHILI.

ceeded to take a cruel vengeance on the
offenders. He arrested the Ulmen or
governor of the guiUy district, his brother,
and twenty more of the principal inhabi-
tants ; all these, together with an usur-
per of Copiapo, Avhom he had lately
deposed, were at his command, without
even the formality of justice, committed
at once to the flames. This conduct of
Almagro did not pass without censure ;
even his own Spaniards were displeased,
and openly reprobated the barbarity of
their leader. Familiar as they had long
been with robbery and slaughter, some
were still found among them, who had
not utterly renounced all the sympathies
of humanity.

Almagro now entered the country of
the Promaucians. That gallant people
had on a former occasion successfully
resisted all the efforts of Peru. At the
first appearance of the Spaniards, they
stood amazed and confounded. The
Spanish horses were the first they had
ever beheld ; but still more wonderful
were the mysterious weapons which these
strangers brought along with them. They
were surprised, but not intimidated ; and
both armies drew up for battle, on the .shore
of the Rio Claro. The Peruvians, whom
Almagro had posted in front, were soon
broken and routed, and fell back with
terror on the Spanish line. The Span-
iards themselves were able with difficulty
to sustain the furious attack ; they were
not a little astonished at the resolute va-
lor and fearless impetuosity of their new
assailants. The struggle was obstinate,
bloody, and doubful, and night alone put
an end to it. The Promaucians, how-
ever, remained in sight of their formida-
ble enemy, with a determination to renew
the fight next morning. The Spaniards
kept the field, and claimed the victory ;
but a victory of such perilous achieve-
ment they had neither expected nor de-
sired, and they were now fully persuaded
of what indeed the Peruvians had before
warned them, that the country of this
people was not to be won by the force
of prejudice alone, but by arms and valor,
fatigue and bloodshed.

It is seldom that men have resolution
patiently to undergo toil and danger in
the attainment of an object, when their

anticipations had prepared them for nei-
ther. So it happened with the Spaniards ;
they resolved unanimously to abandon
the enterprise. Some of them, indeed,
expressed a desire to remain in the coun-
try, and form a settlement in the northern
provinces, where the natives were of a
milder and less warlike disposition. At
the request, however, of their leader, they
unanimously returned with him to Cusco,
in order to support him in his pretensions
to that city. Cusco was included in the
grant of territory, which had lately been
conferred upon Almagro by the court of
Spain ; but his rival Pizarro, in whose
power it then was, could not be persua-
ded to abandon so rich a possession.
Almagro fell in the contest, and his sol-
diers were scattered over Peru.

Notwithstanding the failure of the last
expedition to Chili, an object so tempting
was not thus to be relinquished. Pizar-
ro, now sole master of Peru, was con-
vinced of its importance, and resolved
upon another attempt. For this purpose,
he commissioned his own quarter-master
Pedro de Valdivia, to the exclusion of
de Hoz and Carmargo, who had been
nominated by the court of Spain. Val-
divia had served in Italy, was possessed
of courage, prudence, and activity, and,
as an officer, was accounted one of the
ablest among the Spanish adventurers.
Before leaving Peru, he provided him-
self with all the requisites of a colony,
and having crossed the Cordilleras in
summer, entered Chili without loss, at
the head of 2,000 Spaniards, with a large
body of Peruvians.

Almagro had been well received in
these northern provinces, chiefly through
the influence and authority of his Peru-
vian confederates. The inhabitants, how-
ever, no longer considered themselves as
subject to Peru, which they now under-
stood to be itself a conquered kingdom ;
and they were likewise better acquainted
with the Spanish character. It was no
longer veiled under the impious and im-
posing title of divinity. The period of
delusion had passed away, and these
iniquitous invaders stood naked and ex-
posed in all their startling deformity.
The natives were every where in arms
to repel the intrusion ; and had their

CHILI.

power equalled the animosity with which
it was exerted, they must have succeeded
in the end ; but their weapons and their
discipline were alike incompetent. Their
most powerful efforts were weak, desul-
tory, and ineffectual, and at best, served
rather to harass than destroy. Unguided
and tumultuous, they made but little im-
pression on the steady valor of their more
skilful opponents ; and the Spaniards,
though frequently interrupted, continued
their march, and penetrated into the coun-
try, as far as the river Mapocho. It was
in this rich and beautiful province, that
Valdivia i-esolved, if possible, to effect a
settlement. He laid the foundation of St.
Jago, and immediately erected a strong
citadel for its protection. It was not long
before this cautious measure proved the
safety of the colonists. The Spaniards
were resolved to effect in Chili what they
had so cruelly accomplished in Mexico
and Peru ; they had determined to make
its free inhabitants the instruments of
their avarice, and, in this manner, to sub-
ject them to the most degrading servi-
tude. The Mapochinians, therefore, in
whose territory they had now settled,
and who seem at first to have given but
little disturbance to their operations,
quickly began to feel the weight of op-
pression, and, at the same time, to exhibit
rather unequivocal symptoms of uneasi-
ness. Upon the first appearance of dis-
affection, Valdivia seized and imprisoned
their chiefs ; but the spirit of freedom
was not thus to be suppressed, and such
insulting severity had the effect only of
exciting a more implacable hostility.
Seizing an occasion of Valdivia's ab-
sence, they effected a general insurrec-
tion, assaulted the town, repulsed its de-
fenders, and demolished the half-raised
buildings. The Spaniards were now shut
up in their fortress ; but the enemy fell
in thousands around it, and the trenches
were soon crowded with their dead. At
length the Mapochinians, after a day of
gallant exertion, found themselves com-
pelled to retire, both for the purpose of
refreshment, and of recruiting their ex-
hausted numbers. In the mean time,
Valdivia, secretly apprized of these pro-
ceedings, returned in haste to his friends,
joined them with sixty horse, engaged

the enemy, at the moment they were pre-
paring for a fresh assault, and, after a
furious conflict, defeated and pursued
them with overwhelming slaughter. The
loss of a battle was a misfortune less
severe to the Mapochinians, than the
murder of their chiefs. This had been
effected, during the assault, by the cruel
intrepidity of Inez Saurez, a Spanish
female, who fearing lest, in the general
confusion, they might regain their liber-
ty, and animate their countymen, dashed
out their brains with a hatchet. The
spirit, however, of this enduring people,
seemed to rise with their misfortunes.
Henceforth they renounced every thought
of accommodation with their oppressors.
They continued for the space of six
years with resolute but unavailing perse-
verance, constantly harassing, but una-
ble to expel the enemy ; till at length a
feeble remnant, wasted by the unequal
contest, and nobly preferring freedom to
their country, they destroyed their crops,
and took refuge in the mountains.

After the defeat and death of Pizarro,
Valdivia returned to Chili, followed by a
crowd of adventurers. Before, however,
resuming offensive operations, he distri-
buted the conquered provinces among his
adherents ; and in this manner effectually
secured their fidelity, while he inspired
them with a more permanent interest, in
the country for which they contended.
He now penetrated southwards, without
almost any opposition, to the bay of Pen-
co ; and, according to his usual policy,
took possession of the country, by the
establishment of a new colony, and the
foundatian of another city. To this city-
he gave the name of Conception ; it
stands on a fruitful soil, and has a fine
commercial situation.

From this period we may date the
commencement of a more combined, a
more vigorous, and a more successful
resistance than the Spaniards had yet
experienced. A field of more hazardous
contention was now opened to them, —
a field in which they were not unfre-
quently to feel the impotence and the
pressure of an unrighteous cause. They
were now to encounter, not the timid
slaves of luxury and prejudice, but a
nation of indignant heroes, roused to

100

CHILI.

exertion in defence of their liberty and
possessions, who held in defiance their
boasted superiority, and set at naught
even " the thundering arms of Europe."
This new power was the Araucanians,
a name bestowed indiscriminately upon
several distinct, though confederate tribes ;
they occupy that portion of ChiU which
extends between the rivers Biobio and j
Calacalla. Regarding with indignation
the insolence, the rapacity, and the grow-
ing power of these formidable strangers,
and perceiving that the next blow must
inevitably fall upon themselves, the Arau-
canians resolved to send immediate re-
lief to their neighbors of Penco. For
this purpose, Aillavalu, their Toqui or
dictator, crossed the Biobio, and at the
head of 4,000 men, gave battle to the
Spaniards. After the first discharge of
musketry, the Chilese, by a bold and
dexterous movement, pouring at once up-
on the whole Spanish line, brought it to
close fight, while at the same time the
Spaniards, having instantly assumed the
form of a square, firmly maintained their
ground. The conflict was severe and
bloody, and for several hours was bravely
supported on both sides. At length, Val-
divia being dismounted, confusion began
to show itself among his troops ; when
Aillavalu, eager to seize the momentary
advantage, by a rash but gallant impetu-
osity, fell in the front of battle. His
soldiers instantly began to retreat, main-
taining, however, so much appearance
of intrepidity and order, that the Span-
iards dared not pursue. After the battle,
Valdivia testified his amazement at the
skill, the valor, and the discipline of his
new opponents. He had often encoun-
tered all the ten-ors of European warfare,
but never before this engagement had his
life been put to such imminent hazard.
The boldest of his soldiers dreaded the
return of so daring an enemy ; and, to
prepare for the worst, a strong fortifica-
tion was immediately erected near the
town.

In the mean time, the Araucanians
were again advancing with a more nu-
merous army than before, but under the
auspices of a very difi'crent leader. Lyn-
coyan, the new Toqui, possessed neither
the skill nor the courage of his predeces-

sor. His strength and his stature were
enormous, and it would seem that a re-
gard to these, more than to his mental
abilities, had exalted him to the vacant
dignity. He was defeated by the Span-
iards, who traversed the country almost
without resistance, and erected three
strong forts in the tliree most warlike
provinces.

Prosperity thus shone upon the tri-
umphant Spaniards, but a fatal storm
was already gathering among the enemy.
Submission was equally intolerable and
repugnant to the haughty spirit of the
Araucanians, and it required but little
persuasion to excite them to more vigor-
ous measures. By the exertions of Colo-
colo, an aged Ulmen, the chiefs were
assembled, Lyncoyan deposed, and after
a violent altercation about the supremacy,
the choice of a new Toqui was unani-
mously submitted to the prudent Colo-
colo. He immediately directed their
notice to Caupolican, of a genius at once
enterprising and cautious, but whose
modesty had hitherto prevented his ap-
pearing as a candidate. A shout of en-
thusiastic applause proclaimed his elec-
tion ; and scarcely had he assumed the
badge of authority, when he had to repress
the fiery zeal of his countrymen, who de-
manded instantly to march in quest of the
enemy. After sufficient preparation, he
led them against the forts of Arauco and
Tucapel, both of which, after a short
siege, he forced the Spaniards to evacu-
ate ; and on the ruins of the latter, waited
the approach of Valdivia, who was in
vain hastening to its relief. The two
armies soon met, and the first onset proved
auspicious to the Araucanians. The en-
emy's left wing, pushing forward to meet
their attack, was surrounded and cut in
pieces. A second detachment fell in the
same manner. As the conflict, however,
became general, the tide of success was
for a while balanced, and began at length
to flow heavily against the Araucanians.
The Spanish artillery penetrated, with
dreadful effect, their compact and crowd-
ed battalions. Twice had they been re-
pulsed in disorder, when a third discom-
fiture completed the confusion, and baffled
all the efforts of Caupolican to renew the
combat. At this critical moment, the

CHILI.

101

famous Lautaro, a young Araucanian, the
captive and page of Valdivia, seized with
a patriotic enthusiasm, darted from the
hostile ranks, upbraided, ralhed, and at
length brought his indignant countrymen
with such fury to the charge, that the
first encounter proved completely deci-
sive ; and with such fatal promptitude did
he pursue the advantage, that, excepting
their general who was made prisoner, not
a single Spaniard escaped the slaughter ;
only two Promaucians reached Concep-
tion wdth intelligence of the battle. Val-
divia condescended to ask his life of the
conqueror, promising to quit Chili with
all his countrymen ; and Caupolican,
influenced, as well by his own generous
temper, as by the intercession of Lautaro,
showed an inclination to spare him. An
old Ulmen, however, more prudent than
humane, exclaiming against the folly of
trusting to the oaths and the promises of
an ambitious adversary, and furious at
the thoughts of his escape, secretly ap-
proached the prisoner, and dashed out
his brains with a blow of his club. A
severe punishment would have quickly
followed this precipitate conduct, but for
the obstinate interposition of the Arauca-
nian officers.

This important victory produced the
evacuation of Puren, and the abandon-
ment of Villarica, and the city of the
Frontiers. It was celebrated by the
Araucanians during three successive days,
whilst the heads of their fallen enemies
were suspended with savage exultation,
around the place of festivity. Lautaro,
who, at the early age of sixteen, had thus
gloriously achieved the salvation of his
country, was created lieutenant-general-
extraordinary, and entrusted with the
command of a separate army ; and Cau-
polican laid siege to Imperial and Valdi-
via, the only places of strength in Arauca-
nia that now remained to the Spaniards.

About this period, the small-pox, that
pestilence to the New World, which a
few years before had appeared in the
northern provinces, was now for the first
time introduced into Araucania, during a
predatory excursion from the town of
Valdivia, by the Spaniards. Its effects
were awfully destructive. One district,
in particular, was almost completely de-

populated. Of twelve thousand persons,
not more than a hundred survived its rav-
ages.

While Caupolican resumed the sieges
of Imperial and Valdivia, his active lieu-
tenant, at the head of six hundred chosen
companions, undertook to employ the
enemy in another quarter. He con-
ceived the bold design, by attacking St.
Jago itself, to strike a blow at the centre
of their power in Chili. Immediately
he began his march, and penetrated to
the river Maule without offering the least
violence to the natives ; but the moment
he entered the Promaucian territory, he
gave a loose to his indignation, and with
more justice than policy, took a dreadful
vengeance upon these traitorous apos-
tates, whom by conciliating, he might
have recalled, perhaps, from their hated
allegiance. He then fortified himself in
their territory, in place of marching di-
rectly upon St. Jago ; a delay which
proved fatal to the success of the enter-
prise. The inhabitants were quickly in-
formed of his approach ; but, lying at
the distance of three hundred miles from
Araucania, they at first only ridiculed the
information, and could scarcely credit the
possibility of so daring an attempt, till it
was fully ascertained to them, by the
surprise and defeat of one of their detach-
ments. Villagran, being unable himself,
from indisposition, to head the forces,""
gave the command to his son Pedro, with
instructions to march directly against the
enemy. Pedro attempted in vain to force
the Araucanian encampment, and was
repeatedly discomfited. A bold stratagem
of Lautaro's had nearly overwhelmed his
whole army, by turning upon it during
the night, a branch of the river Mataquito.
Having escaped this disaster, he soon
afterwards laid down the command to his
father, who found himself in a condition
to resume it. Villigran had now been
taught respect for his adversary ; and
dreading the consequence of a pitched
engagement, resolved if possible to take
him by svirprise. Conducted by a secret
path, he reached at day-break the Arau-
canian camp. At the first alarm, Lauta-
ro, who had just retired from the fatigues
of a night's watch, was in a moment at
the head of his troops ; and, at the same

102

CHILI.

instant, was seen to drop, pierced to the
heart by one of the enemy's darts. The
exulting Spaniards pressed furiously up-
on his dispirited soldiers, the meanest of
whom would have willingly exchanged
fates with his beloved commander, and
cared not to survive him. But the tri-
umph was dearly purchased. Not a man
of that chosen band would submit to yield
himself a prisoner. They spurned at
the offered mercy ; and after a long and
bloody resistance, the few that still re-
mained, despairing to find death, while
they continued to deal it so profusely
around them, thi-ew themselves on the
spears of the admiring and reluctant
enemy.

The extravagant rejoicings which the
Spaniards manifested on this occasion,
and which were continued for three days
in succession, throughout all the settle-
ments in Chili, sufficiently testified the
importance attached to the victory. No-
thing could better celebrate the merits of
the young hero, in whose destruction
they so exultingly triumphed, and which
they regarded as itself a full equivalent
for all their disasters. Like Marcellus
of Rome, he was the sword of Araucania.
His powerful genius supplied the want
of experience ; and during his short and
brilliant career, success never forsook
him. The beauty of his person was
equal to the energy of his mind. His
memory is still fondly cherished, and he
is still the boast of his country, as he was
formerly its glory and protection.

The Spaniards under Don Garcia, and
others, were for a long period engaged
in bloody warfare with the Araucanians.
The bravery of this heroic people was
oftentimes more than a match for the
Spaniards, who were never able efl'ec-
tually to subdue them.

In the year 1612, in consequence of
the complaints of Luis Valdivia, a Jesuit
missionary, who zealously represented
to the king the impracticability of propa-
gating religion amid the tumult of arms,
great exertions were made, on the part
of Spain, to accomplish a treaty. Philip
HI, a bigoted though devout monarch,
issued commands for a suspension of
hostilities, and commissioned Valdivia
with full powers to negotiate a peace.

Aillavalu, suspicious of the enemy, paid
little regard to their professions. But
his successor Ancanamon, after minute
inquiries, entered sincerely into proposals
for an accommodation. The conditions
proposed were these, " That the Biobio
should serve as a barrier to both nations,
so that neither should be permitted to
pass it with an army ; that all deserters,
in future, should be mutually returned ;
and that the missionaries should be per-
mitted to preach the doctrines of Chris-
tianity in the Araucanian territories."
After the execution of the required pre-
liminaries, and when the treaty was on
the point of being finally concluded, the
whole proceedings were completely over-
turned by the obstinate bigotry, or the
interested opposition of the Spanish offi-
cers. One of the Toqui's wives, a Span-
ish lady, whose detention in that capacity
had been compulsory, seizing the occasion
of her husband's absence, fled to the gov-
ernor with two small children. Ancana-
mon vainly demanded their restoration ;
his claim was rejected by a majority of
officers. He then claimed his two infant
daughters, for whom he bore the fondest
attachment ; but of these also the eldest
was denied him, on the plea that she
had been converted to Christianity, and
might be in danger, in a pagan country,
of receding from the faith. In the mean
time the Ulmen of Illicula had, from mo-
tives of gratitude to Valdivia, engaged to
facilitate the negotiation, and at the same
time received some missionaries into his
province. The exasperated Toqui, who
had now abandoned all desire of peace,
no sooner was informed of this proceed-
ing, than he hastened with a party of two
hundred horse to lUicura, and immedi-
ately slew the missionaries with their
protector. All attempts to revive the
negotiation were fruitless.

Thus frivolously was rekindled a war,
which, in its course, had already drained
Araucania of its bravest inhabitants, and
drenched its fields with the best blood of
the enemy. Ancanamon poured out his
indignant vengeance on the Spanish pro-
vinces, and some severe engagements
followed. But the levity of the Span-
iards received its full measure of retribu-
tion, during the dictatorships of Lientur

CHILI,

103

and Putapichion. The ardent genius
and enterprising spirit of Lientur carried
eA'ery thing before him. His expeditions
were a succession of triumphs to his
country, and of discomfiture and humilia-
tion to the Spaniards. He retired with
glory in his old age, regarded even by
his enemies as the darling of fortune.
He was succeeded by Putapichion, a
leader possessed of talents scarcely infe-
rior, though less uniformly triumphant,
but whose laurels were shamefully pol-
luted, by reviving, happily but in one
instance, the cruel ceremony of the pru-
loncon, or dance of the dead ; a festival
in which a captive was sacrificed to the
manes of the soldiers slain in battle. He
fell gloriously, in a bloody engagement
with the Spanish governor Don Francis-
co Laso, and in the moment of success ;
but his soldiers, intent only to remove
the body of their leader, permitted the
enemy to rally his dismayed battalions,
and lost a victory which their valor had
in part achieved. The death of Putapi-
chion threw a superiority on the side of
the Spaniards. His successors in the
Toquiate, with equal ardor to annoy the
enemy, were deficient in those qualities,
which could alone secure its accomplish-
ment. Their efforts, though not always
ineffectual, seem in general to have been
the result rather of temerity than of skill.
They have the just praise, however, of
having been sincere in the great cause
of their country, and their sincerity was
sealed with their blood. In the course
of a A^ery few years Araucania was de-
prived of five successive Toquis, and,
during that period, was frequently expo-
sed to severe ravages from the governor.

The Spanish settlements were again
threatened by the Dutch and English.
The first arrived upon the coast in 1638,
when a storm frustrated their enterprise,
by the dispersion of their little squadron.
Some years after, the English fleet, on
its way to Chili, under Sir John Norbor-
ough, was lost in the straits of Magellan.

Laso, like some of his predecessors,
had engaged his promise to terminate
the war with the Araucanians, but not-
withstanding his utmost endeavors, and
the vigorous ability with which these
were exerted, they still obstinately main-

tained their freedom ; and he was at
length reduced to the necessity of solicit-
ing reinforcements. Instead of these,
however, the court of Spain sent out the
Marquis de Baydes to displace him from
the command. De Baydes, immediately
on assuming the government, (1643,)
opened a conference with Toqui Linco-
pichion ; and the tAvo chiefs, entertaining
similar views, a peace was concluded on
the 6th of January, the following year,
upon the terms proposed to Ancanamon,
but with this further requisition, that the
Araucanians should not permit the land-
ing of any strangers upon their coast,
nor furnish supplies to any foreign nation
whatever. This prudent stipulation pro-
ved shortly of the highest importance to
the Spaniards.

In 1643, the Dutch, after the reduction
of Brazil, renewed their attempts upon
Chili ; but this their last effort, though
apparently more formidable and better
concerted, was not more successful than
the two former. They possessed them-
selves of the deserted harbor of Valdivia;
and the Araucanians were in vain soli-
cited with the most pressing invitations
to break with their ancient enemy. Not
only, however, did they remain faithful
to their engagement, but readily united
with a Spanish army to expel the strangers.
Upon intelligence of their approach, the
Dutch, greatly oppressed for want of
provisions, found themselves once more
compelled to abandon the enterprise.

In 1655, hostilities were excited afresh
during the government of Don Antonio
Acugna ; but from Avhat cause, or which
party was the aggressor, we are not in-
formed. The Toqui Clentaru, in his first
enterprise, had the glory of annihilating
a Spanish army. He then cleared the
country of some remaining fortresses,
crossed the Biobio, and after defeating
the governor, overturned the forts of St.
Christopher and the Eustacia del Rey,
and burned the city of Chilian. Don
Francisco Meneses brought the war to a
termination in 1665, by a peace which
lasted forty-eight years. During this
period little occurred deserving particu-
lar notice. A slight rebellion took place
among the inhabitants of Chiloe ; which,
however, was quickly suppressed by the

104

CHILI.

prudent exertions of Don Pedro Molina.
During the war of succession in 1707,
the external commerce of Chili fell into
the hands of Frenchmen, and remained
wholly under their management till 1717.
Many of them settled in the country, and
have left numerous descendants.

The war of 1723 menaced the Span-
iards in its commencement with total ex-
pulsion from Chili. It appears to have
been excited by some encroachments on
their part, and by the insolent aggres-
sions of those persons styled Captains
vf the Friends, (Spanish officers placed
in Chili for the ostensible purpose of
protecting missionaries). The assump-
tion of powers which did not originally
belong to them was deeply resented, and
soon stirred to a flame the watchful jeal-
ousy of the Araucanians. Villumilla was
elected Toqui in 1722. His first aim
was to engage the co-operation of all the
Chilians, that by one sudden and over-
whelming eftbrt he might sweep the
Spaniards from every province of the
country. But though his measures to
this effect were taken with vigor, secrecy,
and precision, its accomplishment was
entirely frustrated, by the inaction of the
conquered Chilians. The long and rigid
despotism which had been exercised
over them with such barbarity by the
Spaniards, had not only repressed the
population, once numerous and flourish-
ing, but reduced it to a spiritless remnant.
The small number, therefore, and the
broken spirit of these injured and degra-
ded beings, should perhaps exculpate
them from the charge of cowardice. On
the day appointed, the signal fires served
only to remind them of ancient freedom,
without exciting a single effort to regain
it. Villumilla, thus disappointed of ex-
tensive co-operation, though he was not
deterred from attacking the enemy, ac-
complished nothing of importance. He
succeeded in taking several fortresses ;
but the governor, Don Gabriel Cano, who
had entered Araucania with an army of
5,000 men, not choosing to attack him,
the war was reduced to skirmishes, and
soon afterwards terminated by the peace
of Negrete.

The interval of tranquillity was occu-
pied by a succession of governors, in

forming new establishments, and peo-
pling them with great numbers of their
countrymen, at that time scattered over
the provinces. An attempt to extend the
same policy, with very different views,
to Araucania, produced a rupture with
that vigilant people, who, regarding cities
as the emblems of servitude, and with
extreme aversion, could not be persuaded
to adopt a measure which might one day
prove instumental in subverting their lib-
erties. The subsequent war, however,
of which we have no particular account,
compelled the Spaniards to forbear even
such indirect methods of reducing a war-
like nation, resolved to remain independ-
ent, or to perish with its freedom. The
peace which followed in 1773, was a
confirmation of the treaties of Quillin and
Negrete. During the negotiations which,
at the desire of the Toqui Curignancu,
were held in St. Jago, a demand, rather
unexpected, was made from the same
authority. It was required, that hence-
forth the Auraucanians should be permit-
ted to keep a minister resident in that
city. This, also, notwithstanding the
opposition of his officers, the governor
thought proper to concede, and every
obstacle being removed, the terms were
adjusted and ratified on the bases of the
preceding treaties.

Since their last expulsion from Arau-
cania, the Spaniards have prudently ab-
stained from any further attempts to re-
gain their possessions in that warlike
province ; the preservation of which had
already been attended with so nmch haz-
ard and bloodshed. In 1792 the colony
was in a flourishing state under Don
Ambrosio Higgins, a native of Ireland,
who increased the number of its cities,
extended its commerce and fisheries,
encouraged its agriculture, and by the
whole of his able and useful administra-
tion became the object of universal regard.

Up to the breaking out of the South
American war of independence. Chili
was one of the most productive of the
Spanish provinces in the new world,
but they readily succeeded in throwing
off' the yoke.

In 1814, Chili was invaded by a royal-
ist army from Peru, imder the command
of general Osorio ; and the defeat of the

CHINA.

105

patriots at Rancagxia, compelled the
leading individuals to cross the Andes,
and seek refuge in Buenos Ayres, leav-
ing their country in possession of the
Spaniards. In 1817, the patriots obtain-
ed succors from Buenos Ayres, com-
manded by general San Martin, and re-
entered Chili at the head of a powerful
body of troops, which defeated the Span-
iards at Chacabuco, and again at Maypu,
April 5, 1817, and thus permanently se-
cured the independence of the country.
By the intrigues of San Martin, the three
Carreras and their friend Rodriguez, the
most patriotic men of Chili, were shame-
fully murdered, and Don Bernardo O'Hig-
gins was placed at the head of the gov-
ernment, with the title of supreme direc-
tor. Meanwhile San Martin, with the
liberating army, and aided by a Chilian
fleet under Lord Cochrane, invaded Peru
in return, and gave it a temporary inde-
pendence. O'Higgins continued to ad-
minister the government, until Jan. 23,
] 823, when he was compelled to resign
the supreme authority, owing chiefly to
the dissatisfaction of the people with his
financial measures. He was succeeded
by general Ramon Freire, the latter be-
ing appointed supreme director. In Jan-
uary, 1826, the archipelago of Chiloe,

which had remained to that time in the
hands of the Spaniards, surrendered to
the government of Chili. But disturb-
ances have existed among the Arauca-
nians, on the southern frontier, down to
the present time, occasioning more or
less inconvenience to the Chilians. In
other respects. Chili has been wholly
unmolested by foreign enemies, unless an
attempt of the exile O'Higgins upon Chi-
loe, in 1826, can be considered such.
But the unsettled state of the government,
and the mal-administration of its affairs,
have impeded the prosperity of the country.
In July, 1826, the director Freire re-
signed his office, and admiral Manual
Blanco was appointed in his place. In
May, 1827, the form of the government
was changed, and, Blanco having resign-
ed, Freire was again called to the head
of affairs as president, but refused to be
qualified ; and the administration of the
government devolved upon Don Francis-
co A. Pinto, the vice-president. Three
attempts have been made to effect a solid
organization of the government by means
of a permanent constitution. One con-
stituent congress assembled in 1823,
another in 1824, and a third in 1826 ;
but neither of them fully accomplished
the object of their meeting.

CHINA,

The early history of China, besides
being derived from such uncertain sources,
is so extremely limited, as scarcely to
deserve the name. Of the immense col-
lection, known in China by the name of
the twenty-one historians, which consists
of about 500 volumes, the first 14 volumes
comprehend the whole historical me-
moirs, from the reign of Yao to the year
200 before Christ ; and seven of these
14 contain only genealogical tables. An
abridgment of Chinese history of high
authority, named Tong-kienkang-mo, as
examined by M. De Guignes, presents
the following proportions. Of 56 volumes,
the half of the second, namely 75 pages,
and the whole of the third, namely 111
14

pages, loaded with notes larger than the
text, and consisting chiefly of long moral
discourses from the Shoo-king, comprises
the history of the empire, from the reign
of Yao to the commencement of the third
dynasty, a period of about 1236 years.
The history of the third and fourth dy-
nasties, reaching to the year before Christ
207, occupies nine volumes ; and the re-
maining 44 contain the history, from 207
before the Christian era to the year of
Christ 1368.

Such is the general character of the
early Chinese history ; not, as has been
pretended, consisting of regular annals,
ascending without interruption 3000
years before Christ, written by contem-

106

CHINA.

porary authors, full of circumstantial de-
tails, and founded upon the most exact
astronomical observations ; but, on the
contrary, extremely limited and ill con-
nected ; destitute of events, and full of
contradictions ; resting upon the most
questionable authorities, and often upon
mere conjecture ; drawn up by authors,
who lived far posterior to the times which
they describe, and who are frequently
divided into the most opposite opinions
and contradictory accounts.

Prior to any of the first emperors,
several chiefs are named in the Chinese
annals, who first attempted to civilize
the savage natives of the country ; but
Fo-hee is universally considered as the
first, who possessed the title and autho-
rity of a sovereign in China. The com-
mencement of his reign is fixed by some
of the Chinese historians as high as the
year 3300 before Christ ; but the whole
of his history, and of his successors
down to Yao, is entirely fabulous, was
written after the birth of Christ, and is
disbelieved by the greater part of the
Chinese themselves. There is nothing
known with certainty with regard to the
origin of Yao, or the state of the empire
before his time. There are very various
calculations, also, respecting the com-
mencement of his reign, which is placed
by some in the year 2000, and by others
in the year 24 1 1 before Christ.

The limits of this work will not allow
of giving an account of the various dy-
nasties which have ruled the Chinese
Empire. It is perhaps sufficient to say,
that they, like other nations, have passed
through bloody revolutions. Having suf-
fered much from the inroads of the
northern Tartars, the Chinese built a
wall upwards of 1200 miles in length
from east to west ; this astonishing work
is still in existence. This wall secured
the peace of China for several centuries ;
but the Tartars after repeated assaults,
succeeded in breaking over the wall, and
in subduing the empire in 1635, and a
Tartar dynasty is now on the throne.

It was owing chiefly to the wise policy
and humane conduct of A-ma-van, the
xmcle and guardian of the young Tartar
prince, that the Chinese were so easily
subdued, and so completely reconciled

to the authority of the new dynasty,
Shee-tsong faithfully adhered to the sys-
tem which his uncle had adopted in
governing the empire. He ascribed his
great success, not to the number or valor
of his troops, but to the will and favor of
heaven ; a sentiment exactly coinciding
with the Chinese creed, and furnishing
them with an excuse, which they plead to
this day, for submitting to a foreign yoke.
Instead of shutting himself up in his
palace, according to the custom of the
Chinese emperors, he began his reign
with showing himself much in public,
and giving his subjects free access to his
presence. He gained their attachment,
above all things, by the respect which
he paid to their whole system of gov-
ernment, laws, and customs. Nothing
was changed, that could be regarded as
of any importance ; but, on the contrary,
the conquerors conformed almost in every
respect, to the manners of the vanquished;
married into Chinese families, studied
the Chinese language, adopted the Chi-
nese dress, and mixed completely with
the common mass. The ablest Chinese
were appointed to the civil departments,
in preference to Tartars ; the supersti-
tions of the country were upheld and en-
couraged ; and the people were scarcely
sensible of any change having taken
place in the administration of public af-
fairs. The army alone was reserved
for the Tartars ; and is still chiefly
composed of the countrymen of the em-
peror.

Shee-tsong greatly patronised men of
learning ; and showed extraordinary
favor particularly to the persons employ-
ed in the Jesuit mission to China. Adam
Schaal was made president of the tri-
bunal of mathematics, and intrusted with
the reformation of the calendar, an ofiice
which had been held by the Mahomme-
dans nearly 300 years. This eminent
Jesuit was honored by the emperor with
the appellation of Ma-fa, " my father,"
and enjoyed the special privilege of pre-
senting his petitions into his own hands,
without subjecting them to the examina-
tion of the usual tribunals. About eight
years after Shee-tsong had taken the
reins of government into his own hands,
the renowned sea-captain Tching-tching-

CHINA.

107

long, or Coxinga, again appeared upon
the coast of China with his numerous
fleet, and at length laid siege to the city
of Nan-kin ; but his army, having de-
voted themselves to feasting and amuse-
ments for three days, in celebration of
his birth-day, the besieged embraced the
opportunity to make an attack upon his
camp at midnight, while the soldiers
were oppressed with wine and sleep, and
drove them to their ships with great
slaughter. Enraged by this defeat, he
pursued the Tartar fleet, destroyed a
number of vessels, took 4,000 prisoners,
and after having barbarously cut ofl' their
noses and ears, he sent them all ashore,
where they were still more barbarously
put to death by their own government,
as a punishment for having yielded to a
rebel, but, in reality, as a means of con-
cealing the disgrace of the discomfiture.
Coxinga, after this victory, directed his
course to attack the island of Formosa,
which was chiefly occupied by Dutch
traders; and, after a blockade of four
months, compelled them to surrender
from want of provisions. The Dutch,
however, were permitted to carry oflT
their property ; and the part of the island,
which had been occupied by the Chi-
nese, was formed by the pirate chief into
a small kingdom.

The emperor Shee-tsong, about the
17th year of his reign, while he was
only 24 years of age, died of grief on
account of the loss of one of his queens,
after having made an attempt to deprive
himself of life. While he was upon his
death-bed, he called four of his chief
mandarins into his presence, and charged
himself before them with various faults
during his government, with ingratitude
to his most faithful minister, neglect of
the counsels of his mother, affection to
the eunuchs, extravagance in vain curi-
osities, and inordinate attachment to the
late queen. He next appointed them
guardians of his youngest son Kang-hee,
whom he declared his successor, and
who was then only eight years of age.
Then, calling for his imperial robe, he
covered himself with it in his bed, and
instantly expired.

The guardians of the young monarch
devoted themselves to the welfare of the

empire. They began their administra-
tion with wisely expelling all the eunuchs
from the palace, except about 1 ,000, who
were reserved for performing the lowest
offices. They next published an edict,
requiring all the inhabitants of the sea
coast to withdraw three leagues from the
sea, and all maritime commerce to be
abandoned; which impaired, indeed, as
they are supposed to have intended, the
power of Coxinga, but which also com-
pletely ruined an immense multitude of
Chinese families, who subsisted by fish-
ing. They next issued a severe edict
against the Christians, who were soon
after compelled to leave the empire, as
will afterwards be more particularly re-
lated. Oo-san-hoey, who had invited the
Tartars into China, and who had received
from Shee-tsong a district in Shen-see,
with the dignity of king, is represented
by the Chinese historians, as having
soon repented his error in calling the
Tartars to his aid, saying, that " he had
sent for lions to drive away dogs." In
the r2th year of the emperor Kang-hee,
he openly raised the standard of rebel-
lion, made himself master of several
western provinces, and exercised the
prerogatives of the emperor. At the
same time two of the southern princes
declared war against the Tartar govern-
ment, and were joined by Tching-tching-
may, the son of Coxinga, and now king
of Formosa. But these insurgents soon
quarrelled with each other, and made
their submission to Kang-hee ; while
Oo-san-hoey, after sustaining several
successive defeats, sunk under the load
of years, the fatigues of war, and the
pressure of grief and disappointment.
His son Hong-hoa, nevertheless, sup-
ported his father's views, and assumed
the title of emperor ; but was soon re-
duced to such extremities by the Tartar
generals, that, to avoid falling into their
power, he put himself to death. About
this time, a dreadful earthquake was ex-
perienced in the northern parts of the
empire, and at Pekin alone, 300,000 per-
sons are said to have been buried in the
ruins of their habitations. Kang-hee,
who, even in his youth, had discovered
the greatest talents for governing, as
soon as the different insurgents had beea

108

CHINA.

completely suppressed, made a visit to
his native dominions in Eastern Tartary,
accompanied by his family, his court,
and an army, it is said, of 70,000 men.
He made a similar visit, during the fol-
low^ing year, to Western Tartary ; and
continued annually to repeat these expe-
ditions, under the pretence of hunting,
but in reality for the purpose of keeping
his troops in exercise, of displaying the
grandeur of his court, and of awing the
vassal princes, who were required to
join him in his progress.

By the assistance of two of the mis-
sionaries. Father Gerbillon and Pereira,
the boundaries between the Russian and
Chinese dominions were amicably de-
fined in the year 1689. In 1693, the
emperor was restored by the medicines
of the missionaries from a dangerous at-
tack of fever ; and in gratitude for their
services in this instance, as well as
through the influence of Gerbillon and
Pereira, who instructed him in the Euro-
pean sciences, he extended a greater de-
gree of toleration to the Christian religion,
and conferred several important privi-
leges upon the Jesuit residents in Pekin.
In the year 1707, the emperor employed
these learned missionaries to make a map
and survey of the empire ; a work which
they accomplished with great labor in
little more than ten years, and which
does honor both to the prince who plan-
ned, and to the persons who executed
the vast undertaking. In 1722, the em-
peror Kang-hee, after having established
his empire in profound peace, and done
more for its improvement than any sover-
eign who had ever filled the throne, died
suddenly in the 69th year of his age, and
the 60th of his reign. He was a prince
of a truly enlarged mind, and possessed
of many estimable qualities ; indefatigable
in his application to public affairs ; cau-
tious and discerning in the choice of his
ministers ; singidarly frugal in his per-
sonal expenditure, but munificent and af-
fectionate towards his people ; an anxious
promoter of peace, both in his own do-
minions and among neighboring nations ;
friendly to the arts and sciences, which
he cultivated himself with distinguished
success ; addicted to an active mode of
life, and skilled in the military exercises

of his nation ; uniting in his personal
character the most manly corporeal and
mental endowments, and in his political
administration, the tenderness of a pa-
rent with the firmness of a prince.

He was succeeded by his fourth son,
whom he had nominated to the throne,
and who assumed at his accession the
name of Young-tching, which signifies
" perpetual peace." The new emperor,
entering upon his function in the prime
of life, applied himself with the utmost
assiduity to the discharge of his weighty
duties. He is said to have employed
whole days and nights, without interrup-
tion, in framing useful laws and regula-
tions ; and to have been particularly
attentive to receive and answer the nu-
merous memorials presented for his in-
spection. The most eflectual way to
gain his favor was to propose some
scheme, which tended to advance the
public good, or to provide relief for his
subjects in times of calamity. Except
his thirteenth brother, he had no confi-
dents in his measures ; but governed
wholly of himself, and with the most ab-
solute authority. He is said to have
been endowed with great wit and elo-
quence, but to have been less addicted
to scientific pursuits than his father. He
began his administration with issuing the
most severe edicts against the Christians,
whom, at length, he utterly proscribed
and banished from his dominions ; and,
notwithstanding the excuses which may
be alleged for this measure, from the
misconduct of the missionaries, it is im-
possible to vindicate the cruel persecu-
tions which he instituted against the
native converts, and in Avhich so many
of the noblest families were miserably
destroyed.

In the year 1731, another destructive
earthquake was experienced in the
northern provinces, in consequence of
which 100,000 persons were said to
have perished in Pekin, and a still greater
number in the neighboring country. The
emperor was residing at the time in
one of his pleasure houses, about two
leagues distant from the metropolis, and
was sailing in his barge upon the canal
in his gardens, when the shocks com-
menced. His palace was instantly re-

CHINA.

109

duced to a heap of ruins, and the em-
peror, who had fallen on his knees at the
sight, afterwards published an edict in
the usual style, ascribing the calamity
to the wrath of heaven against himself,
for his offences and want of care in
governing the people ; commanded an
estimate to be made of the losses which
had been sustained ; and issued large
sums for the relief of the sufferers.

Yong-tching died in the year 1736,
after a reign of thirteen years, and was
succeeded by his son Kien-long, who
ascended the throne without opposition,
though he had not been regularly declared
by the late emperor as his successor.
He had hitherto devoted himself entirely
to literary pursuits, and was little ac-
quainted, at the time of his accession,
with public affairs ; but his mild and
benevolent character speedily attached
to him the affections and applause of
his people. In 1746, new decrees were
issued against the missionaries, a few
of whom, however, were still permitted
to reside at Pekin, on account of their
services in matters of science. In 1753,
an insurrection was excited among the
Eleuth Tartars, by a powerful prince
named Amoursana ; but the approach of
a Chinese army compelled him to take
refuge in the deserts of Siberia, where
he died a few years afterwards. Kien-
long sent a message to the Russians, re-
quiring the dead body of Amoursana to
be delivered up to him, that it might be
subjected to the customary penalties, for
the intimidation of others ; but the Rus-
sians, while they showed the body of the
prince to the Chinese commissioners, in
order to satisfy them of his decease, re-
fused to commit it into their hands, as
their laws, it appears, prohibit any ex-
posure to indignity of the remains of un-
fortunate persons, who may take refuge
in their dominions. In the year 1770,
about 50,000 families of the Tourgouth
Tartars, in the Russian territories, mi-
grated to the frontiers of China, and were
afterwards followed by an additional
number, which made the whole amount
to nearly half a million of souls. The
Chinese monarch was so much gratified
by the accession of so many new sub-
jects, and by the testimony of approbation

Avhich it afforded of his government, that
he caused a monument of stone to be
erected in commemoration of the event,
with an inscription in four different lan-
guages. In the year 1782, the emperor
showed his vigilance over the administra-
tion of public affairs, and his regard for
the welfare of his sucjects, by punishing
a great number of persons of the highest
rank, who had been found guilty of em-
bezzling the revenues, and oppressing
the people, while he diminished the
amount of taxes upon the lower classes
of the community, and promoted the
learned men throughout the empire ac-
cording to their merit. In the year fol-
lowing, the tranquillity of the empire
was interrupted by a dissension among
some tributary Mahometan tribes on the
western frontiers ; and the more turbulent
families, to the number of 10,000, having
been punished by the Chinese governor
with banishment to a more distant resi-
dence, they excited the tribes, among
whom they had retired, to throw off the
yoke of the Chinese emperor, and ex-
tended the spirit of revolt to the confines
of Bucharia. Having secretly secured
adherents among the people, where they
had formerly resided, and procured a
considerable quantity of military stores,
they placed themselves under the com-
mand of a rebel chief, who had formerly
experienced the emperor's clemency,
and erected a strong fort in a situation
that was deemed inaccessible. Their
commander was defeated at the head of
10,000 men, and taken prisoner by the
Chinese, before the Mahometans had
collected their forces. But the chiefs
who came to their assistance, to the
number of the different tribes, having
found themselves, when united, not less
than 100,000 fighting men, immediately
commenced offensive operations. The
Chinese governor injudiciously sent out
small detachments, which were succes-
sively cut to pieces ; and the insurgents,
losing no time in the attack of fortified
places, penetrated into the midst of the
empire, destroying every thing in their
progress with fire and sword, seizing
upon the public magazines and treasures,
and sacrificing the governors who ven-
i tured to oppose them. A numerous

110

CHINA.

army however, was speedily marched
against them, under the command of the
prime minister ; and they were com-
pelled to retreat to their strong-hold,
which was protected by a considerable
river and lake in the front, and in the
rear by a very steep and lofty mountain.
While they imagined themselves secure
in this retreat, the Chinese commander
caused the course of the river to be turn-
ed by his numerous workmen, and his
troops to advance to surround the lake.
The insurgents, being thus at once de-
prived of their strongest protection, and
regular supply of water, were reduced to
the greatest extremities. After enduring
the torments of thirst for the space of
three days, they adopted the desperate
resolution of putting to death the useless
persons among them, and of cutting their
way through the Chinese army. They
were completely overwhelmed in the dar-
ing attempt, their fortress taken by storm,
and the whole of its defenders put to the
sword, except a few of the leaders, who
were afterwards executed at Pekin. This
victory was followed by an order from
the emperor to exterminate the whole
nation, excepting those who were under
fifteen years of age, who were to be dis-
tributed as slaves among the Mahometan
tribes, that had remained faithful to the
emperor. This barbarous decree was
rigorously carried into effect, and a tract
of country, above 100 leagues square, con-
taining 1,000 towns and villages, was
converted into an empty desert.

In the year 1788, while the emperor,
though now at the age of 78, was en-
gaged in his usual recreation of hunting
in the deserts of Tartary, a sudden inun-
dation descended from the mountains, and
flooded the whole adjacent country. It
was with difficulty that Kien-long gained
a small elevation, where he passed a
whole day without food, till a slender
bridge was thrown across the hollow, by
which he succeeded in saving himself,
though a great number of his attendants
were swept away by the torrents.

In the year 1793, a splendid embassy,
under Lord Macartney, a nobleman of
distinguished talents and accomplish-
ments, was sent by the king of Great
Britain to the emperor of Cliina, with a

view to establish a more direct inter-
course with that immense empire, and to
secure more extensive commercial privi-
leges for the British nation. The em-
bassy was received by the Chinese gov-
ernment with every mark of respect ; but
completely failed in attaining the desired
object. This want of success has been
ascribed to various causes ; to an impru-
dent assertion in an English journal on
the subject, which found its way to Chi-
na, and awakened the suspicion of its ru-
lers ; to the refusal of Lord Macartney
to observe the established ceremony of
prostration before the Chinese emperor ;
to the dread of Jacobin principles, which
had already been introduced into China,
and which augmented the aversion of the
government to all European settlers ; and
to an oversight of the British ambassa-
dor, in not having treated, in the first in-
stance, with the Hotchong-tang, or prime
minister of China, whose influence is un-
derstood to be greater than that of the
emperor himself. But, while each of
these causes may be allowed to have
had its weight, the true reason is unques-
tionably of a more general nature ; and
must be sought in the spirit of the Chi-
nese people, proud, contemptuous, and
suspicious, towards the inhabitants of
every other country. This was suffi-
ciently demonstrated in the fate of the
Dutch embassy, which entered China
with similar views in the following year.
Though they carefully attended to every
circumstance, which they supposed their
predecessors to have overlooked, and
meanly complied with the most humili-
ating requisition on the part of the Chi-
nese, they were neither treated with so
much respect as the English, nor were
they, in the smallest degree, more suc-
cessful in their object. All that they ob-
tained was a sight of the emperor, a few
trifling presents from his hand, and an
exemption of the ship, which conveyed
their ambassador, from the payment of
any duties upon its cargo.

In the year 1796, the Emperor Kien-
long, according to a resolution which he
had long entertained, abdicated the throne
in favor of his son, after a reign of 60
I years, and died in the year 1799, at the
I age of 89 years, with the character of

CHINA.

Ill

an enlightened, humane, pacific, and pru-
dent prince. He was succeeded, accord-
ing to his own appointment, by his sev-
enteenth son, Kia-king, who had then
attained the age of 40 years ; but of
whose reign and character, from the
want of intelUgence from China, we can
present only a few detached circumstan-
ces. Immediately after the death of the
old emperor, the prime minister, from some
cause which is not known, was brought
into disgrace, and compelled to become
his own executioner. By accoimts re-
ceived from Canton, in the beginning of
the year 1 802, it is known that a strong
and well-disciplined body of Tartars had
made an incursion into China in the year
1800 ; an invasion which excited univer-
sal terror, especially as it was connected
with serious internal commotions. Sev-
eral districts were in arms at the same
moment ; but the imperial troops, by a
prompt movement, brought the insurgents
to action before they could be joined by
the Tartars, and routed them with im-
mense slaughter. One of those severe
droughts, which are so frequent in Chi-
na, had prevailed about the same time in
the eastern districts ; and the natives had
been reduced to the necessity of aban-
doning large tracts of country in quest
of food, while the most benevolent ex-
ertions on the part of the emperor had
not been able to impart much relief. The
Chinese government, it was also learned
by the same intelligence, having discov-
ered, that the greatest evils result from
the abuse of opium, entirely prohibited
the importation of that article into the
empire.

In 1804, intelligence was received in
Europe, that another serious rebellion
had broken out in the western provinces
in China, and had even extended to that
of Canton, where a descendant of the
former imperial family had appeared at
the head of 40,000 men, who were all
animated by a prophecy current in the
country, that the present Tartar dynasty
was to be overturned in the course of
that year. The emperor had issued an
edict, permitting the Roman Catholic
missionaries to reside in any part of his
dominions, within 20 miles of his court ;
and some thousands of children, with a

few adults, had been baptized. In 1805,
they are said to have had not less than
64 Christian seminaries of education,
chiefly in the province of Se-tchuen ; but,
in 1806, Christianity was again proscrib-
ed ; a Catholic missionary in Pekin was
condemned to perpetual imprisonment ; a
number of civil and military ofiicers were
subjected to punishment, for permitting
or aiding the labors of the missionaries ;
all the native converts were sent into
banishment or slavery, and their books,
papers, and printing blocks publicly burn-
ed. The truths of revelation, however,
had been taught in numerous churches ;
and are supposed to have made impres-
sions upon the minds of the natives, which
even the persecutions, to Avhich they have
been exposed, will not speedily efface.
About the same time, .Sir George Staun-
ton succeeded, with the assistance of Mr.
Pearson, surgeon to the British factory
at Canton, in establishing the practice of
vaccination in that populous city. The
virus was obtained from Manilla, through
the medium of the Spaniards. Mr. Pear-
son wrote a concise treatise on the dis-
covery and mode of operation, with fig-
ures of the vaccine pustule ; of the arm,
with the proper place of puncture ; of the
lances charged with the matter, &c.
This treatise, the fa-st English work pub-
lished in China, was translated by Sir G.
Staunton, into the langiiage of the coun-
try, and was gratuitously distributed at
the expense of the East India Company,
with the assistance of a Chinese surgeon.
So far have the Chinese overcome their
prejudices against European customs in
this instance, that a general inoculation
for the cow-pox took place in Canton, and
a large subscription was raised by the na-
tives, for establishing an institution in that
city, by means of which the matter may
be disseminated into every province of
the empire.

In the month of October, 1806, a se-
rious misunderstanding was occasioned
between the Chinese government and the
British factory at Canton ; which origin-
ated in a scuffle on board an East India
ship, between a native of the country and
one of the crew, in Avhich the former re-
ceived a blow from a handspike, which
afterwards occasioned his death. The

112

CHINA.

Chinese government demanded that the
Englishman should be given up for capi-
tal punishment, or at least another of the
same nation in his place, according to the
laws of their country. But the offender
had absconded, and all the British sailors
denied any knowledge either of the deed
itself, or of the person who had been the
perpetrator. This answer, however, did
not satisfy the Chinese ; and all the Bri-
tish subjects were ordered to go on board
their ships, and to quit Canton without
delay.

But the English commanders, having
expostulated strongly upon the injus-
tice of these measures, and supported
their representations with some valuable
donations to the relations of the deceas-
ed, the matter was at length amicably ad-
justed, and the usual intercourse again
restored. In all the transactions, which
occurred during this season of partial hos-
tility, a Portuguese priest, named Father
Rodrigo, who acted as interpreter to Ad-
miral Drury, bore a very active and promi-
nent part. This person, possessed of
great courage and enterprise, had, previ-
ous to this event, succeeded in making
his way, under the disguise of a Tartar,
to the city of Pekin ; and, after residing
a considerable time in that capital with-
out being discovered, returned in safety
to Macao. This clandestine visit after-
wards becoming known to the govern-
ment at Canton, the Chinese mandarins
expressed the strongest indignation, on
account of the imposition and insult
which had been practised upon them ;
and their resentment against the offender
was rendered doubly inveterate, by his
zealous interference in support of the
British interests, especially by his spirit-
ed conduct upon the occasion of Admiral
Drury's visit to Canton with the armed
boats of his fleet. When the Chinese
opened a fire from their fort and war
boats upon the Admiral's barge, Rodrigo
stood erect upon the stern sheets, and,
taking his cowl in hand, cheered with
three loud hazzas ; intending, as the Chi-
nese alleged, and as was probably the
truth, to incite the seamen to an imme-
diate attack. The Chinese silently re-
marked his hostile demeanor towards
them in the whole course of the dispute,

and determined to seize the first oppor-
tunity of inflicting vengeance. As soon,
therefore, as the British ships and troops
had taken their departure, the Father was
treacherously enticed beyond the Portu-
guese boundaries, and carried prisoner to
Canton, where the Chinese, glorying in
the possession of their captive, unequivo-
cally evinced their determination to make
him atone, with his life, for the insults
which he had offered to the dignity of
their empire. The Portuguese govern-
ment, however, at Macao, feeling the ne-
cessity of protecting their subjects, and
perceiving that nothing but an appeal to
force could effect the liberation of Rod-
rigo, commanded a ship of war and an
armed brig to be moored, as close as the
water would admit, to the two neighbor-
ing Chinese forts ; and, at the same time,
marched their troops out of Macao, to
invest the fortresses on the land side.
Mr. Roberts, also, the senior British su-
percargo, issued orders to all the com-
pany's ships to suspend their intercourse
with the shore, and to prepare for such
offensive measures as might appear requi-
site. These arrangements having been
made, the Father was demanded in due
form, with an explicit declaration, that
unless he was delivered up without inju-
ry, and without delay, the Chinese forts
should instantly be assaulted, and every
man in the garrisons made responsible,
with his life, for the safety of Rodrigo.
The Chinese officers, whose unreasona-
ble caprices require to be occasionally
met with proper firmness, perceiving the
determination of the Portuguese to carry
their threats into execution, prudently ac-
quiesced in the demand, and Rodrigo was
triumphantly restored to his freedom and
friends.

It is asserted, that, notwithstanding
the restoration of our commercial inter-
course at Canton, the principal manda-
rins of that place have conceived a root-
ed prejudice against the British, which
may not easily be removed ; that they at-
tribute every misfortune which befalls
any of their people in their transactions
with us, to a systematic intention on our
part to do them an injury ; and that, upon
the slightest pretext being afforded for
complaint, they represent the matter to

CHINA.

113

their superior tribunals in the most ex-
aggerated form.

Five emperors of the Tartar race in
succession, and all of them men of good
understanding and vigorous minds, have
now continued, without interruption, to
rule over the Chinese empire ; and have
thus, it may be supposed, completely es-
tablished their family in the supreme
power. Recent occurrences, however,
begin to indicate a more unsettled state
of things in that country, and at least to
show, that the administration of so vast
an empire is becoming daily a more dif-
ficult task. The Tartars, increasing in
security, have become less attentive to
conciUate the Chinese ; and all the high
offices are filled with the countrymen of
the sovereign. It is suspected, that the
government entertain a design of intro-
ducing the Man-tchoo language into gen-
eral use, instead of the Chinese, as great
attention has been paid to its improve-
ment, and as all the children, one of whose
parents is of Tartar descent, have been
expressly required to be instructed du-
ring their infancy, and to pass their pub-
lic examinations, in the Man-tchoo tongue.
The Emperor of China, like all oriental
princes, shows no tendency to become
indigenous to his adopted soil, but con-
tinues invariably attached to his native
caste, and systematically favors his coun-
trymen in every possible instance. The
Tartars in China, it has been asserted
by an eye-witness, thus continue, from
prince to peasant, to preserve their na-
tive character distinct, and to hold the
subjugated Chinese in the utmost con-
tempt. These, on the other hand, are
represented as daily becoming more dis-
satisfied with the imperious manners of
their conquerors, whom they heartily
hate, while they are obliged to submit to
their sway.

A kind of piratical republic has been
gradually forming upon the coasts, which,
since the year 1805, has become ex-
tremely powerful. The number of the
rebel vessels has been stated, by recent
accounts, as not less than 4,000 ; of which
the largest are about 200 tons burden,
carrying from 200 to 300 men, and from
12 to 20 guns ; while the smallest are
about 30 tons, with 50 or 60 men. In
15

the beginning of the year 1810, they
even attempted to blockade the port of
Canton ; and though they have not yet
penetrated into the interior of the coun-
try, they are said to have numerous par-
tisans in every quarter.

During the last forty-five years, there
has existed in China, particularly in the
southern and western provinces, a kind
of sect or association of disaffected per-
sons, who furnish the rebels with all ne-
cessary intelligence. This association
is named Thian-thee-ohe, which signifies
"heaven and earth united ;" and its mem-
bers are extremely numerous. They
know each other by private signs, such
as the manner in which a cup of tea, or
a pipe of tobacco, is offered and accept-
ed. In the form of initiation, the new
member is placed between two naked
sabres, which are crossed over his head ;
and, in this position, he solemnly swears
rather to perish than betray the secrets
of the society. A few drops of blood are
then drawn from him, and from the per-
son who administers the oath, which are
mingled in a cup of tea, of which both
parties partake. The great principles of
this body are, the equality of all men,
and the obligation of the rich to commu-
nicate of their abundance to the poor.
In the year 1804, not less than nine pro-
vinces of the empire were disturbed by
the machinations of these levellers ; and
their numbers daily increased to such a
degree, that many of the more wealthy
natives had become members of the as-
sociation, and surrendered a part of their
property to preserve the rest. Those
who resisted their influence, and refused
to make such a compromise, were often
secretly seized, and kept as prisoners,
and even threatened with death, imless
their friends should procure their release,
by depositing a sum of money in a place
appointed. A sect of a similar descrip-
tion exists in the northern provinces, un-
der the name of Pelin-Kias, which sig-
nifies " enemies of foreign religion ;"
and which is founded upon discontent
with the existing government, and dis-
like of a foreign dynasty. These asso-
ciations obtain numerous partisans among
the lower classes, who are often render-
ed desperate by their extreme indigence ;

114

COLOMBIA

and, in some districts, their members have
abandoned themselves to the most daring
excesses, and even to open revolt. The
government have made great exertions to
suppress these seditions ; and it is said,
that not less than 4,000 persons had been
capitally punished, within a very short
period, on account of these practices. In
1798, one of their chiefs was proscribed
by public proclamation, and a price of
10,000 piastres set upon his head; but
he took refuge in the island of Java,
where his principles have made great
progress among the Chinese residents ;
but whom the dread of the European au-
thorities has hitherto restrained from
committing the excesses, to which their
system has often given rise in China.
By a recent edict of the Chinese govern-

ment, all who were detected as members
of the Thian-thee-ohe association, were
condemned to have the tendons of the
right foot cut across, and to have the left
cheek marked with a red-hot iron ; but,
if farther convicted of having been en-
gaged in any disturbance, they were sen-
tenced to be capitally punished, by being
beheaded. The people, however, in gen-
eral, as long as they can easily procure
their portion of rice, and a few savory
sauces, are in no temper for a revolt
against their government ; and hence, it
is the principal care of the latter to pro-
vide magazines throughout the empire, to
serve as a supply in seasons of scarcity or
famine. In 1820, Kia-King was succeed-
ed by his second son, Tara-Kwang, who
occupies the throne at the present time.

COLOMBIA.

The republic of Colombia is of very
recent origin, although the history of the
three states, by the union of which it has
been formed, is coeval with the era of
Columbus. Previously to the period of
the revolution, they were known by the
names of the Viceroyalty of New Gren-
ada, the Captain-generalship of Caraccas,
and the Presidency of Quito. Of their
annals prior to the union, a brief sketch
will here be given.

Quito. The provinces of Quito hav-
ing formed a component part of the Peru-
vian empire at the time of the Spanish
conquest, continued to depend directly
on the government of Peru until Septem-
ber, 1564, when they were erected into
a separate presidency. In 1717, the
government was suppressed, and the
country incorporated into the viceroyalty
of New Grenada. In 1722, it was again
separated, and remained so until it be-
came a part of Colombia. The revolu-
tion commenced, Aug. 10, 1809, when the
president. Count Ruiz de Castilla, was
deposed, and a junta soberana appointed
to administer the government. He was
reinstated the November following, and
a second revolution took place in Septem-

ber, 1810. But, in a few months after-
wards, the Spaniards, under Montes, re-
gained Quito, and continued to hold the
presidency vmtil May, 1822, when the
victory of Pichincha, gained by general
Sucre, put an end to their power.

New Grenada. The coasts of New
Grenada, which border on the Caribbean
sea, were first visited by Columbus, du-
ring his fourth voyage. Ojeda and Amer-
igo Vespucci followed Columbus in ex-
ploring parts of the coast, and Vespucci
gave the first regular description of the
people who inhabited its shores. In the
year 1508, Ojeda and Nicuessa obtained
extensive grants in this and the adjoining
country. Ojeda had the country from
cape de la Vela to the gidf of Darien,
which was to be styled New Andalusia ;
and Nicuessa was appointed to govern
from the gulf of Darien to cape Gracias
a Dios ; the territory included within
these points, to be named Golden Cas-
tile. The province of Terra Firma in-
cluding both the grants of Nicuessa and
Ojeda, was given, by a subsequent char-
ter, in 1514, to Pedro Arias de Avila.

Under the orders of Avila, the western
coast of Panama, Veragua and Darien,

COLOMBIA.

115

was explored as far north as cape Blanco,
and the town of Panama was founded.
In 1536 Sebastian de Benalcazar, one of
the officers who accompanied Pizarro in
the expedition to Peru, effected the con-
quest and colonization of the southern in-
ternal provinces of New Grenada ; whilst
Gonzalo Ximenes de Quesada, who had
been sent by Lugo, the admiral of the Ca-
naries, overran the nothern districts from
Santa Martha. They met with considera-
ble opposition from the natives, but finally
succeeded in reducing the country, and
the whole was formed into one govern-
ment, and put under a captain-general,
appointed in 1 547 ; to check whose pow-
er the royal audience was established, of
which he was, however, made president.
In the year 1718 New Grenada was
formed into a viceroyalty. This form of
government continued until 1724, when
the captain-generalship was restored ; but,
in 1 740, the viceroyalty was re-establish-
ed. Under this system, the evils of
which were of a very grievous nature,
the inhabitants of New Grenada contin-
ued until the invasion of Spain by the
French. The desire of independence
had long been prevalent ; but it was not
until 1810, that it began to be publicly
avowed. The juntos then chosen were
composed of persons generally favorable
to independence. A congress from the
different provinces or departments of the
viceroyalty soon afterwards assembled,
and, in 1811, a formal declaration of in-
dependence was made. The country
has, since that period, passed through
many vicissitudes of fortune. The cause
of freedom and that of the royalists have
been alternately triumphant, and many
frightful scenes of rapine and bloodshed
have occurred. In 1816, a decisive
action was fought between the indepen-
dents and a Spanish army under Morillo,
which ended in the total defeat of the
former, and the dispersion of the con-
gress. After remaining under the do-
minion of the royalists for three years,
Grenada was again emancipated by the
army of Bolivar, who entered Santa Fe
in August, 1819. In December, 1819,
a union was effected with Venezuela
into one republic.

Caraccas, or Venezuela. The coast of

this country was originally discovered
by Columbus, in 1498, during his third
voyage. Several attempts being made to
colonize, the Spanish government came
to the determination of settling the coun-
try under its own direction. These ex-
peditions were managed by priests, and
generally ill conducted ; and it was found
necessary to subdue the inhabitants by
force. When this was partially effected,
and the Spanish settlers were placed in
some security, the proprietorship was
sold, by Charles V, to the Weltsers, a
German mercantile company. Under
their management, the Spaniards and the
natives sufiered the most grievous tyran-
ny. The abuses of their administration
becoming at last intolerable they were
dispossessed, in 1550, and a supreme
governor, with the title of captain-gene-
ral, was appointed. From this period
until the year 1806, Caraccas remained in
quiet subjection to the mother country.
In 1806, a gallant but unfortunate attempt
was made to liberate her from the yoke.
General Miranda, a native of Caraccas,
formed for this purpose an expedition,
partly at St. Domingo and partly at New
York. A landing was effected on the
coast, but the force proved wholly inad-
equate to the designed object. Many
were taken prisoners by the Spanish au-
thorities, and several suffered death. The
defeat was decisive, and gave an eU'ec-
tual blow, for the time, to the project of
independence.

In 1810, however, Spain being overrun
by the French troops, the opportunity
was seized by the principal inhabitants to
establish a freer form of government.
For this purpose, a junto suprema, or
congress, was convened in Caraccas, con-
sisting of deputies from all the provinces
composing the former captain-generalship,
with the exception of Maracaibo. At
first they published their acts in the name
Ferdinand VII ; but the captain-general
and the members of the audiencia were
deposed and imprisoned, and the new
government received the title of the Con-
federation of Venezuela. The most vio-
lent and impolitic measures were now
adopted by the regency and cortes of
Spain towards the people of this district.
The congress, finding the voice of the

116

DENMARK.

people decided in favor of independence,
issued a proclamation, on the 5th of July,

1811, formally declaring it. A liberal
constitution was established, and affairs
wore a favorable aspect for the cause of
freedom, imtil the fatal earthquake of

1812, which, operating on the supersti-
tion of the people, led to a gieat change
in the public opinion. Monteverde, a
royalist general, taking advantage of the
situation of affairs, marched against
Caraccas, and, after defeating general
Miranda, compelled the province to sub-
mit.

In 1813, Venezuela was again eman-
cipated by Bolivar, who was sent with
an army by the confederation of Grenada.
In 1814, he was, in his turn, defeated by
Bovera, and compelled to evacuate Car-
accas. In 1816, he again returned with a
large body of troops, and was again de-
feated. Undismayed by reverses, he land-
ed again, in December of the same year,
convened a general congress, and defeat-
ed the royalists in March, 1817, with

great loss. In the month following, how-
ever, Barcelona was taken by the Span-
ish troops. The contest was maintained
for some time afterwards with various
success. Bolivar was invested by the
congress with ample powers, the situa-
tion of the republic requiring the energy
of a dictator. On the 17th of December,
1819, a union between the republics of
Grenada and Venezuela was solemnly
decreed, in conformity with the report of
a select committee of deputies from each
state. This confederation received the
title of the Republic of Colombia, and the
installation of the general congress took
place in the city of Rosario of Cucuta.
This occurred in May, 1821 ; and since
that time the states have been rapidly ac-
quiring stability and political importance.
The helm of government has, however,
generally been guided by military leaders,
so that the interests of commerce have
been neglected, but many new channels
of trade have lately been opened for the
industry of the people.

DENMARK.

The oldest inhabitants of Denmark
were Germans, who gained their support
from the sea. The Cimbri, who derived
their origin from them, dwelt in the pen-
insula of Jutland, the Chersonesus Cim-
brica of the Romans. They first struck
terror into the Romans by their incursion,
with the Teutones, into the rich prov-
inces of Gaul. After this, led by the
mysterious Odin, the Goths broke into
Scandinavia, and appointed chiefs from
their own nation over Denmark, Nor-
way, and Sweden. Skiold is said to
have been the first ruler of Denmark.
His history, however, and that of his
posterity, is involved in fable. All we
know with certainty is, that Denmark
was divided, at this time, into many small
states, that the inhabitants gained their
subsistence by piracy, and spread terror
through every sea, and along every coast,
to which they came. When the power
of the Romans began to decline, the

Danes, and Northmen, as they were call-
ed, became conspicuous in the South by
their incursions upon the shores which
were formerly protected by the guard-
ships of the Romans. They landed in
England, A. D. 832, and partially estab-
lished themselves in the island. Under
RoUo, in 911, they made a descent on
the French coasts in Normandy, occu-
pied the Faroe isles, the Orcades, the
Shetland isles, Iceland, and a part of
Ireland, and thence proceeded to Spain,
Italy and Sicily. Wherever they came,
they spread terror by their valor, ferocity,
and rapacity. These expeditions made
little change in their national govern-
ment : it still continued a federative sys-
tem of many clans or tribes, each of which
had its own head, and all were united
under one sovereign. When the Ger-
man kings of the Carlovingian race at-
tempted to interfere with their domestic
I afiairs, the tribes entered into a closer

DENMARK.

117

union, and the Norwegians and Danes
ultimately formed two separate states.

Gorm the Old, first subdued Jutland,
in 863, and united all the small Danish
states under his sceptre till 920. His
grandson Sweyn, a warlike prince, sub-
dued a part of Norway in 1000, and Eng-
land in 1014. His son Canute, in 1017,
not only completed the conquest of
England, but also subdued a part of
Scotland, and, in 1030, all Norway.
Under him the power of Denmark reach-
ed its highest pitch. Political motives
led him to embrace the Christian reli-
gion, and to introduce it into Denmark ;
upon which a great change took place in
the character of the people. Canute died
in 1036, and left a powerful kingdom to
his successors, who, in 1040, lost Eng-
land, and, in 1047, Norway. The Dan-
ish kingdom was, after this, very much
weakened by intestine broils. Sweyn
Magnus Estritson ascended the throne in
1047, and established a new dynasty;
but the feudal system, introduced by the
wars of Sweyn and Canute, robbed the
kingdom of all its strength under this dy-
nasty, which furnished not a single wor-
thy monarch except the great Waldemar,
left the princes dependent on the choice
of the bishops and nobility, plunged the
peasants into bondage, caused the decay
of agriculture, and abandoned commerce
to the Hanse towns of Germany. Whh
Waldemar HI, in 1376, the male line of
the family of Estritson became extinct.
His politic daughter Margaret, after the
death of her son Olave IV, A. D. 1387,
took the helm of the Danish government,
ascended the throne of Sweden and Nor-
way, and in 1397, she convoked the
states of the three kingdoms at Calmar,
where the law, called the union of Cal-
mar, was passed. As this law was the
cause of a long war between Denmark
and Sweden, it will be proper to notice
its principal clauses. The grand and
leading proposition laid down in this
law, was, that the union of the three
kingdoms under one monarch, should be
a fundamental and irrevocable law. In
order, however, to secure to each king-
dom its peculiar rights and privileges, it
was expressly declared, that " the sov-
ereign should govern the kingdom of

Denmark according to the laws and cus-
toms of Denmark ; and those of Sweden
and Norway according to their respect-
ive laws and customs." " If any person
is justly banished from one of the king-
doms, he shall be equally so from the two
others ; and no person shall assist or de-
fend him ; but, wherever he shall be fol-
lowed and cited, they shall proceed to
judgment against him, according to law."
" If our lord the king shall enter into any
agreement or treaty with any foreign
power, in which of the kingdoms soever
he shall then reside, he, and the senate
who are then with him, or some deputies
from each kingdom, shall have the pow-
er to contract, in the name of the three
kingdoms, every thing which shall be
judged the most honorable and advanta-
geous for the king and the three king-
doms." It was likewise ordained, that
if any sovereign had more than one son,
one only should be declared and elected
king of the three kingdoms, and the
others should hold fiefs ; and if the king
should die without any children, then
the senators and the states-deputies of
the three kingdoms, in concert, should
elect him whom they believed before
God most worthy and most capable.
Such are the principal articles of the fa-
mous union of Calmar ; by accomplish-
ing which, as well as by the whole of
her political conduct, Margaret has ob-
tained from posterity the appellation of
the " Semiramis of the North." This
great princess died suddenly in 1412,
and left Eric in peaceable possession of
the three northern crowns.

Soon after his accession to the throne,
he was engaged in a war with the Count
of Holstein, and with the Hanse Towns.
Not being a sovereign of much talent or
enterprise, he was totally unable to carry
on these wars, and attend to the affairs
of Sweden at the same time. The
Swedes soon manifested symptoms of
discontent ; they justly regarded them-
selves as inferior, in the treatment they
received from the king, to his Danish
and Norwegian subjects. Their disaf-
fection and discontent were soon evident
to all but Eric, whose inattention or ob-
stinacy were such, that he could not be
persuaded to adopt such measures as

118

DENMARK.

would have ensured the tranquillity of
Sweden. The Swedes were still far-
ther exasperated by the taxes he levied
on them, in order to prosecute his war
with the Hanse Towns. In this war
they conceived themselves to have no
interest or concern ; and therefore they
thought, they should not be taxed to sup-
port it. They had still another source
of discontent ; Eric had appointed Dan-
ish or German governors to nearly all
the provinces and fortresses of Sweden.
This of itself gave them umbrage, and
was expressly contrary to the spirit of
the union of Calmar. These foreign
governors oppressed and tyrannized over
the people ; and, when complaints against
them were laid before the king, he treat-
ed them with neglect or contempt. Af-
ter patiently enduring their grievances
for some time, the Swedes broke out in-
to open rebellion. Eric was now seri-
ously alarmed, and, having made peace
with the Hanse Towns, he requested
their intercession with his rebellious sub-
jects ; this they granted, on condition that
a diet, composed of the deputies of the
three Estates, should be held at Calmar.
The diet was accordingly held on the
27th of July, 1436, when the Swedes
agreed solemnly to renew the union ; the
king, on his part, binding himself to re-
spect their privileges, and not to entrust
any of their strong places in future to the
care of foreigners. Eric, however, was
either not sincere, or he had not talents
sufficient to perceive and follow his real
interests ; for soon after the renewal of
the vmion, he exercised a most tyrannical
sway, not only over Sweden, but even
over the Danes and Norwegians. This
conduct united them all against him ;
and he soon was compelled by the
Danes to surrender the crown. During
the reign of this sovereign, the famous
fortress of Elsinore was built. The prin-
cipal object in erecting it was to check
the commercial and maritime power of
the Hanse Towns, with whom Eric was
then at war. These towns soon felt the
restrictions which this fortress, command-
ing the passage of the Sound, laid on
their commerce ; and, in revenge, they
ravaged the coasts of Denmark and Nor-
way. When peace, however, was con-

cluded, they agreed to pay the tribute
which Eric fixed for the passage of the
Sound.

The Danes, having compelled Eric to
abandon the throne, elected Christopher
of Batavia, his sister's son, to be their
king. After he had taken possession of
the crowns of Denmark and of Norway,
he directed his attention and his schemes
towards Sweden. The Swedes, at first,
appeared unwilling to elect him ; but at
last, partly by intrigues, and partly by the
privileges granted or extended to them,
they chose Christopher king. He was
crowned at Copenhagen, which city he
made the royal residence, and the capital
of Denmark, instead of Roschild, which
had previously enjoyed those privileges.
The first object with this sovereign, after
he was securely seated on the throne of
the three kingdoms, was to revise the
laws of Denmark ; many of them had
become obsolete, inapplicable, or insuffi-
cient ; into others many abuses had crept,
either in their interpretation or adminis-
tration ; and the changed state and cir-
cumstances of the kingdom and of the
times, required some new enactments.
The plan he followed was that of Valde-
mar the Second ; and, having directed
his deliberate and impartial attention to
the subject, he formed a code, distin-
guished for its wisdom, as well as for its
leniency. In 1448, after a reign of seven
years over Denmark and Norway, and
six years over Sweden, during the whole
of which he had proved himself a good
sovereign, Christopher died.

Immediately on this event, the Senate
of Denmark invited the states of the two
other kingdoms to comply with the act
of union, by proceeding in concert to the
election of a new king. This, however,
the Swedes absolutely refused to do, elect-
ing Charles Canutson, their own coun-
tryman, and the avowed enemy of Den-
mark, to be their sovereign. The Danes,
irritated and surprised at this conduct,
assembled a diet at Roschild, and chose
Christian of Oldenberg as their sovereign.
This Christian was the founder of the
royal Danish family, which has ever since
kept possession of the throne, and from
which, in modern times, Russia, Sweden
and Oldenberg, have received their rulers.

DENMARK,

119

According to the union of Calmar, a
diet, composed of the diets of the three
kingdoms, ought to have chosen the sov-
ereign, and drawn up the articles of capi-
tulation for him to sign ; but, under the
present circumstances, it w^as found ne-
cessary to leave the election to a small
number of deputies, most of whom were
senators. The Senate, from this period,
arrogated to themselves the right of choos-
ing the sovereign, and only occasionally
consulted the states out of form.

But Sweden could not remain long
quiet and contented ; the clergy and the
nobles, in particidar, were dissatisfied.
A rebellion broke out, and the archbishop
of Upsal threw off his robes and put him-
self at the head of a large army. Chris-
tian, in this embarrassing predicament,
was as much indebted to his character
for moderation and good intentions as to
his arms ; and at last, he succeeded in
bringing over the archbishop and most
of the clergy to his interests. As, how-
ever, the nobility still held out against
him, and tilled the kingdom with dissen-
sions and turbulence. Christian, in a great
measure, withdrew his attempts to subdue
them, and employed his entire attention
in the improvement of his other domin-
ions. A favorite object with him was
the establishment of a iiniversity at Co-
penhagen ; before that, all the nobility
and people of consequence in Denmark
were accustomed to send their sons, at a
great expense, to be educated at Cologne
or Paris ; in prosecuting his scheme,
however, he met with opposition from a
quarter from which he did not anticipate
it. The clergy were either indifferent or
averse to the establishment of the propo-
sed university ; difficulties and delays con-
sequently occurred, and before Christian
could complete this and other plans for
the benefit and improvement of his king-
dom, he died in the year 1481, and in
the 55th year of his age. Almost all the
contemporary liistorians concur in repre-
senting him as a prince of great modera-
tion, humanity and liberality ; he never
permitted his resentment or passion to
hurry him beyond the bounds of justice ;
it was a favorite saying of his, that a king
who would be great and reign well, ought to
be more compassionate than another man.

He was succeeded by his son John,
whose power in Denmark was, if possi-
ble, more hmited than that of his father.
In Norway, too, his authority was still
more circumscribed. In 1490, he con-
cluded a treaty of commerce with Henry
VII of England, by which their subjects
obtained full liberty of traffic with each
other. The English also bound them-
selves to pay the duties of the Sound ; and
were permitted to have consuls in the
principal maritime towns of Denmark
and Norway. Several rebellions broke
out during Iiis reign, and it Avas not till
1512, that he was acknowledged king of
Sweden. He died in 1513. His son
Christian II, ascended the throne, a cruel,
tyrannical, but courageous prince. In
1514, he convoked the assembly at Cal-
mar. Deputies from Sweden were pre-
sent on the occasion ; but they had not
power to choose Christian king of Swe-
den ; and by their representations on their
return to their own country, induced the
states of Sweden to declare openly against
this prince, and to elect an administrator
to hold the reigns of government. Chris-
tian, at first, did not attempt to reduce the
Swedes, but contented himself with aug-
menting his power in Denmark ; in effect-
ing this, he was, however, opposed by
the clergy and nobility, whom his natu-
ral disposition led him rather to oppose
and oppress, than -to conciliate ; so that
at the very time that he Avas at war with
the Hanseatic towns, he found the great
majority of his clergy and nobles at vari-
ance with him, and only Avaiting for a fa-
vorable opportunity to break out in open
rebellion. Thus deprived, in a great
measure, of the good will and support of
his subjects, he resolved to strengthen
and protect himself by other methods ;
and, with this intention and hope, he mar-
ried the sister of the Emperor Charles V.
He also perceived that commerce had in-
troduced into Denmark a new order of
men, whom, by encouraging their trade,
and promoting their interests, he might
possibly unite to himself in his opposition
to the nobles and clergy ; he accordingly
gave many privileges to the merchants,
and freed them from many vexatious im-
positions. Before his time, they were
obliged to send all their merchandise to

120

DENMARK.

the Hanse Towns, at a very great ex-
pense, and to permit the magistrates of
those towns who were for the most part
merchants, and therefore interested per-
sons, to put a price upon their goods ; the
obvious and natural consequence was, that
the Danish merchants were frequently
obliged to sell their goods to a great dis-
advantage. In order to prevent these
vexations. Christian issued orders that
all the Danish merchants should send
their goods to Copenhagen ; and as they
might be under apprehensions of his ra-
pacity, he placed in the hands of the
magistrates a very large sum of money.
To induce foreign merchants to settle in
Copenhagen, he granted them particular
protection, and the most extensive privi-
leges. While he acted with this wise
policy towards all engaged in trade, to-
Avards the clergy, nobles, and the mass of
the people, his conduct was tja-annical and
oppressive ; the revenue which an in-
creased commerce gave him was princi-
pally expended in supporting a large num-
ber of regular troops ; thus imitating the
other sovereigns of Europe, who, about this
time, first began to keep a standing army.
With the assistance of these troops, he
began to exercise his power with the
greatest rigor, and to meditate the accom-
plishment of essential changes in the con-
stitution, by the most violent and arbitrary
means. At first the clergy and nobility
were silent and inactive, through surprise
and astonishment ; and the king, thinking
that they were intimidated, proceeded in
his plans with still greater rapidity and
boldness. Without the consent of the
senate, and in direct opposition to the ca-
pitulations that had been signed by his
predecessors and himself, he laid on new
and oppressive taxes ; and in order to
strike terror, and silence the murmurs of
the people, he ordered a gallows to be
erected in the most public place in every
town. In short, every action which he
performed had for its object the breaking
down the power of the clergy and nobles,
and tyrannizing over the people ; he still
retained his mistress, and his profligate
favorites, whom he consulted in all his
schemes, to the utter neglect of the sen-
ate. Christian had been particularly
blamed for his conduct to the nobility and

lergy ; but had he been moderate and
just to the people at large, his conduct to
those classes might have been excused ;
indeed it was almost called for by the
circumstances of the times. The great-
est part of the lands had fallen into the
possession of the nobles, who were thus
enabled to oppress the common people ;
while they had nearly in an equal degree
touched on the prerogatives of the crown.
Christian, therefore, seems to have had
no alternative ; he must either have sub-
mitted to have been the slave of his no-
bles, or have acted as he did, and reduced
their power ; he is, however, blameable,
in that his measures M-ere so oppressive
and violent, and that his object was not
to benefit the people, but himself.

He perhaps would have found more dif-
ficulty in curbing the pride and reducing
the power of the clergy, had not the doc-
trines of Luther begun to extend them-
selves about this time. Of these Christian
availed himself ; and had he managed the
opportunity with less violence and with
more caution and prudence, he might have
completely annihilated the powers and
privileges of the clergy ; but the natural
impetuosity of his disposition prevailed,
and he incensed without materially hum-
bling them. In the mean time, the affairs
of Sweden were in the utmost confusion ;
the administrator, who had been just
elected, was opposed by the clergy, with
the archbishop of Upsal at their head,
who formed a party to elect Christian
king of Sweden. On the receipt of this
unexpected and welcome intelligence,
the king marched a body of troops to Scho-
nen, under the command of Crumpen, an
officer of great merit and experience. Al-
though it was the depth of winter, such
was the impatience of Christian, that he
ordered Crumpen to enter West Goth-
land, and to endeavor to bring the enemy
to battle. The administrator had not been
idle ; but having collected a numerous
army, he marched to meet the Danes.
Three battles were fought ; the first de-
cided nothing, in the second the adminis-
trator was wounded, and in the third the
Swedes were completely defeated, the
administrator dying soon after of his
wounds. This success enabled Crumpen
to march into the heart of the kingdom ;

DENMARK.

121

and in the beginning of the following
year, 1520, Christian, having arrived in
Sweden, and Stockholm being reduced,
he was formally proclaimed king. During
his absence from Denmark, the discon-
tented there flattered themselves with the
hopes, that they should be able to organ-
ize such a force, as would enable them
successfully to oppose him ; but when
he returned the conqueror of Sweden,
they became silent and submissive.

Christian soon discovered to the Swedes
that he meant to treat them as subjects
of a conquered country. It had always
been customary at the coronation of their
kings, for the new monarch to make a
certain number of knights ; Christian com-
plied Avith this custom in so far as to cre-
ate the usual number, but they were all
Danes and other foreigners ; not a single
Swede did he advance to that honor ;
and, that his motives might not be mis-
understood, he publicly declared, that
henceforward he would not show any
mark of honor to a Swede, "because he
owed that crown to his arms and not to
their free-will." This was only the be-
gining of his arbitrary and tyrannical con-
duct to this nation. Being embarrassed
in his finances, and despairing of raising
money with the consent of the senate, he
formed a plan to massacre all the mem-
bers of it. This plan is said to have been
suggested to him by his mistress ; it was
communicated to the archbishop of Up-
sal, and received his sanction. The sen-
ate and the states of Sweden were ac-
cused of heresy, and were taken into cus-
tody on this accusation ; but even the
forms and delay of a mock trial were too
slow for Christian's vindictive temper.
He ordered the victims to be marched out
in the middle of the day, surrounded by
soldiers. Among the first was Eric Va-
sa, father of the celebrated Gustavus
Vasa. At the place of execution, 70 sen-
ators, lords and bishops were executed ;
even then the cruelty of Christian was
not glutted with blood. Being informed
that several of those whom he had mark-
ed out could not be found, he ordered the
soldiers to massacre all the people of
rank whom they met in the streets, and
to search the houses for them. A simi-
lar massacre took place in the provinces
16

on all who were obnoxious to Christian,
or had espoused the party of the adminis-
trator. But the day of retribution was at
hand. Gustavus, son of Eric Vasa, roused
the peasantry of the Swedish provinces,
especially those of Dalecarha, to attempt
the restoration of their country's liberty
and independence. In vain did Theo-
dore the king's viceroy oppose Gustavus;
he was compelled to return to Stockholm,
which city, in the year 1522, was invest-
ed by the Swedish hero. To raise the
siege. Christian sent a powerful fleet and
army under Norby, who at first gained
some advantages over the Dalecarlians,
but was soon afterwards compelled to re-
embark, having thrown supplies of men,
stores, and provisions into the city. Gus-
tavus, however, made little real progress
in reducing it for want of a fleet. He
therefore entered into a treaty with the
inhabitants of Lubeck, who supplied him
with a squadron. Stockholm was now
reduced to such extremity, that Norby
resolved to make another attempt to re-
lieve it ; he accordingly appeared before
it with a large fleet, and attacked the
auxiliary squadron of GustaAiis. A storm
put an end to the contest, and Norby
taking shelter in a creek, his fleet was
there fixed by a sudden frost, and thus
exposed to the attacks of the enemy. In
this situation, Gustavus resolved to at-
tempt its destruction, but meeting with a
formidable resistance, the Lubeckers re-
treated in the very middle of the battle.
The ice was soon after dissolved, and
Norby took advantage of this favorable
circumstance to effect his escape.

Denmark in the meantime, was a scene
of the utmost confusion, and the province
of Jutland was in a state of open revolt.
A general diet was held at Wyburg, by
which Christian was formally deposed,
and a particular decree passed, stating
the reasons for this proceeding. As soon
as the king was informed of his deposi-
tion, he set out for Kolding, a town situ-
ated on the frontiers of Holstien and Jut-
land. Copenhagen, the islands of the
Baltic and Norway, were still in his
power ; but as he was conscious that he
held them by a frail and imcertain tenure,
and that from them he could not expect
to draw the means of quashing the rebel-

122

DENMARK.

lion in the other parts of his dominions,
he formed the resohition of abdicating the
throne. Before he put this resohition
into practice, however, he went to Ring-
stadt, where there happened to be a great
fair ; here he harangued the populace
with such effect, that they took a fresh
oath of allegiance, and offered to assist
him against all his enemies ; but he was
now grown distrustful, and being appre-
hensive that if he delayed any longer,
he should not be able to escape from
Denmark, he resolved on immediate
flight, and retired with his family into the
Low Countries.

The character of this prince has been
already sketched, and indeed it is suffi-
ciently apparent from the whole tenor of
his political life ; yet cruel and tyranni-
cal as it undoubtedly was, many of his
measures displayed considerable wisdom
and a sense of justice. In the year 1 52 1 ,
he published a code of laws, which great-
ly limited the power of the nobility over
their vassals, and retrenched several
branches of their revenues. By this code
they were expressly forbidden to sell
their vassals as slaves. The article
which relates to this traffic exhibits a
dreadful picture of the state of the peas-
antry at that time. " The wicked and
impious practice, which is followed in
Zealand, Falster, Laaland, and other
parts of Denmark, of selling the poor
farmers, and of making a traffic of Chris-
tians, shall be abolished for ever ; and
when the proprietors of lands shall use
their vassals with injustice, the latter
shall be permitted to leave the lands of
the former, and to settle themselves on
other lands, as is the custom among the
farmers in Scania, Jutland and Funen."
In the same year he published a code of
ecclesiastical laws, in which it is de-
clared that a bishop shall not have more
than 14 persons in his train when he is
on a journey, and an archbishop not more
than 20. Before the passing of this law,
these prelates were generally accompan-
ied with 100 knights and other attend-
ants, who treated the common people
with great indignity, cruelty and oppres-
sion. Another law which he passed
shall be noticed, because it not only
throws great light on the customs and the

state of society in Denmark at this era,
but also exhibits the character of Chris-
tian to great advantage. By this law,
the practice of robbing and plundering
ships which had been wrecked, was for-
bidden. It was expressly ordered, that
all the king's officers should assist the
seamen to the utmost of their power, in
saving the ships and cargo ; if they re-
fused, they were liable to be hanged, and
to have their goods confiscated ; if all
the seamen were drowned, the country-
men were obliged to keep the effects
saved from the wreck, for a year and a
day ; and if within that period the owner
claimed them, they were to be given up
to him upon his paying salvage ; if they
were not claimed within a year and a
day, they were to be divided, and two
thirds were to be the property of the
king, and the other third the property of
the curate of the parish. Even the wa-
ges of those who might be employed in
saving the effects was fixed by law ; and
if the owner of the ship was forced to sell
any part of the cargo in order to pay
these men, the king's officer was obliged
to render to him faithfully all the money
that might arise from such sales ; if he
did him injustice, he was liable to suffer
death.

This law was particularly disagreea-
ble to the Danes, especially the nobility
and clergy. Before it was passed, many
of them made a considerable revenue by
plundering ship-wrecked vessels. The
Bishops of Borghum in Jutland frequent-
ly employed 300 men on the sea coasts,
when there was any appearance of a tem-
pest which might drive ships ashore, in
order to compel the seamen to suffer their
goods to be plundered without making any
resistance, or if they made resistance, to
massacre them. " Herman Grice, one
of the senators, having represented to the
king the wrong which he did himself by
this law, as he would lose thereby a con-
siderable revenue from Jutland alone, be-
sides what he would lose in the other prov-
inces," Christian returned him the follow-
ing answer. "I would rather lose all
the revenues of which you speak, than
suffer those unhappy people to be so
unjustly treated." One of the bishops
likew^ise complained to the king of the

DENMARK.

123

wrong which he had done him in particu-
lar by this law, and demanded permis-
sion to follow the ancient customs of the
country with regard to this matter ; to
which Christian answered, that his in-
tention was not to make any change in
those customs, except in such as he found
to be contrary to the divine laws ; where-
upon this conscientious prelate replied,
by asking, " How the ancient customs of
the kingdom, respecting shipwrecks, were
contrary to the divine laws ?" To which
the king again replied, " Thou shalt not
kill, thou shalt not steal."

As soon as the flight of Christian was
known, Denmark and Norway elevated
his uncle, Frederick I, duke of Holstein,
to the throne. Under this prince, the
aristocracy gained the entire superiority
— bondage was established by law, —
the reformation was introduced, — and in
1522, Norway, was united with Denmark.
Frederick died in 1533, leaving two sons,
Clu-istian and John ; the latter had been
brought up in the Catholic religion ; the
former was a Protestant. The bishops,
who had repented of their opposition to
Christian II, when they perceived that
Frederick favored the reformed religion,
were desirous that John shoidd suc-
ceed his father. As soon as Frederick's
death was known, the senate convoked
the deputies of the different orders of
the states at Copenhagen. The bishops
opened the debate, by inveighing, with
great zeal and warmth, on the subject
of religion ; and when they found that
the lay senators did not coincide with
their opinions, they demanded that the
decree of the diet of Odensee, which had
given the nobles such extensive power
over their farmers, should be annulled.
The nobility were alarmed, and endea-
vored to sooth the clergj', but the latter
feeling their weight in the assembly, car-
ried their point so far, that the tenths were
restored to them. The next subject dis-
cussed, related to the choice of a successor
to Frederick ; the Catholic and ecclesias-
tic senators declared for John ; the lay
and Protestant senators for Christian ; de-
bates ran high, till at last it was proposed
that the states of Norway should be invi-
ted to send their deputies. Although
these were all Roman Catholics, yet the

proposition was so fair, that the Protest-
ant senators could not object to it. The
bishops considering the election of John
as now secure, began to persecute the
reformists, and to harass the people with
heavy taxes. The friends of Christian
II, considering this a favorable opportu-
nity to endeavor to reinstate him, made
an attempt to that effect; but this attempt,
though at first successful, ended in the
election of Christian III ; for the bish-
ops, alarmed at the endeavors to re-
instate Christian II, and perceiving that
their former conduct had incurred the
indignation of the nation at large, con-
sented to the election of Christian III,
on the condition that the privileges
and rights of the senate and states
should be confirmed, and that he should
not be the enemy of their religion. The
rights of all classes, except those of the
farmers, were amply secured by the ca-
pitulation which Christian signed, when
he ascended the throne ; but the farmers
were, if possible, in a still worse and
more oppressed condition than they had
ever been before.

Christian found the state of public af-
fairs such as required the display and
exercise of considerable energy and ac-
tivity, united to moderation and forbear-
ance. The differences on religious sub-
jects still existed. The army that had
been sent to reinstate Christian II, Avas
still in possession of some part of the
Danish dominions, and had been joined
by all the discontented. The province
of Fioni demanded his first and princi-
pal attention. The Count of Oldenberg,
who was at the head of the invading
army, had reduced nearly the whole of it,
and though it was restored by a victory
which Christian gained over this general,
yet no sooner did the king leave it to
prosecute the war in other parts, than the
Count returned, and being assisted by the
whole body of farmers, again subdued
the whole province, and made them take
a new oath of fidehty to Christian II.
In this situation of aflairs. Christian III,
had recourse to the King of Sweden,
who coming himself at the head of a
large force, turned the fortune of war
in favor of his ally. The troops of the
Count of Oldenberg were soon driven

124

DENMARK,

out of Jutland, and afterwards out of
Fioni, by Christian's army ; while Gus-
taviis reconquered Scania. The Count
was now obliged to act on the defensive,
and to retire into Zealand, where he shut
liimself up in Copenhagen. The siege
of this place was immediately underta-
ken. It made a long and obstinate de-
fence, but at last it was reduced, and
the Count of Oldcnberg was taken pris-
oner.

As soon as Christian III, was firmly
seated on the throne, he turned his
attention to the state of religion ; and
resolved to carry into execution a plan
which had been communicatad to him by
Gustavus, for reducing the power of the
clergy. He accordingly assembled the
senate with great secrecy, and they im-
mediately came to the resolution to annex
all the church-lands, towns, fortresses,
and villages, to the crown, and to abolish
for ever the temporal power of the clergy.
All the bishops in the different parts of
the kingdom were arrested about the
same time ; and that the nation might
not be alarmed by this extraordinary
measure, the king convoked the states
at Copenhagen ; the nobility were order-
ed to be there in person, and the commons
by their deputies, but the clergy were
not summoned to attend. After a strong
speech from the king against the rapacity
of the clergy, the senate confirmed the
decree of the diet, and the power and
privileges of the clergy were declared to
be annihilated for ever. The senate next
settled the succession in the person of
Duke Frederick, the king's eldest son.
In return for these concessions, the king
confirmed the nobility in all their rights,
particularly in what they called the right
of life and death over their vassals, and
of punishing them in what manner they
thought proper. Thus was the power
of the clergy for ever destroyed in Den-
mark ; but the conclusion which the no-
bles drew from this, that their own author-
ity and power would be so much the more
augmented, was soon proved to be erro-
neous : for as a great part of the crown
lands had fallen into the hands of the
clergy, these lands being again annexed
to the crown, the royal authority was
considerably increased. The oppression

of the farmers still continued, and the
nobles displayed a restless and increas-
ing desire to prevent them from ever rising
in the state ; for the senate passed a law,
forbidding any person, either ecclesiastic
or secular, who was not noble, to buy
any freehold lands in the kingdom, or to
endeavor to acquire such lands by any
other title.

Norway was still unwilling to acknow-
ledge Christian ; the Catholic religion kept
its ground there longer and more firmly
than it did in Denmark. The states of
the former kingdom being assembled at
Drontheim, in the beginning of the year
1536, Christian sent notice to them that
he was king of Denmark, and demanded,
by virtue of the union of the two king-
doms, to be elected their king also ; but
the clergy representing this demand as
haughty, and the presage of a tyrannical
government, the people rose in a tumul-
tuous manner, massacred several of the
king's friends, and compelled the rest to
quit the kingdom. Christian on this re-
solved to have recourse to the most de-
cisive measures. He accordingly march-
ed an army into Norway, and before the
end of the year, the whole kingdom wac
reduced to a state of obedience and tran-
quillity. The Danish nobility persuaded
the king to take advantage of the subju-
gation of Norway, to strip this kingdom
of its independence ; and a decree was
accordingly passed, stating, that as the
kingdom of Norway had declined in its
power and resources, so as to be no lon-
ger capable of supporting a king ; and as
the greatest part of its senators had shown
themselves enemies to the crown of Den
mark ; therefore, the said kingdom of Nor-
way shall be, and for ever remain sub-,
jected to the crown of Denmark ; so that
in future it shall no more be a kingdom
apart, nor shall it any more be so called,
but shall be a part of the kingdom of
Denmark. It was, however, stipulated,
that in case Norway should be engaged
in war, the senate and the estates of Den-
mark should assist them. This decree
was carried into immediate and full exe-
cution. The senate of Norway was sup-
pressed, the states no longer had any in-
fluence in the elections, and the Danish
nobility were appointed to most of the

DENMARK.

125

places of confidence and emolument in
that kingdom.

Christian II died in 1558, and was
succeeded by Frederick II. The Danish
monarchs having gradually increased the
duties of the Sound, and laving fre-
quently exacted them with unnecessary
strictness and rigor, the English, Dutch,
Lubeckers, and Hanse Towns, remon-
strated against them entirely, in the year
1583; but their remonstrances were in
vain, and they were under the necessity
of submitting to the mode and extent of
these exactions. Towards the conclu-
sion of Frederick's reign, Denmark be-
gan to rise in importance among the Eu-
ropean powers. An embassy came from
Elizabeth, Queen of England, with the
order of the garter for the Danish sover-
eign; and in 1588, a treaty of marriage
was proposed between a Princess of Den-
mark and James VI, King of Scotland.
Soon after this, Frederick died, in the
54th year of his age, and in the 29th of
his reign.

Christian IV was only eleven years
old when his father died. In 1621, a
treaty of alliance was concluded between
the Kings of England, Denmark, and
Sweden, several of the princes of the
empire, and Holland. The object of
this treaty was to support the Elector
Palatine, in whose favor, in 1623, Chris-
tian took up arms, and was appointed
head of the league, and commander of
the forces of Lower Saxony. He was,
however, not equal in military talents or
experience to the Imperial general,
Count Tilly, by whom he was completely
defeated near Rottenburgh, in 1626. He
died in the month of February, 1648, at
the age of 71, and in the 60th year of his
reign, and was succeeded by his son
Frederick.

The state of Denmark at this period
required a monarch of great talents ;
firmness, economy, and moderation, were
absolutely requisite ; the army of Den-
mark had been nearly annihilated by the
wars in the last reign ; her marine was
in a condition little better than the army ;
there was scarcely any money in the
treasury ; the nobles were exempted
from the payment of taxes ; and the peo-
ple were so poor, or so discontented,

that to levy the necessary taxes on them
would have been impracticable, and the
attempt excessively dangerous. The
states of Norway seemed disposed to
throw off their dependence on Denmark,
and assume a republican form of govern-
ment ; and Sweden was evidently pre-
paring to take advantage of the reduced
and humble condition of her rival.

In 1655, the jealousies between Swe-
den and Denmark increased. Charles
Gustavns was now on the throne of the
latter kingdom, a monarch in the prime
of life, of great and aspiring ambition,
and of considerable enterprise and tal-
ents. The Swedish king having ob-
tained a number of successes in the wars
against the Danes, turned his plans to-
wards the reduction of Copenhagen by
famine ; but while part of his fleet was
cruising for the Dutch squadron, supplies
of provisions were introduced into Copen-
hagen. Part of this city is built upon
the isle of Amak, which is peopled by
the descendants of a colony from East
Friesland, to whom the island was given
by Christian II, at the request of his
queen, the sister of Charles V, for the
purpose of supplying her with vegeta-
bles, cheese, and butter. It is entirely
laid out in gardens and pastures, and the
produce brought to the market of Copen-
hagen. This island Charles resolved to
get possession of, if he possibly could,
and he accordingly made a sudden de-
scent upon it at the head of a large body
of forces ; he was opposed by Frederick,
who sallied out of Copenhagen, broke
through the .Swedish lines, threw them
into confusion, and obliged Charles to
throw himself into a boat, and regain his
fleet. The next day the Dutch fleet that
had been sent to the assistance of their
allies entered the Sound. Charles im-
mediately ordered his fleet to oppose
their advance to Copenhagen, and a most
dreadful battle was the consequence,
which terminated in the Swedes draw-
ing off", under the protection of the can-
non of Lanskroon, and in the Dutch ad-
miral succeeding in his purpose of land-
ing a large supply of provisions and
ammunition, as well as a considerable
reinforcement of men at Copenhagen.
The Swedish monarch, disappointed at

126

DENMARK.

the issue of this battle, was soon after-
wards alarmed by the advance of the
elector of Brandenburg and the other
allies of Frederick into Holstein, where
they gained several advantages. The
militia of Norway also invaded Dron-
theim, which, by the last treaty, had
been ceded to Sweden ; and the people
of this province still retaining their par-
tiality for their native sovereign, it was
soon reduced. However, neither the ad-
vance and success of the Danish allies,
nor the conquest of Drontheim, turned
Charles aside from his designs against
Copenhagen; and in 1659, having con-
cluded a peace with the Czar, he deter-
mined to make a vigorous and general
effort to gain this city, before the frost
should enable the elector of Brandenburg
to pass over on the ice to Zealand. On
the 10th of February, his measures be-
ing taken, and his preparations complete,
he commanded the city to be stormed.
In order to conceal the march of his
troops on the snow, he ordered them to
put shirts over their clothes, and they
were thus enabled to come so near the
besieged, as to touch them with their
arms before they were perceived. Three
attacks were made, but they were all un-
successful : the first was led on by Stein-
boch, but his troops having lost all their
officers, became daunted and fled ; the
second attack, led on by Colonel Smidt,
had nearly succeeded on the side of the
isle Amak, when the Colonel was slain
and his troops repulsed ; Bannier, one
of the most celebrated of the Swedish
generals, commanded the third attack,
but he was taken prisoner, and his divi-
sion totally defeated.

Within a very few months after peace
was concluded, Frederick effected a com-
plete change in the constitution of the
government of Denmark. By his con-
duct during the war, he had raised him-
self very much in the opinion of all
classes of his subjects, for his firmness
and his attachment to the interests of his
country. But he was particularly dear
to the common people ; he had placed
himself, in many instances, as a barrier
between them and the insolent oppres-
sion of the nobles. The circumstances
of the times, too, had rendered the no-

bility less formidable and powerful. Com-
merce had begun to produce its usual
effects in Denmark as well as in other
countries ; it had rendered power and
wealth more equal, by introducing new
wants and desires among the privileged
classes, and the ability to gratify them
among those who hitherto had not been
privileged, it brought them nearer to a
level. Before, however, Frederick could
take advantage of this state of things, it
was necessary to investigate the condi-
tion of the kingdom ; and it was found
truly deplorable. The army had not
been paid for a considerable length of
time, consequently there was much dis-
satisfaction among the soldiers ; scarcely
any of the ships of war were fit to put to
sea ; and the public treasure was nearly
exhausted by the avarice and extrava-
gance of the nobility. To consider and
remedy these evils, an assembly of the
states was convoked on the 8th of Sep-
tember, 1660. Notwithstanding the real
power of the nobility was much curtailed,
they were disposed to be as presuming
and overbearing as formerly ; but the
citizens of the great towns now began to
feel their weight and importance in the
state, and particularly those of Copen-
hagen, to whom, as a reward for their
patriotic and gallant behavior during the
siege, several of the rights of nobility had
been granted.

Frederick, aware of all these circum-
stances, determined, during the sitting of
this assembly, to reduce the power of
the nobles, and to extend his own power
on the ruin of theirs. In this plan he
was most zealously and successfully
assisted by the queen, a woman not only
of great fortitude, but of uncommon tal-
ents. She brought over to the king's
party and interest, the field-marshal and
some other noblemen ; but she principally
depended on the exertions and intrigues
of the bishop of Zealand, the burgomaster
of Copenhagen, Gabel a German, the
king's private secretary, and also secre-
tary to the privy council, and Lenthe,
who was likewise a German.

From the year 1660 till 1670, when
Frederick died, he was almost occu-
pied with the internal affairs of Den-
mark ; he re-established the finances on

DENMARK.

127

an equitable and productive footing ; gave
encouragement to trade and commerce ;
and in a more especial manner promoted
agriculture. In the midst of these wise
and benevolent plans, he was carried off
by a disorder, which he is supposed to
have contracted during the siege of Co-
penhagen.

He was succeeded by Christian, his
oldest son, who assisted by the Elector
of Brandenberg and the Dutch, was en-
gaged in warfare M'ith the Swedes, for a
considerable part of his reign. He died
in 1699.

Christian was succeeded by Frederick
IV. This prince was tempted, by the
extreme youth of Charles XII, King of
Sweden, to commence hostilities against
that monarch ; but as he had no direct
ground for a war with Sweden, he re-
newed his claims to Holstein, the duke
of which had married the sister of
Charles XII. Accordingly, he invaded
this province, and laid siege to Toningen.
Charles lost no time in assisting his rela-
tion ; he sent 8,000 men into Holstein, and,
at the same time, he himself, at the head of
20,000 men, landed in Zealand, and laid
siege to Copenhagen. The inhabitants,
in the absence of their sovereign, sent de-
puties to Charles, to request that he would
not bombard the tOAvn ; to this request he
gave his consent, on condition that they
paid him immediately about je80,000,
and brought regidarly to his camp all
kinds of provisions, for which, however,
he engaged to pay punctually. As soon
as Frederick learned that his capital was
in such imminent danger, he published
an edict, in which he promised freedom
to all those in every part of his domin-
ions that should take up arms against the
Swedes. Charles, upon this, informed
his Danish majesty, that he only made
war to oblige him to make peace ; and
that he must resolve to do justice to the
duke of Holstein, or to see Copenhagen
destroyed and his kingdom laid waste by
fire and sword. Frederick eagerly ac-
cepted the conditions, and the peace of
Travendahl was concluded, by which
the full right and sovereignty was con-
firmed to the duke of Holstein. His Dan-
ish majesty agreed to pay him 260,000
crowns ; and liberty was given to the

chapter of Lubeck, to elect, as their
bishop, a prince of Holstein.

Christian Frederick, better known un-
der the appellation of Christian VI, suc-
ceeded his father, Frederick IV. During
nearly the whole of his reign, Denmark
enjoyed a state of profound peace ; and
Christian took advantage of this circum-
stance to improve his territories and
benefit his subjects ; hence no sovereign
is a greater favorite with the Danish
people. He died in 1746, after a happy
and prosperous reign of sixteen years,
and was succeeded by his son Fred-
erick V.

In 1743, Frederick had married Lou-
isa, daughter of George II, of England.
He was very fortunate in two of his
ministers. Count Bcmstofl', and Coimt
Schimmellman, both noblemen of very
superior talents and information, and
anxious to employ them for the benefit of
their sovereign and his subjects. Under
their guidance, Frederick applied himself
to carry on the plans which his father had
begun, and by the assistance of the latter
nobleman, more particularly, the finances
of Denmark were completely restored to
order, and the taxes were rendered lucra-
tive, without being burdensome or oppres-
sive to the people.

The commencement of the reign of
his son Christian VII, Avas auspicious ;
all the peasants on the crown lands, who
hitherto had been in a state of the most
abject vassalage, were emancipated by
the first edict which he issued. The
negotiation with Russia respecting Hol-
stein was resumed, but it could not be
finall)^ adjusted, till Paul Petrowitz, who
was heir to the German possessions of
Peter, attained his majority. This event
did not happen till the year 1773, when
a treaty was signed, by which the coun-
ties of Oldenburgh and Delmenhorst
were ceded to the grand duke of Russia,
and the king of Denmark, as a compen-
sation, was put in possession of the whole
of Holstein.

Frederick V, after the death of his
first wife, by whom he had Christian VII,
married a daughter of the duke of Bruns-
wick Wolfenbuttle ; this princess was
of an ambitious disposition, and was not
restrained by any sense of justice, ox

128

DENMARK.

feeling of moderation, from pursuing those
measures to which her ambition prompted
her. She had by her husband a son
named Frederick, and her most anxious
wish was to place him on the throne,
after the demise of Christian ; but Chris-
tian had married Matilda, the youngest
sister to George III, and as issue was
likely to proceed from the marriage, the
Queen-dowager was afraid that her fa-
vorite scheme would be defeated. She,
therefore, in the beginning of January,
1772, formed, along with her son, a
strong party at Copenhagen, who com-
menced their intrigues, by endeavoring
to create dislike and mistrust between
the king and queen. Their first plan
seems to have been to infuse into the
mind of the queen a disgust of her con-
sort ; and, for this purpose, the king, who
was a man of a very weak mind, was
surrounded by persons who kept him in
a constant stale of debauchery, and Avho
took care that the queen should be per-
fectly acquainted with his behavior. Ma-
tilda, however, either suspecting their
designs, or hidifferent about the manner
in which the king conducted himself,
paid no attention to their representations.
The queen-dowager perceiving that the
scheme they had hitherto pursued would
not answer, determined to excite the sus-
picion and jealousy of the king against
his spouse ; and the unguarded behavior
of Matilda unfortunately aflbrded her the
opportunity she wished for. She mani-
fested an improper partiality for Count
Struensee. This nobleman had been
originally a German physician, who,
having ingratiated himself into the favor
of Frederick, had been raised to the digni-
ty of a count, and appointed his prime
minister. He had neither talent, strength
of mind, nor prudence sufficient to con-
duct himself properly in his new situa-
tion, but alarmed and disgusted the old
nobility, by the unnecessary and inju-
dicious reforms which he attempted to
introduce. To this unpopular and weak
man, Matilda discovered an eA-ident par-
tiality ; and on this circumstance the
queen-dowager built her plans. The
lung was persuaded that his consort, in
conjimction with Struensee and his friend
count Brandt, had formed a design to set

him aside, on the pretext of incapacity,
and of course, according to the royal
law of 1660, to declare the queen-con-
sort regent during the minority of his
successor ; they suggested to him the
absolute necessity of immediately signing
an order for confining the queen and her
associates in separate prisons ; but they
met with much opposition and reluctance.
It was, therefore, advisable to conduct
this part of the business with more cau-
tion, and to wait for a favorable opportu-
nity of still farther exciting the suspicion
and jealousy of the king against his con-
sort and Struensee. This opportunity
oflered itself on the 16th of January.
On the evening of that day, a masked
ball was given at court, from which Ma-
tilda, after having danced the greatest
part of the night with Struensee, retired
about two o'clock in the morning. The
queen-dowager and prince Frederick, who
had undertaken to surprise the king and
make him sign the order, entered his
apartment soon after Matilda had left the
ball room, waked his majesty out of his
sleep, and told him that his consort, and
the counts Struensee and Brandt, were
at that very moment drawing up the act
of renunciation, which they would com-
pel him to sign ; and that if he wished
to save himself, he must give instant
orders for their arrest. Frederick still
hesitated, till they actually threatened
him into compliance. The queen-con-
sort was innnediatcly taken out of bed,
and with her infant princess conveyedjto
the castle of Cronenberg, while counts
Struensee and Brandt were confined in
separate dungeons, and treated with the
utmost severity An extraordinary com-
mission was appointed to try the supposed
criminals. The queen was accused of a
criminal conversation with Struensee ;
and this nobleman was accused of hav-
ing abused his authority, and of having
applied a great part of the public money
to his private emolument ; but no wit-
nesses were found to substantiate either
of these charges, or the more heinous
charge of having had designs to deprive
the king of his authority. The queen-
dowager, however, resolved to proceed ;
and though, by the laws of Denmark, the
torture was forbidden to be used for the

DENMARK.

129

purpose of extorting confession, yet Stru-
ensee was threatened with it, unless he
confessed every tiling that was demanded
of him respecting the queen. The fear
of the rack produced from him the con-
fession which the queen-dowager want-
ed ; he acknowledged that he had been
intimate with the queen. Struensee and
his friend Brandt, after having been un-
der examination nearly two mouths, at
last received sentence. The sentence of
the former states, that he had confessed
himself guilty of a crime, which compre-
hended the crime of treason in the high-
est degree ; and that he had defrauded
the king, and applied the public money
to his own use. The last accusation
they had not been able to substantiate by
witnesses, nor had Struensee acknow-
ledged its truth ; but by obtaining pos-
session of his private papers, it appeared
that he had made a charge of .120,000
rix dollars for an article of expense, which
could not amount to 20,000 rix dollars.
When Struensee was examined on this
head, he acknowledged that the papers
were in his hand-writing, but that this
charge, as well as several others, had
been falsified by some other person. The
sentence of Brandt accused him of hav-
ing given the king a blow, and otherwise
ill treating him. They were both con-
demned to be beheaded, after having
their right hands cut off; the sentence
was carried into execution on the 28th
of April, 1772. The English coiu-t in-
terfered in behalf of the queen-consort ;
and she was liberated from her confine-
ment, and permitted to spend the re-
mainder of her life at Zell, in Hanover.
The queen-dowager having thus accom-
plished part of her object, by means,
however, which excited great indigna-
tion, placed about the king count Guld-
berg, one of her associates. In order to
draw off the public thoughts from the re-
cent transactions, this minister passed
several laws much in favor of the great
body of the people, particularly one law
which gave to the natives of Denmark
very special privileges, and which was
declared to be a fundamental law of the
kingdom.

In 1780, Denmark, persuaded or in-
timidated by the empress Catharine,

joined the armed neutrality of the North.
f>om this time till the year 1784, no-
thing remarkable happened ; the king's
imbecility of inind grew every day more
apparent, and intrigues were set on foot
to take advantage of it. The kino- of
Prussia, who was nearly related to the
queen-dowager, by her means, gained an
almost absolute sway in the cabinet of
Denmark ; the only minister who op-
posed his views was count BernstotT,
and he was soon dismissed from his em-
ployments, and obliged to retire into
Germany. But in order still farther to
strengthen his party, it was necessary
to keep the prince royal out of the privy
council. By the laws of Denmark, he
could not be sworn in a member till he
had taken the sacrament, and he could
not take the sacrament till he had under-
gone a public examination ; this the
ruling party contrived to put off, under
the pretext that he was not yet sufficient-
ly instructed in religion. As soon, how-
ever, as he arrived at the age of 16, they
were obliged to consent to his admission
into the privy council ; and the first step
he took was to advise the king to dismiss
his ministers, and to reinstate count
Bernstoff. The other party endeavored
to intimidate him ; but he was resolute,
and carried his point. A new council
was formed ; and as they apprehended
that the queen-dowager might again take
advantage of the king's imbecility, they
passed an order, that no instrument signed
by him should be valid, unless it were
countersigned by the prince. One of
the first acts of his administration ren-
dered him extremely popular ; he com-
pletely emancipated all the peasants on
the estates of the crown, Avith so much
prudent and cautious preparation, that no
evil consequences resulted from this
change in their condition. His example
was followed by some of the nobility, but
by no means to the extent that he wished
or expected. The slave trade was also
abolished, principally by the advice and
exertion of count Schimmellman, who
himself possessed large estates in the
West Indies.

For a considerable time after the com-
mencement of the French revolution,
Denmark remained tranquil, wisely re-
17

130

DENMARK.

fusing to engage in the wars produced by
that event. At length in 1801, the mad-
ness of the emperor Paul obliged her to
accede to the confederacy against Great
Britain, formed by Russia and Sweden.
In consequence of this. Great Britain
sent a formidable fleet into the Baltic.

The defeat of the Danes, and the death
of Paul, dissolved the confederacy ; aad
the Danish possessions in the East and
West Indies, which the British had cap-
tured, were restored. When the war
between Britain and France recom-
menced in 1803, Denmark resolved, if
possible, to adhere strictly to her system
of neutrality ; but it was soon apparent
that tlie success of the latter power in
Germany would place her in a perilous
situation, or compel her to take an active
part in the contest. But she escaped till
the year 1807, when the peace of Tilsit
convinced the British cabinet, that Den-
mark, even if she were well disposed to
resist the importunities of France to unite
herself against England, was no longer
capable of acting as an independent
power.

At length in 1807, this state was in-
cluded in Napoleon's continental policy.
A French army stood on the borders of
Denmark, Russia had adopted the con-
tinental system at the the peace of Tilsit,
and England thought it her duty to pre-
vent the accession of Denmark to this
alliance.

A fleet of twenty-three ships of the
line was sent up the Sound, August 3d,
which demanded of Denmark a defen-
sive alliance, or the surrender of her fleet,
as a pledge of her neutrality. Both were
denied. Upon this, a British army land-
ed, consisting of 25,000 men, under lord
Cathcart ; and, after an imsuccessful re-
sistance on the part of the Danes, Avho
were unprepared for such an attack, Co-
penhagen Avas surrounded, Aug. 17. As
the government repeatedly refused to
yield to the British demands, the capital
was bombarded for three days, and 400
houses laid in ashes, in the ruins of which
1300 of the inhabitants perished. Sep-
tember 7th, Copenhagen capitulated, and
the whole fleet, completely equipped, and,
including eighteen ships of the line, fif-
teen frigates, &c. was delivered up to

the British, and carried off" in triumph.
The crews, who had fought on those
days with distinguished bravery, were
made prisoners of war. Great Britain
now offered the crown-prince neutrality
or an alliance. If he accepted the first,
the Danish fleet was to be restored in
three years after the general peace, and
the island of Heligoland was to be ceded
to the British crown. The crown-prince,
however, rejected all proposals, declared
war against Great Britain in October,
1807, and entered into a treaty with Na-
poleon, at Fontainbleau, October 31.
Upon this, Bernadotte occupied the Dan-
ish islands with 30,000 men, in order to
land in Sweden, against which Denmark
had declared war in April, 1808. This
plan was defeated by the war with Aus-
tria, in 1809, and the hostilities against
Sweden in Norway ceased the same
year. The demand made by the court
of Stockholm, in 1813, of a transfer of
Norway to Sweden, was followed by a
new war with this crown, and a new al-
Uance with Napoleon, July 13, 1813. On
this account, after the battle of Leipsic,
the northern powers, who were united
against France, occupied Holstein and
Sleswick. Gluckstadt and other fortica-
tions were captured, and the Danish
troops driven beyond Flensburg. Den-
mark now concluded a peace with Eng-
land and Sweden, Jan. 14, 1814, at Kiel.
She also entered into an alliance against
France, and contributed a body of troops
to the allied forces. She was obliged to
cede Heligoland to Great Britain (receiv-
ing in exchange several West India
islands,) and Norway to Sweden, (for
which she was compensated by Swedish
Pomerania and Rugen.) A peace was
concluded with Russia in February, 1814.
Jan. 14, 1815, Denmark ceded Swedish
Pomerania and Rugen to Prussia, and
received for them Lauenburg and a pe-
cuniary compensation. June 8, 1815,
the king entered into the German confed-
eracy with Holstein and Lauenburg, and
received in it the tenth place, and three
votes in the general assembly (the ple-
num ;) after Avhich, by the appointment
of a decemviral commission, preliminary
measures were taken to introduce a rep-
resentative government into Holstein.

EGYPT.

131

EGYPT,

Among all the ancient nations which
have been distinguished in history, there
is none more worthy of our notice than
the kingdom of Egypt. If not the birth-
place, it was the early protector of the
sciences ; and cherished every species
of knowledge, which was known or cul-
tivated in remote times. It was the prin-
cipal source from which the Grecians
derived their information ; and, after all
its windings and enlargements, we may
still trace the stream of our knowledge
to the banks of the Nile. Every ancient
nation lays claim to a higher origin than
legitimate history can sanction ; and
Egypt extends its claims to a fabulous
period.

Menes is the first king of Egypt Avho
is presented to our notice ; but the cir-
cumstances of his reign distinctly imply,
that the age in which he lived was an
advanced period of the Egyptian history.
The arrangements which he made did
not belong to rude times ; the wealth and
the luxury of his court, were far removed
from the savage state, and the magnifi-
cence which he introduced into the ser-
vices of religion, manifest an improve-
ment in the arts, and a progress in the
splendor of society. Sir Isaac Newton
ascribes to him the building of Memphis,
wliich was not founded, or at least not
famous, in the time of Homer ; for it was
Thebes, and not Memphis, which he
celebrated as the glory of Egypt. Nor-
den supposes that the latter was adorned
from the ruins of the former ; but even
if this be true, it would not imply that
Memphis was unbuilt till Thebes was in
ruins. It will only show, that, as the an-
cient capital was deserted, the new city
was adorned with some works of art,
which had been admired in the city of
Thebes.

Osymandias is the next Egyptian king
whose history has assumed any probable
shape ; and yet the narrative of his reign
is doubtful and imperfect. While he was
upon the throne, the city of Thebes was
still in its glory, and some of its most
remarkable ornaments are attributed to

this prince. His palace was an edifice
of exquisite workmanship ; and in the
maimer of those times, it was of vast ex-
tent. In front there was a court of an
immense size ; adjoining this space there
was a portico of 400 feet long, the roof
of which was supported by animal fig-
ures of fifteen cubits high. This portico
led into another court similar to the first,
but more superb. Here, among other
ornaments, were three statues of vast
size, which is alone sufficient to show
the antiquity of Osymandias' reign.

In the infancy of science, every thing
is vast ; and to command admiration
among the uncultivated, immensity is
better calculated than beauty, deep de-
sign, or elegance of workmanship. These
statues are said to have represented Osy-
mandias and some of his family ; but
this is of little importance to the history
of those times, which leads us to approxi-
mate the period of society in which Osy-
mandias lived, by the state of literature
and science which belong to the period
of his reign. Sculpture and the art of
building had evidently arrived at con-
siderable improvements. For the style
of architecture, as well as the art of the
statuary, which the ruins of Thebes have
disclosed, have justly commanded the
admiration of the curious and discerning.
There were other courts, and other por-
ticoes, together with piazzas, halls, and
galleries, which excelled in workmanship
as well as in extent. There the chisel
had sculptured, with wonderful art, the
triumphs of the king, the sacrifices which
he offered, the administration of justice
in the courts of law, and many other em-
blems of his transactions and reign. But
his tomb has been celebrated above all
other buildings at Thebes ; and it has
been chiefly remarkable for the emblems
of astronomy which it bore. It was en-
compassed with a golden circle of 365
cubits in circumference, to represent the
number of days which were then inclu-
ded in the year, and shows that the solar
year was not then distinctly understood.
Here the rising and the setting of the

132

EGYPT.

stars Avere represented to A'iew ; various
parts of the ceiling in the pubUc build-
ings of Osymandias were painted bhie
and bespangled with stars, to exhibit an
idea of the firmament ; and a hall was
stored with the most valuable writings of
those times, and was significantly de-
nominated the dispensary of the mind.
From the whole it appears, that the reign
of Osjnnandias, though remote and not
accurately defined, was in a period of
considerable improvement.

His lineal descendants are said to have
reigned in Egypt during the course of
eight generations ; but their transactions,
and even their names, are not distinctly
known. Uchoreus was the last of that
race ; and in his time the city of Mem-
phis appears to have become the success-
ful rival of the ancient and venerable city
Thebes. It is indeed added, that he
transferred the abode of the Eg}''ptian
kings from Thebes to Memphis.

Passing by other sovereigns, who arc
rather alluded to than specified in the
conjectural parts of this history, we shall
take notice of Maoris, who would proba-
bly have beei» left in the same obscurity
as many other ancient kings of Egypt
have been, had not the lake which beai-s
his name preserved his memory. That
work of stupendous labor may be con-
sidered as a remnant of those mighty
works which Moeris did to aggrandize
his kingdom. He adorned the temple of
Vulcan at Memphis, and must be sup-
posed to have been the author of many
important improvements, which have been
lost in the lapse of time, and forgotten
among the changes of early and obscure
events. He was the 330lh king from
Menes ; and the immediate predecessor
of Sesoslris, whose history is now to
claim our attention.

Sesostris is known by various other
names, according to the variety which
diftVrent languages and other circum-
stances are calculated to produce, such
as Sesonchis, Sesoosis, and Sesothis.
He has also been supposed to be the Se-
sac or Shishak, who took Jerusalem in
the reign of Rehoboam ; while others
have supposed that he was the Pharaoh
who reigned in Egypt, and who was
drowned in the lied Sea, when pursuing

the Israelites to bring them back ; but
these are conjectures and not historical
facts — they may amuse, but they cannot
instruct. Under the pretext of a dream,
his father adopted measures Avliich, in
his view, were calculated to furnish his
son with certain means of conquest and
power. Exercising the influence which
he seems to have possessed, he collect-
ed a number of youths of the same age
with his son, and trained them up to-
gether at his own expense, that they
might be attached to the person of Se-
sostris ; and that, by being trained up in
a hardy and active manner, they might
be able to brave dangers, and be the
means of honor and aggrandizement to
his son.

Having made successful inroads into
Arabia, and being led to put confidence
in his own resources and skill, Sesostris
returned into Eg}'pt, and devised meas-
ures for such campaigns and conquests
as have perpetuated his fame. Being
resolved to take the field in person, and
having the prospect of being a long time
absent from his kingdom, he adopted pru-
dential means for preserving tranquillity
while he was abroad. By promises and
salutary arrangements, he attached the
army to his interest ; and he provided
carefully for the internal peace of the
state. He divided the empire into 36
provinces, and having appointed a gov-
ernor to each, he constituted his brother
regent of the kingdom, with supreme
power till he himself should return. He
fitted out two fleets, one in the Mediter-
ranean, and the other in the Red Sea.
With the former he conquered the islands
of Cyprus, together Avith several islands
of the Cyclades, and the whole coast of
Phoenicia ; and with the latter he scour-
ed the Red Sea, and entered the Indian
ocean.

His army was in great force. It con-
sisted of 600,000 foot, 24,000 horse, and
27,000 chariots. The 1,700 youths Avho
had been trained up along with him from
his infancy, and accustomed to toil and
] military exercise, Avere Avell fitted to have
i the chief places of trust in that mighty
j army, both from their attachment to their ,
I sovereign, and their military ardor. With
: this numerous host, he overran the Ethi-

EGYPT.

133

opians, and traversed Africa, till he reach-
ed the shores of the Atlantic. Being en-
couraged by success, he penetrated Asia,
and crossed the Ganges. Returning in-
to Europe, he invaded Scythia as well
as Thrace ; but, according to some his-
torians, these warlike people resisted his
invasion, and after he had made several
conquests, compelled them to retire. A
colony of Egyptians was planted by him
in Colchis, or a part of his army settled
there of their own accord ; and pillars
recording his triumphs have been found
in various parts of the world.

He appears to have aimed at universal
conquest ; but though his movements
were rapid, and his successes great, yet
he was forced to return to Egypt, and
abandon the kingdoms he had acquired.
There is a certain compass, beyond
which the powers of man cannot pre-
vail ; and it was never intended b}' na-
ture, that one man should lord it over the
whole earth. There are limits to the
powers of the mind, and there are Iioun-
daries among the empires and kingdoms
of the earth, which it is cruel and unjust
to pass. While Sesostris was employed
with conquest abroad, his brother was
perverting his authority at home, and sub-
verting the power and honor of the king.
Being informed of these transactions,
Sesostris hastened his return to Egypt ;
and having resumed the reins of his king-
dom, overthrew the proceedings of his
brother, tranquillized the country, and
completely re-established his own power.
It is said in honor of his humanity, that
he saved the life of his rebel brother,
who, it has been asserted, lied into
Greece, and was the Danaus of that
country, whose story seems to be partly
true, and partly fabulous.

From this time forward, Sesostris aban-
doned a life of warfare, and employed his
leisure as well as his riches in adorning
his kingdom, and improving the condition
of his people. He provided for the re-
pose of the soldiers, who had been his
companions in arms ; and he enriched
the temples of the gods, whom the peo-
ple worshipped. He fortified the king-
dom in the most commodious parts ; im-
proved the state of Lower Egypt or the
Delta, and in general meliorated the state

of the kingdom. He either divided the
people into casts, or rendered the division
more complete, which appears to have
been a favorable arrangement in those
times and circumstances, though it has
created a host of prejudices unfavorable
to successive improvements. It is re-
corded to the disgrace of Sesostris, not
only that he retained the kings captive
whom he had taken in war ; but also, that
he took a cruel pleasure in exposing their
fallen state to public observation, making
them feel, in a most sensible manner, the
degradations of their captive condition.
In the midst of these severities, one of
his captive sovereigns reminded him, by
the emblem of a wheel turning rapidly
upside down, that fortune was capricious,
and that he who sat upon the throne might
soon, like him, be ranked amongst slaves.
The remark did not fail of its naturel im-
pression ; and from that time the captive
princes were set free. So true is it, that
health is followed by sickness, and pros-
perity by pain, that Sesostris lost his
sight, and sinking into despair, he put a
period to his own life.

The first king who is mentioned in the
Egyptian history, after the preceding
sovereign, is Gnephactus, who is of no
celebrity in the annals of his country.

Sethon is the next king of Egypt, who
lays claim to our consideration. He was
a person of the sacerdotal order, and be-
longed to the temple of Vulcan. He had
no warlike dispositions, nor was he at all
habituated to the use of arms. Till this
period the soldiery had been cherished,
and were a conspicuous body of men in
Egypt ; and, therefore, being neglected
by Sethon, they were dispersed, and hos-
tile to hi« interests. The kings of As-
syria being at this time bold and success-
ful warriors, and fmding Eg\'pt in a feeble
and unprotected state, they entered that
country in a hostile maimer, and filled
the nation with alarm. The soldiers
being scattered and disgusted, Sethon's
army consisted only of raw and undisci-
plined troops, who were unable to meet a
host of victorious invaders. Sennacherib,
king of Assyria, with a numerous army,
entered Egypt, and committed great de-
vastations.

In this threateninsr and dangerous situ-

134

EGYPT.

ation, when ruin was apparently ready
to burst upon the head of the Egyptian
king, a host of rats in one night gnawed
the bow-strings and shield-straps of the
Assyrian army ; and being thus deprived
of their weapons of warfare, they fled
before the Eg}'ptians with great slaugh-
ter. A story somewhat alike to this
Egyptian representation, is handed down
to us in the history of Palestine, where
185,000 men of Sennacherib's army were
found dead by some sudden disaster.
The better authenticated Jewish liistory
would lead us to suppose, that the story
is the same, but misapprehended and dis-
guised in the obscurer annals of Egypt.
The Babylonish Talmud supposes, that
tliis sudden destruction was brought upon
the Assyrians by the effects of lightning ;
while others are of the opinion, that the
disaster was occasioned by the sumiel or
hot wind of the desert, which is known
to be so destructive and so sudden in its
effects ; and this idea seems to corres-
pond with the language of our sacred
books. " Behold, I will send a blast
upon" Sennacherib, and he " shall return
to his own land." But to whatever cause
we ascribe the destruction of Sennache-
rib's army, it was equally the work of
God ; for all the parts and elements of
nature minister to his will.

Soon after this, the government was
entrusted to twelve princes, who appear
to have entered upon their high office,
with every resolution of concord and pub-
lic spirit ; but, like all common alliances,
the harmonious union was soon dissolved.

Psammeticus, one of the twelve, was
soon raised to the sovereign power,
B. C. 679, and his colleagues were over-
thrown. The story runs of an oracle
having asserted, that if any of the twelve
governors should offer a sacred libation
in a brazen helmet, that person should
ascend to the sovereign power. The
story adds, that upon a festival of Vulcan,
when all the twelve governors were to
offer libations to the god, eleven vessels
through mistake were only provided, upon
which Psammeticus presented his liba-
tion with his own helmet of brass. The
prediction of the oracle was remembered ;
and Psammeticus claimed the sovereign
power.

If the story of the helmet be not a fic-
tion, it was probably contrived beforehand
by the friends of Psammeticus, to be a
signal for the powerful rising and de-
claration in his favor, as the destined
sovereign of Egypt.

But he seems to have acquired the
aid of foreign power to place or establish
him upon his throne ; and his reign was
distinguished by an intercourse and friend-
ship with Greece. The soldiers of Egypt,
who are said to have retired in disgust
into Ethiopia, were probably the adhe-
rents of the eleven governors whom
Psammeticus had deprived of their pow-
er, and the remaining supporters of the
surreptitious kings, who had reigned be-
tween them and his father Nechus. The
restoration of the legitimate family ap-
pears to have been the means of remov-
ing the factious and discontented from
the bounds of the kingdom. Psammeti-
cus, in order to be more secure from the
dangers of intestine commotions, retired
to a residence near Bubastis, on the Pe-
lusian branch of the Nile ; and, by culti-
vating commerce, he enriched the nation.

His son Nechus succeeded him on
the throne, who was called in Scripture,
Pharaoh Necho. He prosecuted with
vigor the system of navigation, which
some of his predecessors had begun; and,
by the assistance of Phoenician sailors,
he not only investigated the coasts of
the Mediterranean, but, fitting out a fleet
in the Red Sea, passed through the
Straits of Babelmandel, doubled the Cape
of Good Hope, and returned to Egypt
through the Straits of Gibraltar. Owing
to inexperience in naval affairs, this
voyage, which could now be performed
in three months, cost the Egyptians as
many years.

His expeditions by land were no less
enterprising and grand. He made war
upon the Medes and Babylonians, who,
according to Josephus, had jointly over-
thrown the Assyrian throne.

Besides his enterprising by sea and
land, Nechus attended to the improve-
ment of his kingdom ; and, among other
undertakings, he attempted to join the
Red Sea and the Nile, by means of a
broad and deep canal. The enterprise
failed ; and owing, we may presume, to

EGYPT.

135

inexperience, muclx money was uselessly-
expended, and 12,000 men were lost.
After having reigned for sixteen years,
this active prince terminated his career
about 600 years before the birth of
Christ ; and was succeeded by Psammis,
who only reigned six years, and left no-
thing of consequence for the historian to
record.

Amasis, who was called unexpectedly,
and without any pretensions, to the
throne, began his reign by attempting to
improve the moral condition of the coun-
try. He appears to have lived freely, as
well as sometimes riotously, while he
filled an inferior station ; and he was
sometimes devoted to excess, even after
he had ascended the throne ; but he was
nevertheless aware how important it is
for good order, that the habits of society
should be sober. To attain this end, he
required every inhabitant of Egypt once
a year to inform the government by what
means he obtained his living. But while
he was endeavoring to establish order at
home, preparations were making abroad
to invade Egypt, and overthrow its gov-
ernment. The Persian king was making
vast movements, in order to enter that
coimtry, and get possession of its do-
minions.

Wc cannot ascertain the reasons of
this projected invasion in the court of
Persia ; for while no well authenticated
records remain, we cannot speak Avith
certainty from traditionary tales. It
might be ambition, and it might be re-
venge, or a mixture of passions and
motives, which incidents and unknown
events might bring into action. The
story runs, that instead of permitting his
daughter to be numbered amongst the
women of the king of Persia, he had sent
Nitetis, the daughter of A pries, the for-
mer Iving. This affront and double
dealing being discovered at the Persian
court, Cambyses made war upon Egypt.
Several circumstances occurred to render
the invasion of Cambyses successful ; and
of these occurrences, Amasis himself,
appears to have had a share. Phanes,
a Grecian general of considerable note,
Avho was engaged in the service of the
Egyptian king, fled to the court of Per-
sia, and assisted Cambyses to conduct

his operations against the interest and
power of his former master. Polycrates,
the successful sovereign of Samos, was
formerly the ally of Amasis ; but the
king of Egypt seems imprudently to have
forfeited his favor, and he also joined
with the Persian king. While these pre-
parations and adverse circumstances were
going on, the king of Egypt died, and
escaped from the disasters which fell
immediately upon his devoted country.
In the year 525, before the birth of
Christ, Psammenitus, the son of Amasis,
succeeded to the kingdom ; and he was
scarcely invested with the powers of
royalty, when Cambyses approached the
frontiers of Egypt. The new king pre-
pared for defence, and the king of Persia
laid siege to Pelusium. Taking advan-
tage of the Egyptian superstition, the
invaders placed in the front of their
army a variety of dogs, cats, and other
animals, which were held sacred by the
besieged ; and the Egyptians not daring
to injure the sacred animals, the Persians
entered Pelusium without resistance.

Scarcely had Cambyses taken posses-
sion of the city, when the army of Psam-
menitus drew nigh ; and the Greeks,
who were in the service of the Egyptian
king, to revenge the defection of Phanes,
their countryman and former general,
brought forth his children into the camp,
and put them to death before the eyes of
their father. Then, in conformity to the
Grecian manner, they tasted of the blood
mixed with wine, in token of execration.
Enraged at this scene of horror, the Per-
sians put the Egyptian soldiers to flight,
and chased them with great slaughter to
the very gates of Memphis. Having
sent a vessel up the Nile towards Mem-
phis, with a demand to surrender the
city, the messenger and the crew were
assaulted and torn to pieces. Memphis
was soon after taken ; the adjoining
countries to the Avest of Egypt readily
submitted to the conqueror ; and now
Cambyses, in his turn, did more than fill
up the measure of retaliation upon the
king of Eg)-pt and his devoted subjects.
Placed in a particular situation in the
suburbs of Memphis, Psammenitus was
forced to behold the misery, the degra-
dation, and even the death of some of his

136

EGYPT.

family, and many of his nobles. The
grief was too great to permit the feelings
of the king to be otherwise expressed
than by oppressive silence, till last of all,
an intimate companion, old and infnm,
was presented before him, begging his
bread ; and then the afflicted monarch
burst into tears.

In his madness for conquest, Camby-
ses despatched an army of 50,000 men
from Thebes in Upper Egypt, to seize
upon the temple of Jupiter Amnion in the
deserts of Africa ; but after suffering
every hardship, and losing nearly the one
half of his army, he wreaked the ven-
geance which should have been directed
towards his own folly, upon the afflicted
and despairing Egyptians. He reached
Memphis at the time of a high festival,
and, with that jealous violence which
belongs to tyranny, he was transported
with rage, and would not be convinced,
that the public rejoicings were not occa-
sioned by his disappointment and defeat.
Under this persuasion, he scourged the
priests, put the magistrates to death, and,
with his own hand, slew the god Apis,
whose festival the Egyptians were ob-
serving. But a period was soon put to
his cruelty and his life ; for having re-
turned to Persia to quell an insurrection
in his own kingdom, he appears to have
been assassinated ; or, as the incident is
generally related, he was mortally wound-
ed by his own sword, from which the
scabbard had dropped, as he was eager-
ly mounting his horse. Thus died Cam-
b)'ses, an object of hatred to his subjects,
and a detested tyrant to the Egyptians.

Egypt remained subject to Persia un-
til the time of Alexander the Great. In
returning from Persia, he passed as a
conqueror through Syria, took Sidon,
and compelled Tyre to surrender. Con-
tinuing his march, he was received in
Egypt rather as a friend than a conquer-
or ; but his vanity led him to the temple
of Jupiter Amnion, Avhere he was de-
clared to be the son of that deity. When
he returned into Eg}^pt, he founded the
city of Alexandria, as a good commercial
station, and connected it by canals with
the river Nile. On the eve of his de-
parture, he invested Doloaspes, a native
Egyptian, with the sovereign power,

and he carried along with him, the af-
fections and the regret of the Egj'ptian
people.

After the death of Alexander, B. C.
323, Perdiccas, who had been a favorite
of Alexander, assumed the regency, trust-
ing to his address and influence for the
establishment of his power. But this
step raised violent commotions among
the generals of Alexander ; and after a
battle which was fought in Phrygia, the
empire of Alexander was divided into
separate portions. Ptolemy Lagus, who
was afterwards denominated Soter, was
entrusted with the government of Egypt.

It was in the year 3C8 that Ptolemy
took upon him the sovereign authority in
Egypt ; and though he was not till after-
wards honored with the name of king,
yet he was under no control, and he ex-
ercised his power for the good of the
state. Having added Palestine, Syria, ^
and Phoenicia to his new dominions, he
proceeded to acquire Cyprus, which
abounded with wood, for the building of
ships ; but he was interrupted in these
proceedings by the invasion of Antigonus,
whose capital was Babylon, and whose
possessions were immense. He made a
successful inroad into the dominions of
Ptolemy ; and Gaza, Joppa, and Tyre,
were subdued. After various struggles,
and interchanging successes between An-
tigonus and Ptolemy, the former was
slain in battle, and his son Demetrius,
after various reverses, was taken a pris-
oner of war, and retained a captive till
he died. Ptolemy Soter was of a litera-
ry character, as well as a skillful and
intrepid general. He wrote the life of
Alexander the Great, which was lost
amid the ravages of time ; but from com-
ments and observations which remain, it
appears to have been elegant and much
esteemed.

His taste for literature, and his love
of science, appeared in the exertions
which he made to promote knowledge
and inquiry. He founded a college or
museum, which became the abode of
learned men ; and he formed a library, to
assist the cultivation of science. Among
the men of leaniing who flocked to Alex-
andria upon the invitation of Ptolemy,
was Demetrius Phalerius, the Athenian.

EGYPT.

137

He was a wise and a favorite governor
in that city ; but upon Athens being taken
by Antigonus, the people received the
conqueror with extravagant demonstra-
tions of joy, and they banished Deme-
trius with threatenings of death. In this
situation he fled to the court of Ptolemy,
deeply afflicted with the changeable tem-
per, the ungrateful and hasty proceedings
of the populace, when the government is
invested in their hands. The accom-
plished Demetrius took charge of Ptole-
my's library, and assisted his royal mas-
ter in literary arrangements.

The mimificence of Ptolemy was mani-
fest in the splendid buildings of the mu-
seum, as well as in the magnificent
temple which he reared for Serapis in
Alexandria, and in the watch-tower of
Pharos, which he constructed for the
commercial interests of the country. In
the mean time, Ptolemy Soter was far
advanced in years ; and, by the influence
of his favorite wife Berenice, her son
Philadelphus was nominated his succes-
sor, to the prejudice of Ceraunus his
eldest son.

Ptolemy Philadelphus obtained full
possession of the throne, upon the de-
mise of his father ; and his accession
was celebrated with uncommon splendor.
At this time the empire of Asia was en-
gaged in war, by Seleucus and Lysi-
machus, the only surviving generals of
Alexander the Great. Ceraunus, the el-
der and disappointed brother of Ptolemy
Philadelphus, had left Egypt, either from
choice or necessity ; and he took an ac-
tive part in the wars which were sub-
sisting between Seleucus and Lysima-
chus. By his artifice, the ruin of Lysi-
machus was accomplished ; and he put
Seleucus to death with his own hand.
Having perpetrated these deeds, and
being supported by a multitude of adhe-
rents, he obtained the throne of Macedo-
nia ; but just retribution soon overtook
him, for he was slain in battle, and his
dead body was treated with indignity.

During the reign of Philadelphus, the
Romans attracted the public notice, in
their disputes with the city of Tarentum ;
and the king of Egypt solicited their
friendship. Hence a close alliance was
formed between the courts of Rome and
18

Alexandria. Ptolemy Philadelphus at-
tempted to assist the Greeks, when they
were invaded by the Macedonians ; but
the assistance he granted was unsuc-
cessful, and his aff'airs at home assumed
a gloomy aspect. His brother Magas,
who was governor of Lybia and Syrene,
took advantage of his perplexing condi-
tion, and, by the assistance of his father-
in-law Antiochus Soter, king of Upper
Syria, he attempted to wrest the kingdom
of Egypt from the hands of Ptolemy Phi-
ladelphus. During these preparations,
and while the king of Egypt was em-
ployed abroad, there was a revolt in the
bosom of his kingdom by 4,000 Gauls
whom he had employed in his service ;
but overcoming all these difliculties, he
finally established his throne. From
fear, or a sense of duty, his brother Ma-
gas was desirous of being at peace with
Ptolemy ; and, as a bond of union, pro-
posed that his daughter Berenice should
be united in marriage to Ptolemy, the
son of Philadelphus, that the possessions
of both brothers should at length centre
in one family. This proposal was car-
ried into effect ; but in the mean time
Magas died, and did not see the marriage
solemnized. This settlement was op-
posed by Apania, the mother of the young
princess ; and she stirred up Antiochus
Soter to declare war upon Egypt. But
the threatening storm passed away, and
Ptolemy Philadelphus was left at peace.

This sovereign of Egj'pt built many
cities, and erected various temples. He
had even a share in constructing the
celebrated Pharos of Alexandria ; for
that watch-tower was built in the latter
end of the former reign, when he was
united with his father in the kingdom.
He finished the canal from Suez to the
Nile, and watered the deserts of Lybia
by reservoirs and ductile streams. The
comt of Philadelphus might be called
the seat of learning and politeness ; for
strangers and the unfortunate were re-
ceived with courtesy, learning flourished,
and books were increased.

Ptolemy HI raised the kingdom of
Egypt to a very commanding height of
power ; for, besides his immense influ-
ence by land, he was powerful at sea,
and had extended his conquests to the

138

EGYPT.

straits of Babelmandel. His assistance
was requested by the members of the
Achaean league ; but Arratus having form-
ed a connection with Antigonus of Ma-
cedon, Ptolemy was ofiended, and lent
his aid to Cleomenes, king of Sparta.
But his new ally being defeated and
overthrown in the battle of Sellasia, fled
into Egypt, and received protection.
Amid the spoils which Ptolemy acqui-
red in his Eastern conquests, besides
immense sums of gold and silver, he re-
covered a prodigious number of statues,
gold and silver shrines and images, which
Cambyses had carried away from the
temples and palaces of Egypt. These
valuable and revered relics, Ptolemy re-
turned to their proper places ; and hence
he was styled Euergetes, or the Bene-
factor. While Ptolemy Euergetes was
absent on these expeditions, his affec-
tionate Queen Berenice was alarmed for
his safety ; and vowed, if he should be
restored to her wishes, she would conse-
crate her hair in the temple of Zephyri-
um. Ptolemy returned, and the sacrifice
was made ; but, by some accident, the
consecrated hair was lost. The king was
ofiended, and the priests were in danger ;
for the female hair was the chief orna-
ment of the Egyptian as well as the
Eastern ladies ; and the sacrifice had ac-
quired an additional value, because it was
consecrated as a momunent of Berenice's
aftection for her lord. But the supersti-
tion of the times, and the address of
Conon, the celebrated mathematician of
Samos, delivered the priesthood from
their fear. In those days, heroes were
deified, and sometimes had a place as-
signed them in the starry heavens ; but
Conon's fancy took a wilder flight, and
aftirmed, that the consecrated hair of
Berenice had been translated to the fir-
mament, and composed the seven stars
in the tail of Leo.

In the former reign, the Romans had
renewed their friendship at the Eg^^ptian
court ; and the adherents of young Ptole-
my, a descendant of Ptolemy III, on this
occasion, applied to Rome for assistance
and direction. This was the more ne-
cessary, because the infancy of Ptolemy
required protection ; and because Antio-
chus and Philip of Macedon had deter-

mined, in the feeble state of the Egyptian
government, to dismember that empire,
and divide it amongst themselves. The
aid of the Roman government was given
with readiness and eflect. An ambassa-
dor was sent from Rome to each of the
confederated hostile kings, and M. ^Emi-
lius Lepidus hastened to Alexandria to
manage the aflairs of the Egyptian court.
Having placed them in a state of proper
direction, he returned to Rome, and set
the prudent Aristomenes at the head of
the Egyptian government.

From this period to that of the Roman
civil wars, the history of Egypt contains
but little else than a narration of the
struggles of the competitors for the
throne, some of whom were monsters of
cruelty. At the period of the civil wars,
Ptolemy Dionysius was the legal suc-
cessor to the throne of Egypt ; but being
too young for managing the afi'airs of
state, he, and the other children of the
late king, were under the superintendence
of the Roman senate, and the government
of Egypt was also conducted by them.
But as soon as the young prince was
thought to be capable of managing the
state, he was admitted to the throne ; and
he associated with him, in the govern-
ment, his sister Cleopatra. But their
friendship and union were of short con-
tinuance ; and each having their parti-
sans, a civil war ensued. During the
occurrence of these events, the aflfairs.
of Rome had suffered wide and impor-
tant changes. A civil war had broken
out, headed on the one side by Pompey,
and on the other by Julius Caesar. In the
memorable battle of Pharsalia, B. C. 48,
Csesar was victorious, and Pompey was
put to flight.

In terror of pursuit, and without pro-
tection, he directed his course to Egypt,
where he hoped for a ready and welcome
reception ; because through his influence
and schemes, Ptolemy Auletes, the late
king, had been restored to his kingdom ;
but he was betrayed and put to death.
The counsellors of the young king were
either afraid of giving offence to Caesar,
or they were suspicious that Pompey,
even in his fallen state, might regain
some of that influence which he formerly
possessed in Egypt ; and either lessen

EGYPT.

139

their power with Ptolemy Dionysius, or
espouse the cause of Cleopatra, who
was now driven from the kingdom ; and
therefore, without any justice or feeling,
Pompey was beheaded as he landed on
the shore.

Immediately after the victory of Phar-
saha, Caisar pursued Pompey ; and with
a chosen band of soldiers, landed at
Alexandria. There he found his enemy
had been put to death, and being pre-
sented with his head, he was much af-
flicted ; and, instead of being gratified,
as the assassins supposed, he wept at the
sight, and commanded the remains of
Pompey to be honored.

The kingdom of Egypt, which had
long been agitated by intestine divisions,
was now in a complete state of turbu-
lence and misrule. Cleopatra, with some
of her adherents, had fled into Syria, and
Ptolemy had assembled an army between
Pelusium and Mount Cassius, in order
to oppose Cleopatra, who was returning
to Egypt with an armed force. On the
frontiers, every thing was warlike ; in
the interior, all was confusion. In the
capacity of guardian to the children of
Ptolemy Auletes, Caesar being then in-
vested with the supreme authority of
Rome, commanded a statement to be
laid before him of the diff'erences which
continued to agitate the kingdom, that he
might pass sentence thereon, and com-
pel the parties to abide by his decision.
The power of Cssar was too great to
have his will opposed ; and therefore
advocates for each side were chosen, and
every arrangement made to have the mat-
ters in dispute brought to an issue. But
Cleopatra, being anxious for the success
of her own claims, and aware what in-
fluence her presence and personal charms
might have upon Caesar, set out from Phoe-
nicia, and arriving in the bay of Alexan-
dria, was secretly conveyed into the pre-
sence of Caesar.

Ptolemy having discovered his sister's
arrival, was frantic with rage at her ac-
cess to the arbiter of his destiny, and the
whole city was in commotion. To avert
the storm which was gathering, and re-
store the people to confidence, Caesar
passed a decree, that Ptolemy Dionysius
and his sister Cleopatra should reign

jointly upon the throne. And further to
conciliate the affections of the people,
he restored the Island of Cyprus, and
submitted its government to the younger
son and daughter of the late king. But
the friends of Ptolemy were suspicious
of Cleopatra's power, especially as she
was obviously the favorite of Caesar,
and could support her interests by the
power of Rome. At the instigation of
Photinus, Achillas, the commander-in-
chief, filled the city of Alexandria with
troops, and attempted to block up the har-
bor, that he might thereby cut off" the
Roman supplies. The attempt was frus-
trated by burning the Eg^'ptian ships ;
but the flames reached a part of the city,
which was called Bruchium, and its
noble library was destroyed. Photinus,
the fomenter of these evils, was put to
death ; but Ganymedes, his associate, a
deep designing man, continued to main-
tain the strife, and combat the Romans.

On various occasions, Caesar was in
imminent danger, and upon a time while
he was hastening from the Mole of the
Pharos, the boat in which he was pass-
ing sunk by an over-pressure of soldiers,
who fled from pursuit. But Caesar swam
to a neighborhig vessel, and his life was
preserved. Upon a promise of peace, the
king of Egypt was liberated from that
bondage into which Caesar had thrown
him, while he had drawn the sword
against him and Cleopatra. But all his
promises were soon violated ; and the
war acquired new strength from the pre-
sence of the king. But the Roman dis-
cipline and address overcame the num-
bers, as well as the rancor of the Eg}-p-
tians ; and Ptolemy himself perished
while crossing a branch of the Nile.

A fair opportunity now occurred of
Cleopatra obtaining the sovereign power ;
but Caesar, attending to the prejudices
of her people, joined with her in the gov-
ernment her younger and only surviving
brother, who had been formerly appointed
to the government of Cyprus. But this
nomination was a mere show of limiting
the power of Cleopatra ; for the young
prince was but in the eleventh year of
his age ; and, according to the accursed
maxims of those times, he was soon put
to death by treachery and poison. His

EGYPT.

younger sister Arsinoe was sent to Rome, \
that she might acquire no partisans, nor
be the means of any disorders in Egypt. I

Hitherto, Caesar had continued in ,
Egypt, with the professed intention of
settling its aftairs ; but his remaining at
Alexandria after Cleopatra was seated
firmly upon the throne, clearly betrayed
an illicit and degrading attachment to the
queen. In various parts of the Roman
dominions, the power of Caesar was
threatened ; but he could not be induced
to leave Cleopatra, till his fortune seemed
to be upon the verge of despair. Then his
usual activity returned, and from place to
place he carried victory and triumphs.
Having suppressed the insurrections in
Syria, he hastened to Africa, and over-
threw the partisans of Cato, and the king
of Numidia, in the celebrated battle of
Thapsus. Then, having conquered the
remainder of Pompey's party in Spain,
he returned to Rome, and enjoyed for a
while the fruit of his triumphs. But still
his aflections centered in Cleopatra ; and,
it is said, that he had taken some steps to
remove an obstacle, which the Roman
law placed in his way, for making her
his wife. But soon after this, he was
murdered in the senate-house by a band
of conspirators, headed by Cassius and
Brutus, B. C. 44.

A scene of confusion now ensued at
Rome, and it was difficult to say what
hardships were to be endured, or what
form of government was then to be adopt-
ed. Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius, Avho
had assumed the name of Octavianus,
formed a coalition, with the professed in-
tention of avenging Caesar's death ; but
chiefly with the view of aspiring sepa-
rately to the sovereign power. Conse-
quently, the triumvirate was soon broken,
and Lepidus falling into neglect, Antony
and Octavianus strove for the mastery.
But Antony was peculiarly conspicuous
at the battle of Pliilippi, where the cause
of the republicans was lost, with the lives
of Brutus and Cassius.

Victorious and i'uU of hope, Antony de-
parted to Syria ; and viewing himself as
the master of Rome, he travelled into Sy-
ria, which, with the other provinces of
the East, was committed to his govern-
ment ; and having arrived at Tarsus, he

commanded Cleopatra to leave Egypt,
and appear before him.

Though the kingdom of the Ptolemies
had lately been secured to her by the in-
terest of Rome, yet it is obvious, that she
did not obey the commands of Antony to
acknowledge his authority, but perhaps to
pay respect to the avenger of Caesar ; and
who knows, but the licentiousness of
Cleopatra might induce her to expect an-
other admirer in the Roman hero 1 The
meeting of Antony and Cleopatra was
splendid beyond example ; they indulged
in costly presents, and their feastings were
numerous and extravagant. At her soli-
citation, and to remove every fear of a
rival, her sister Arsinoe was put to death.
Like Cajsar, Antony was lost amidst the
fascinating manners of Cleopatra ; and he
divorced his wife Octavia, the most vir-
tuous of women, to remove the jealousy,
and enjoy the favors of the abandoned
Cleopatra. Having subdued his enemies
in the East, he returned towards Rome
to oppose the growing power of Octavia-
nus, which his own misconduct had tend-
ed to enlarge.

Had Antony marched directly to Rome,
the power of Octavianus might have been
overthrown ; but being enervated with
effeminate pleasures, he listened to the
voice of Cleopatra rather than the coun-
sels of his wiser friends ; and having haz-
arded a naval battle near Actium, his fleet
was vanquished, and he fled first to Ly-
bia, and then to Alexandria. But he was
not to be consoled by the presence of
Cleopatra, and the consciousness of her
own errors disquieted the mind of that
ambitious woman. She fled from the
presence of Antony, and retired to a se-
pulchral monument near the tombs of her
fathers. Previous to this, Octavianus had
followed up his triumphs over Antony,
and was then victorious in the city of
Alexandria. Believing a report that Cle-
opatra had put an end to her life, and see-
ing himself upon the point of falling into
the hands of his rival and inveterate foe,
Antony fell upon his sword. But not
having instantly expired, and finding that
Cleopatra was still in life, he was con-
veyed to her retreat, and after an affect-
ing farewell, immediatel)'' expired.

Cleopatra could no longer escape the

EGYPT

Death of Cleopatra.

power of Octaviaims, and she attempted
to win his heart, and gain her Uberty ; but
her attempt was ineflectual ; and though
she was treated with many marks of ap-
parent respect, yet she was still detained
a prisoner, and she had good reason to
believe that the Roman conqueror intend-
ed her to complete his triumphs at Rome.
She determined to escape this ignominy
by a voluntary death. Maintaining an
appearance of confidence and good spir-
its, she ordered a splendid feast to be
prepared, desired her attendants to leave
her, and put an asp, which a faithful ser-
vant had brought her, concealed hi a
basket of flowers, on her arm, the bite
of which caused her death almost imme-
diately, B. C. 30.

Thus died Cleopatra, who, to the beau-
ty and gracefulness of her person, added
the charms of wit, extensive knowledge,
and aflable manners. She was the pa-
tron of letters, and added a valuable col-
lection to the hbraries of Alexandria.
She Avas licentious and vain ; but she
was born in the midst of a dissipated
court, and placed in circumstances pecu-
liarly seductive.

By the death of Cleopatra, the dynasty
of the Ptolemies was finished after it had

lasted about 294 years, and Egypt was
converted into a province of Rome. That
the people of that country might continue
united to the Roman government, none
of the noblemen were allowed to have in-
tercourse with the Egypti.-in people. The
kingdom of the Ptolemies was to be sub-
ject to a governor ; and that office was
conferred upon Cornelius Gallus, whowas
a person of equestrian rank. And further
to restrain the ambitious views of Eg}''pt,
it was not allowed to be under the direc-
tion of a proprzetor, as the more favored
provinces were ; but the government was
under a prefect, nor had he the power of
life and death, nor the command of pub-
lic money.

When the Christian system was de-
clared to be the religion of the Roman
empire, a scene of confusion and violence
ensued in Egypt. The heathen temples
were destroyed, and some of the indecent
and lewd emblems were exposed to pub-
lic view. The multitude in general, ad-
hering to the idol worship of their fathers,
threw themselves into an attitude of de-
fence, and, posting themselves in the
temple of Serapis, which was a strong
and massy building, they made a stout
and long resistance. But the royal man-

142

EGYPT.

(late for destroying the heathen temples
arrived ; the friends of idolatry were over-
powered, and the god Serapis himself
shivered into pieces. (See Arabia, Note,
p. 30.) But the human mind is ever apt
to run into extremes ; and, now that the
church had acquired considerable influ-
ence in Egj^pt and with the pope, a per-
son soon appeared in the sec of Alexan-
dria, who abused his power, and degraded
his character.

It was Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria,
and vicar of the Roman pontiff, who, by
haughty and overbearing conduct, created
for himself a host of enemies. In the
exercise of his power, he encroached up-
on the authority of the civil magistrate ;
and Orestes, the prefect of Egypt, was
assailed and abused by the adherents of
Cyril. But there was a darker shade to
be added to the character of the aspiring
and violent bishop, ilj'patia, the daugh-
.ter of Theon, a celebrated master in the
school of Alexandria, was no less famous
for learning and elegant accomplishments,
than she was for beauty and virtuous qual-
ities ; yet she had oflended Cyril, and her
life was the forfeit. She was the friend
of Orestes, the Roman prefect, and being
unjustly accused of cherishing the irrita-
tion between him and Cyril, she was at-
tacked by the multitude in the streets of
Alexandria, and cruelly put to death. But
the ambition of Cyril was as violent in
public life as in private, and his intem-
perate dispute with Nestorius, the bishop
of Constantinople, remains against him
in the annals of the church.

The western empire of Rome haA'ing
already fallen, by the intrusion of the
Huns and Goths, the Vandals, and other
warlike and uncultivated nations, the east-
em empire, of which Constantinople was
the head, was also fallen into decay, and
the queen of Persia overran different parts
of the Roman dominions. She likewise
obtained possession of the principal towns
and parts of Egypt. But her triumphs
here were of short duration, and Persia
itself was soon added to the dominions of
the Mahometan conquerors.

Omar succeeded to the empire of Ma-
homet, and in his reign Egypt was sub-
dued by the arms of the caliph. Amru
Benelas marched his troops into Egypt,

and, after much resistance, got possession
of Memphis. Mocawcas, the prefect of
Egypt, was hostile to the religious tenets
of Constantinople ; and when the Per-
sians were besieging that capital, he had
revolted from his allegiance. For these
reasons, Mocawcas supported the inter-
ests of the Mahometan invaders, and, after
many eflbrts and various changes of for-
tune, the city of Alexandria surrendered
to the Saracens. The town was exposed
to plunder, but at length the people were
admitted into the protection of the con-
querors ; and if they did not become Ma-
hometans, they were to pay a certain ratio
or tribute.

Amru, the conqueror, was also consti-
tuted the governor of Egypt ; and having
added to its boundaries, he likewise re-
gulated its internal affairs, and command-
ed a canal to be opened between the Nile
and the Red Sea. When Othman was
raised to the caliphate, Amru was removed
from the government of Egypt ; but his
successor, Abdallah Bensaid, was not ac-
ceptable to the people of that province.
He renewed the conquest of Africa, and
was successful in his views ; but the suc-
cess was owing to the bravery of Zobeir,
and not to the courage or conduct of Ab-
dallah. But being afterwards unfortunate,
he was removed from the government of
Egypt, and Amru restored to his former
station. But this salutary change was not
of much avail, and the improvident con-
duct of Othman was hurtful to his domin-
ions, as well as fatal to himself. In the
subsequent caliphate, Egy^pt was involved
in the civil wars, which were occasioned
by the competitors for the dominions of
Mahomet ; and Egypt was not composed
nor set at peace till Amru was again in-
vested with the government of the coun-
try, with the most ample and almost in-
dependent powers.

During the contentions which ensued,
Egypt threw off the yoke of the Saracens ;
but was again reduced to submission when
Merwan, the son of Hakem, was raised to
the throne. In the caliphate of Walid,
Corrah Bensharik was invested with the
government of Egypt ; but he was licen-
tious in his manners, and outraged the
feelings and the decency of the Christian
adherents. But while he was degrading

EGYPT.

143

himself by every species of folly and vice,
Mura, the lieutenant of the caliph's ar-
mies, was traversing Africa in triumph,
and had reached the fortress of Ceuta, or
Pillar of Hercules, on the African side.
Count Julian, the Gothic commander of
this fortress, not only surrendered it to
Mura, but offered to conduct him into the
bosom of Spain.

It was jealousy and resentment among
the Gothic chiefs, which occasioned this
offer to the Arabian warrior ; for Roder-
ick, the usurper, but reigning king of
Spain, had many enemies in his domin-
ions, and he had stirred up the vengeance
of Julian, by his infamous conduct to the
daughter of that chief. Musa hesitated,
for he was fearful of a snare ; but one of
his confidential generals was willing to
make an experiment ; and having sailed
from Ceuta, and landed at Calpe, the
other Pillar of Hercules, the Saracen
army pitched their first camp where the
impregnable works of Gibraltar are
erected. The expedition was success-
Ad, and Musa being jealous of Tarik or
Tarif, his general, set sail for Spain, and
completed the conquests which his fore-
runner had begun. If he treated his suc-
cessful general with unbecoming severity,
Musa, in his turn, was degraded by the
caliph, and died under the pressure of
infirmities and sorrow. These things
happened in the beginning of the eighth
century, and the Saracens obtained the
chief possessions and management of
Spain, into which they introduced the
literature of the East.

For a considerable period of years, the
affairs of Egypt are scarcely mentioned ;
for the public mind and the national
records were employed with animosity
and violence about the succession to the
caliphate. Formerly the family of Ali,
the immediate descendants of Mahom-
et, had been overpowered, in attempt-
ing to assert their right to the throne ;
and the house of Ommiak, by power and
good fortune, were raised to the sovereign
power. The Ommiades being in their
turn overthrown by the Abbassides or
descendants of Abbas, the uncle of the
prophet retired into Spain, and established
their dynasty on the throne of Cordova.
But the family of Ommiah having many

adherents in Syria, and some being also
attached to the descendants of Ali, Al-
mansur, the second caliph, founded a new
capital on the western banks of the
Tigris, and that city was Bagdad, famous
in the annals of Eastern history.

Haroim Alrashid succeeded to the
caliphate, and in his reigrx the affairs of
Egypt come again into view. Alrashid
was a prince of great fame, and he is
well known as the hero of the Arabian
tales, called the Arabian Nights' Enter-
tainments ; but in the great variety of his
vast engagements, Egypt, as a distant
province, attracted little of his attention,
though he visited many of his dominions,
sometimes in disguise, and sometimes
openly. The disorders of that country,
and other distant possessions, called for
his interposition ; and he invested Ibra-
him, the son of Aglab, with the powers
of governor and lieutenant over his domi-
nions in Africa upon the shores of the
Mediterranean ; and Ibrahim found means
to render himself independent. Thus
he established the dynasty of the Agla-
bites, the seat of whose government was
at Cairwan.

During the reigii of Alrashid, there
was nothing remarkable in the state of
Egypt, excepting a general feebleness
of the government, which happened, as
we have already observed, in all the re-
mote provinces ; but in the reign of his
successor Almansur, the Ommiades of
Spain attempted to regain the possession
of Egypt. But the caliph of Bagdad
invested Abdallah Bertaher with a high
commission for repelUng the invaders,
and restoring Egypt to order. Yet the
Ommiades were scarcely dispersed, when
the Greeks of Constantinople arrived in
Eg}^pt with a numerous fleet. Alarmed
by this powerful armament, Ahmed Ben
Tholan, a Turkish commander, was sent
into Egypt to defend the country, and
reduce the inhabitants to order. When
he had settled the disturbances in that
country, he led a powerfvd army into the
East, and reduced under his own power
several cities and provinces of the caliph.
His son and successor enlarged his
dominions from the falling empire of the
caliph of Bagdad, until he returned to
Egypt in possession of dominions which

144

EGYPT.

extended from the streams of the Eu-
phrates to the confines of Nubia. But
the power of the Tholonides was not of
long duration, and Egypt again was
added to the empire of Bagdad.

The Aglabites, in Africa, ceased to
reign, and a dynasty succeeded, whose
princes were denominated Fatimites ;
because they professed themselves the
descendants of Fatima, the wife of Ali,
and daughter of the prophet. This new
race of princes aspired to the dominions
which the Aglabites possessed in Egypt.

Upon the death of Aladid, A. D. 1171,
the last of the dynasty of the Fatimites,
the caliph of Egypt, Saladin, being in pos-
session of the chief power in his charac-
ter of vizier, seized upon all the wealth
of the late prince, which was various and
valuable. He threw his whole family
into confinement, and adopted every
measure which his wisdom could devise,
for establishing, in his own person, the
supreme authority of the state. He main-
tained a show of obedience to Nureddin,
the prince of Damascus, but was secretly
determined to acquire an independent
rule in Egypt. This intention, though
disguised, could not be concealed from
the powerful and discerning Nureddin ;
and, while he seemed satisfied with the
conduct of Saladin, he was raising a nu-
merous army to resist and overthrow his
power ; but, in the mean time, he was
seized with a sudden illness, and died at
Damascus.

But the death of this prince did not
deliver Saladin from danger ; for Nured-
din's successor was both able and willing
to give him just cause of alarm. In
these circumstances, Saladin wished to
secure a retreat, and for this purpose, he
sent his brother Malec Turanshah into
the kingdom of Nubia ; but finding it
desolate and barren, he returned to Grand
Cairo, and thence he was despatched
with a numerous army into Arabia Felix.
There he was successful, and reduced a
considerable part of that country under
the subjection of the Egyptian vizier.
Saladin having enlarged his dominions,
and confiding in the means which he had
devised for becoming master of Egypt,
was determined to assume a name suita-
ble to his views. Not being a descend-

I ant of Mahomet, he could not be de-
' nominated caliph, which implied the sa-
[ cerdotal as well as the kingly office. On
this account he chose the name of sultan,
and left the office of pontiff, who had the
charge of religious affairs, to be filled up
by a descendant of the prophet.

Though Saladin was acknowledged as
the sultan of Egypt by many of the neigh-
boring states, and even received the sanc-
tion of the caliph of Bagdad, which gave
him a name and influence among the
followers of Mahomet, yet he was not
secure from intestine commotions. The
friends and adherents of the Fatimite
caliphs raised a rebellion in the kingdom,
and a pretender to the throne collected
an army of 100,000 men. These, how-
ever, were soon defeated by the power
and address of Saladin ; but no sooner
was he freed from this alarm, than he
was threatened by the soldiers of the
Crusades. William II, king of Sicily,
had engaged in the Christian wars, and
laid siege to Alexandria both by sea and
land ; but the enterprising spirit of Sal-
adin frustrated his views. With a ra-
pidity of movement which was peculiar
to the energetic mind of the Egj'ptian
sultan, he marched to the relief of Alex-
andria ; and the Crusaders, with a sudden
panic, fled from the siege, leaving their
stores, baggage and engines.

At this time the government of Damas-
cus was under a regency; for Malec Al-
saleh was under age, and the govern-
ment of affairs in his minority was not
acceptable to the people. Amidst these
discontents, Saladin was requested to ac-
cept the sovereign power of Syria. Hav-
ing arrived at Damascus, he found little
difficulty in becoming master of the
country ; but he professed to assume the
government in the name and for the in-
terest of the young prince. Having set-
tled the affairs of Damascus, he marched
with a successful army through various
parts of the country, while his growing
prosperity excited suspicions ; and the
ministers of Malec, the prince of Damas-
cus, entering into a combination with
some of the neighboring powers, sought
an opportunity to check the career and
disappoint the designs of Saladin. A
battle ensued ; but the Syrian forces, to-

EGYPT.

145

gether with all their allies, were defeat-
ed, and the sultan of Egypt was left
master of Syria.

Saladin returned from his Eastern con-
quests, and began to aggrandize and for-
tify the city of Grand Cairo. He en-
couraged the schools and literature of the
country ; but was drawn away from the
pursuits of elegance and domestic im-
pi'overaents, to the din of arms and the
ravages of war. Having obtained pos-
session of Syria, he was anxious to ac-
quire Palestine ; and therefore, he led a
numerous host against the armies of the
Crusade who had assem'led for the de-
fence of the Holy Land. But there he
met with the most obstinate resistance ;
multitudes of his army perished in the
field of battle ; and when he was forced
to return towards Egypt, a still greater
number died in the desert, from hunger,
thirst and disease ; yet still the views of
Saladin were toward Syria and the East.
At the commencement of this campaign,
his army was defeated both at Aleppo
and Mossul ; and in the mean time the
Christians of the Crusade had assembled
a fleet in the Red Sea, which threatened
the cities of Mecca and Medina ; but
Abubeker, Saladin's viceroy in Egypt,
fitted out a fleet under the command of
the brave and experienced Lulu, which
deleated the European expedition, and
gave fresh vigor to the exertions of Sala-
din. In the spirit of conquest, he enter-
ed the provinces of the East ; and to
trace his progress, would be to follow
him like lightning from field to siege, and
from siege to battle.

Having run a triumphant course through
Syria, he entered Palestine with victory
and terror. Having obtained possession
of Aleppo and Mossul, he aimed a blow
at the Holy Land. For the space of three
years, Saladin continued to gain advan-
tages over the armies of the Crusade.
Various places of strength having fallen,
Tiberius was at length taken, and Lusig-
nan, king of Jerusalem, was desirous of
meeting Saladin in the field The ar-
mies met on the banks of the Jordan, and
victory was declared in fiivor of Saladin.
The king himself was taken prisoner, as
well as Arnold, lord of Carac. The king
of Jerusalem was treated with respect,
19

but Arnold was put to death by Saladin's
own hand, because he had inflicted many
miseries on the followers of Mahomet,
Ptolemais, Neapolis, Ceesarea, and other
cities, fell into the power of Saladin.
Finding nothing to oppose his course, he
marched directly towards Jerusalem, and
besieged the city A. D. 11 87. The garri-
son was numerous, and made a desperate
defence ; but after Saladin had made a
breach in the walls, and was on the point
of entering the town, the commander of-
fered to capitulate.

But Saladin refused to accept of the
terms, and vowed that he would sack and
destroy the city. His cruel threatenings
roused the spirit of the Christians, and a
herald declared, that they would first put
5,000 musselmen prisoners to death ; and,
that no European might be exposed to
their revenge, they would also destroy
their wives and children. That no booty
might be found, they would destroy every
thing valuable in the city; and, having
leveled the rock which the Mahomet-
ans held sacred, they would sally out in
a body upon the besiegers ; and if they
were not victorious, their destruction
should be accomj)lished by an unexam-
pled expense of blood and misery. This
desperate resolution moved Saladin to
more reasonable terms ; and the garrison,
as well as the citizens, were spared by
paying a stipulated sum of money.

In this enfeebled state of the Chris-
tian armies, a third Crusade was deter-
mined on in Europe ; and the emperor
of Germany, together with Philip II, of
France, and Richard I, of England, hav-
ing arrived in Palestine, encamped be-
fore the city of Acca or Ptolemais, whilst
many European ships rode in the harbor.
In this city, Saladin had assembled a nu-
merous army ; and tlie powers of Europe
were combined to defeat him. Richard
I, of England, was of great courage, and
therefore was surnamed Coeur de Lion ;
and his skill in war, added to his prowess,
had rendered him the most famous gene-
ral of the age. If there had been as
much harmony as there was power among
the diff'erent armies of the Crusade, the
city of Ptolemais must soon have fallen ;
but, after all the distractions in the views
and councils of the allies, Saladin was

146

EGYPT.

compelled to capitulate, A. D. 1191. The
garrison were allowed to march out with
the honors of war ; but a sum of money
was to be paid to the besiegers.

The sultan of Egypt refused to pay
the ransom ; and historians tells us, that
3,000 prisoners answered for it with
their lives. The siege was extremely
bloody ; and it is not supposed that fewer
than 300,000 persons on either side were
cut off during ihe conflict ; and the flower
of Europe, as well as Egypt, Asia, and
Syria, perished in the combats. Ptole-
mais, or Acca, became the residence of
the hospitalers of St. John, and, since
that period, the town has been denomi-
nated St. John d'Acre.

Of all the European potentates, the
king of England only remained ; and, hav-
ing laid siege to Ashkelon, he took pos-
session of that city. Upon this event,
Saladin hastened to Jerusalem ; and
Richard followed him to the holy city.
The king of England held it in close
siege ; but when the hour arrived that
the city was to be delivered up, the be-
sieging army retreated, and the enter-
prise was abandoned. The cause of this
sudden and extraordinary conduct has
never been well explained ; and different
authors have presented different views of
the subject. It may justly be supposed
to have been involuntary on the part of
Richard ; for his courage has never been
questioned ; and the value which he set
upon his honor could not permit him to
tarnish it by unworthiness of conduct.
The retreat of the army, it is said, over-
whelmed him with grief; and the mis-
fortune was probably occasioned by the
discord and jealousy of the combined
army. The duke of Burgundy, who was
left in Palestine by the king of France,
with 10,000 soldiers, is said to have been
as jealous as his master of the fame and
valor of the English king ; but, even in
his retreat, Richard was formidable. He
concluded a truce with Saladin for three
years and upwards ; various places of
strength were dismantled ; the whole
sea-coast from Jaffa to Tyre was surren-
dered to the Christians ; and the pilgrims
of Europe, travelling to Jerusalem, were
to be under the protection of the power-
ful Saladin. But scarcely had the king

of England returned to his coimtry, when
the health of Saladin began to decline ;
and he finished his life about the 55th
year of his age, and after he had reigned
"in Egypt 24 years, A. D. 1193.

Alaziz, the second son of Saladin, was
appointed to the government of Egypt ;
but, not being contented with the portion
of his father's dominions assigned to him,
he made successful inroads into Syria ;
but died suddenly in the midst of his tri-
umphs. Upon his death, several import-
ant changes took place with respect to
the affairs of Egypt and Syria ; but no-
thing worthy of notice till the reign of
Alcamel.

When this prince was raised to the
throne, he was well received by the
Egyptians ; but he found the state of
public affairs full of disorder, and at-
tended with danger. The Mahometans
and the Christians were plotting each
other's destruction ; and the Christians
were at variance among themselves. In
this state of internal disquietude, the sol-
diers of the fifth Crusade landed in Egypt
and laid siege to Damietta. The united
forces of Egypt and Damascus could not
overcome the European army ; but Al-
camel offered such terms of accommoda-
tion as were acceptable to all the chiefs
of the Crusade, except D'Albano, the
Pope's legate.

Such influence had the see of Rome
then acquired, that his single voice pre-
vented the negotiation. The siege was
continued, and the town of Damietta fell.
Elated with this success, they pushed
into the interior of the country ; but were
vanquished by the Egyptians, and were
compelled to sue for mercy. The sultan
of Egypt became powerful in Syria, as
well as at home ; and, when Frederick
II, of Germany, found it necessary to re-
turn to Europe, he entered into a league
with Alcamel, which was wise and pro-
fitable for both.

Alcamel died at Damascus, and Ala-
del, one of his sons, was raised to the
throne ; but Nojmoddin,his eldest brother,
laid claim to the kingdom. A bloody
contest would probably have ensued ; but,
in the mean time, Aladel died or disap-
I peared ; and his brother Nojmoddin was
I peaceably proclaimed sultan. He, too,

EGYPT.

147

acquired influence with the most power-
ful party of the Crusades ; for Richard,
the earl of Cornwall, perceiving that the
sultan of Egypt was more powerful than
the Syrian lords of Carac and Damascus,
entered into an alliance with Nojmoddin,
and renewed the treaty which Freder-
ick of Germany had made with Alcame
his predecessor. By this covenant, the
Christians were protected, and the views
of Nojmoddin encouraged, in opposition
to his Syrian rivals.

In this settled state of afiairs, Nojmod-
din passed into Syria, and, with the help
of some uncultivated tribes, determined to
overpower his Eastern enemies. That
part of the Crusading armies which was
favorable to the lords of Syria, joined
them in opposing the sultan of Egj^ot ; but
Nojmoddin overthrew them with great
slaughter. In the mean time, a host of
warriors from Europe arrived in the port
of Damietta, with Louis IX, of France,
as their leader. In the absence of the
sultan, and when the nation was unpre-
pared for this unexpected attack, the
armies of the Crusade entered Damietta.
The news of this event was quickly car-
ried into Syria ; and Nojmoddin having
raised the siege of Emessa, hastened to
Egypt to protect his kingdom ; but he
died by the way, and left a vacancy in
the government, when a vigorous admin-
istration was peculiarly wanted.

The country received a seasonable
relief by the address of Shajir Aldor, the
favorite female of the late sultan. Pre-
tending that Nojmoddin was indisposed
on his journey, the principal lords of the
country Averc induced to swear allegiance
to his only son Turan Shaw. The veil
was then taken off, and the young prince
was proclaimed sultan, upon his arrival
from Damascus with a numerous army.

The European soldiers had by this
time penetrated far into the country ; but
they paid dearly for their rashness ; and
Louis himself was taken prisoner. Tu-
ran Shaw had the name of sultan, but
none of its powers ; for Shajir Aldor, and
her adherents about the court, directed
in reality the afflvirs of state. The young
sultan was sensible of his situation, and
determined to assert his proper rights.
Being strictly watched, Shajir Aldor was

aware of his intention, and he was vio-
lently put to death.

The young prince having been assas-
sinated, Shajir Aldor was declared to be
sovereign of the country. She was pray-
ed for in the mosques, and her name was
impressed on the coins. This active
and designing woman was raised to the
throne by the power and influence of the
Mamelukes.*

During the short and turbvdent reigns
between Bibars and Naser Mahomet,
and while the sultan Calib, was on the
throne of Egj^pt, the city of St. Jolin
d'Acre was taken from the Christians.
The attack was violent, and the defence
brave ; but the Mussulmans obtained pos-
session of Acre, and the whole land of
Palestine, 1291, after much treasure
had been spent, and innumerable lives
lost in the wars and victories of the Cru-
sades. Soon afterwards, the Knights
Templars departed into Europe ; but
those of St. John formed a settlement in
the island of Rhodes. From this situ-
ation, they made frequent inroads into
Eg\'pt ; for although the knights were
comparatively weak, yet the distracted
situation of Egj^t permitted them to retire
from the coast, without the severe ven-
geance which they might have inflicted ;
but, indeed, Egypt was in the utmost
state of distraction ; and a revolution in
the government could not be avoided.
If the Ayubite dynasty was superseded

* It was the heroic Saladin, who first conceived
the idea of establishing the troops, since so cele-
brated, called Mamelukes. Having ravaged the
countries of Georgia and Circassia, and taken
many prisoners, the sultan was so struck with
the extreme beauty of the captives, that he sug-
gested to his officers the expediency of forming
a band of soldiers to consist entirely of them.
But this plan was not carried fully into effect till
A. D. 1230, when Malek Salah, then sultan of
Egypt, purchased 12,000 of these young men, of
Gengis Khan, who had overrun their country and
carried them into captivity. The sultan of Egypt,
had them trained to military exercises, and con-
stituted them his body-guard. A finer corps per-
haps never existed, but like the praetorian band
of Rome, they gave laws to their masters. Un-
der the successor of Malek Salah, they interfered
in the affairs of government, assassinated the
sultan, Turan Shah, and in 1254, appointed Ibegh,
one of their own number, sultan of Egypt. The
dominion of the Mamelukes in Egypt continued
263 years.

148

EGYPT.

by the Baharite Mamelukes, who sur-
rounded their throne, the Baharite suUans
were also supplanted by the Circassian
slaves, who had been cherished at court,
and permitted to acquire uncontrolable
power. The sultan Hagi, who was but
a child, was deposed by the influence of
a Circassian chief ; and the Baharite dy-
nasty was terminated in Egj'pt, after it
had existed about 128 years.

The Circassian slaves, M'hose chiefs
had in their turn become masters of
Egypt, were called Borgites, because, in
the capacity of soldiers, they had been
dispersed through the diflerent fortresses
of the country, to keep in check the peo-
ple who had long been in want of subor-
dination ; and these fortresses were call-
ed Borges. Barcok, was the first of
this dynasty on the throne of Egypt ;
but so powerful were the adherents of
the dethroned family, that Hagi was soon
restored to the kingdom. But his re-
newed power was of short duration ; for
Barcok suddenly recovered his situation,
and the Borgite dynasty was established.
Scarcely had he overcome the internal
enemies of his kingdom, when he was
threatened by a formidable power from
without. Tamerlane the Great, who had
formed the new empire of the Moguls,
and denominated the Cham of Tartary,
was desirous of adding Syria to his do-
minions ; and the sultan of Egj^pt march-
ed an army to meet him at Damascus.
At the approach of Barcok, Tamerlane
retired ; and, directing his course towards
India, his arms were attended with great
success.

In the mean time, Bajazet, at the head
of the Ottoman armies, and the rival of
Tamerlane, was spreading terror upon
both sides of the Hellespont, and had
carried his arms to the very gates of Con-
stantinople. Indeed, he was determined
to take possession of that city, and estab-
lish his government upon the ruins of
the Roman empire. For this reason, he
solicited the friendship of the Eg^'ptian
sultan, and the blessing of the caliph,
who was then residing at Grand Cairo,
without any civil authority, but only as
iman of the Mahometan faith.

About this time, Barcok died ; and
his sou Pharage, surnamed Abulsaadat,

reig-ned in his stead. When this prince
obtained the government, he was but ten
years of age ; and the affairs of the king-
dom were managed by a regent. In
these circumstances, the national com-
motions were continued ; and his Syrian
dominions rose in rebellion. But Abid-
saadat, under the influence of his native
vigor, took the reins of government in his
own hand, recovered the provinces which
had rebelled, and put his whole kingdom
into a state of order and obedience. In
this situation of aflairs, Tamerlane re-
turned from India, and found that his
rival had been extending his power, and
was more formidable than ever.

These ambitious and terrible warriors
were determined on each other's destruc-
tion. Bajazet laid claim to the assistance
of Egypt, because he had entered into
a former alliance with the sultan ; but he
did not receive the expected support, be-
cause he had not been faithful to the
terms of agi-eement ; and we may add,
that the power of Tamerlane was another
reason with the sultan of Egypt, for
withholding aid from his rival Bajazet.
These two powerful chiefs met once and
again in the field of battle, when Bajazet
was finally overthrown, and taken pris-
oner. Having overcome his rival, the
ambition of Tamerlane was more un-
bounded than ever. He intended to rav-
age the south of Europe, cross into Africa
by the straits of Gibraltar, and continue
his course through Egypt and Syria, till
he arrived at the seat of his government
in the East. But there was one power
of which he stood in awe, and which
prevented the project which his ambition
had laid. The knights of St. John, now
established at Rhodes, and enriched by
the spoils of the forfeited Templars, were
formidable to the neighboring powers,
and maintained a mighty preponderance
in the scale of nations. Though small
in numbers, their strength was great,
their fame extensive, and their courage
well tried.

In these circumstances, it was not ex-
pedient to attack the knights directly in
the island of Rhodes ; but he laid siege
to Smyrna, and reduced it to ashes. He
was drawn away, however, from any
further attempts upon the power and in-

EGYPT.

149

terests of that religious order, by dangers
which were threatening him in the East.
A powerful prince, whom Tamerlane had
subdued in his Indian expeditions, ap-
peared again with renewed strength, and
was laying waste the kingdom of Persia.
Thither he directed his course, but his
power was much diminished through a
long succession of obstinate engage-
ments ; and, having met his enemy in
greater power than was expected, they
entered into terms with mutual agree-
ment ; and Tamerlane, having withdrawn
from public life, retired to Samarcand,
and there, in a few years, ended an ac-
tive and victorious life. In the mean
time, the distractions of Egypt still con-
tinued ; and the sultan Pharage Abul-
saadat, being weary with continual broils
and confusion, retired from the dangers
of public life, and surrendered the throne
to his brother Abdolaziz, but to assume
it again.

This happened in the year 1405 ; and
there was little more than a rapid suc-
cession of feeble monarchs, till the year
1517, when the Borgite dynasty was
overthrown ; and the kingdom of Egypt
was converted into a province of the
Turkish empire.

Soliman I succeeded his father Selim ;
and he not only began his reign by crush-
ing rebellion in the provinces, and adding
dominions to his empire, but his name
was terrible among the nations. He was
the competitor of Charles V, and over-
threw the power of the knights in the
island of Rhodes. But even in his time
the factions in Egypt were not at rest ;
and in the more feeble reigns of his suc-
cessors upon the throne, the Ottoman
power in that country was much impaired,
and the form of government at last
changed. The beys, who superintended
the 24 departments in Egypt, collected
the revenues of their respective districts ;
and by that means acquired an influence
which was not intended. The heads of
the seven military corps and the pacha
became avaricious, and courted the favor
of the beys, who could enforce the pay-
ment of tribute with severity, or remit it
in part, according to their pleasure.

By indulging the members of the
regency, the beys increased in power

till they obtained the complete disposal
of public affairs. Every bey had origin-
ally a few Mamelukes or slaves at his
command, for enabling him to make his
authority respected in the province where
he resided ; but as the power of the beys
was enlarged, they increased their attend-
ants, and in proportion to their number
of slaves, so was their strength. When
a vacancy occurred in the government of
the provinces, the most powerful bey had
his favorite Mameluke appointed to the
office. This election increased his author-
ity ; and, by pursuing a similar course,
the most active and povverful beys ac-
quired a continually increasing influence
in the government, and their Mamelukes
became the only efficient soldiers in the "
state.

The members of the divan having be-
come subservient to the pleasure of the
beys, the beys got possession of every
important office, with the exception of the
viceroy's appointment. But in their
career of dissipation, the pacha of Egj^pt
also became subject to the Mameluke
beys. The sheik Albelled, or governor
of Grand Cairo, was chosen from amongst
the beys, but he was approved or rejected
by the pacha. The Sheik Albelled was
the constitutional organ through which
complaints were made to the Grand
Seignior, when the pacha violated the
rights of the community ; but to remove
him from his office could only be done
by the sultan himself. But in process
of time, when the divan fell under the
control of the beys, they dismissed them
at pleasure ; and when a new one was
appointed, if they discovered by their
spies, that he was entrusted with any
mandate inconsistent with their views
or authority, they never suffered him to
approach Grand Cairo, but intimated at
Constantinople, that another pacha must
be chosen.

In these circumstances of the Egyptian
government, an active youth among the
slaves who were brought from the neigh-
borhood of Mount Caucasus, grew up to
great influence and fame in the house of
his master Ibrahim, who was a caya of
the Janizaries. Like other Mamelukes,
this young slave became a Mussulman,
and received the name of Ali. Having

150

EGYPT.

gone through different offices in the house
and service of his master, he was raised
to the olfice and rank of a bey. Upon
the death of Ibrahim, to whom he owed
his power and elevation, considerable
commotions existed ; and in the year
1763, Ali Bey obtained the office of
Sheik Albelled, by which he was in-
vested with the chief authority of the
state.

In the stniggle for power, Ali Bey was
more than once obliged to flee from
Egj^pt, and seek refuge in Palestine or
Syria. He became obnoxious to the
Turkish divan, and the Grand Seignior
sought his destruction. But in the year
1768, the court of Constantinople pro-
claimed war against the Emperor of
Russia; and while the Ottomans were
employed in defending their provinces
against the northern invasions, Ali Bey
was not only active in reducing Egypt
to obedience, but he sent an army into
Arabia Felix, for purposes of conquest
and aggrandizement. The troops of Ali,
under the conduct of Mahomet Bey,
were successful against the Turkish gar-
risons ; and they took possession of
Gaza, Ramla, and Shechem, or Naplus.
They even reached Jerusalem, and hav-
ing arrived at St. John d'Acre, they
formed a junction with the troops of the
celebrated Sheik Daher. The forces of
Ali entered Damascus. But after tarry-
ing a few days, his general Mahomet
hastened to Grand Cairo, and compelled
his master Ali Bey to take refuge in
Palestine, where his arms were attended
with success, being supported by the
Sheik Daher.

Osman had been constituted pacha of
Damascus, and invested with extraordi-
nary powers by the divan of Constanti-
nople, that he might oppose and subdue
the Sheik of Acre. Ali Bey and the
Sheik Daher being equally hostile to the
Ottoman power, entered into a treaty to
support each other in their views and
pursuits. The Egyptian Bey had at-
tempted to secure the assistance of Rus-
sia, by negotiating with Count Alexis
Orlow, the commander-in-chief of the
Russian forces in the Archipelago ; but
the negotiations had been attended with
little success, until a Russian transport,

, under British colors, commanded by
Captain Brown, appeared off Jaffa, and
assisted the forces of Daher and Ali
Bey to get possession of that town and
fort. By these and other means, Daher
obtained considerable power.

But though the Sheik Daher and Ali
Bey had been so far cordial in their co-
operations, yet their interests might soon
interfere, and their friendship be dis-
solved. This might be a sufficient rea-
son of itself for Ali Bey to go in quest
of possessions which were likely to be
more permanent ; and both his interest
and inclination led him towards Egj^pt,
where he had once been in power. But
his former general, and now competitor,
Mahomet Bey, was still in great power,
and met him with a numerous army, in
the desert which lies between Gaza and
Egypt. The armies engaged, and Ali
Bey being wounded, was taken prisoner.
His rival Mahomet seemed to receive
him with great respect. For at the first
interview, even in his fallen state, his
former authority might have some re-
maining impressions, even upon the mind
of the revolted general ; but upon the
third day the unfortunate Ali died, and
not without suspicions that his death was
occasioned by undue means.

By the death of this powerful chief,
Mahomet Bey was left without a rival
in the kingdom of Egypt ; but in the
fluctuating state of public affairs, he was
aware that competitors might soon arise,
and he was well assured that the divan
of Constantinople would endeavor to re-
cover their power in Egypt, as soon as
they could withdraw their forces from
the wars in which they were engaged
with the Empress of Russia. For some
time past, no pacha had been admitted in
Egypt from the court of Constantinople,
nor any tribute remitted to the Grand
Seignior. But Mahomet Bey, though
hostile to the power of Constantinople,
made extraordinary professions of friend-
ship, and transmitted to the Grand Seig-
nior a large sum of money. Both parties
dissembled ; the reigning Bey of Egypt
intended to manifest his independence as
soon as circumstances Avould allow, and
the court of Constantinople were deter-
mined to take the first opportunity of re-

EGYPT.

151

ducing Egypt to obedience ; but in the
mean time, they made a show of attach-
ment to Mahomet, and raised him from
the office of Sheik Albelled to that of
pacha, or viceroy of the SubUme Porte.

To ingratiate himself still more at the
court of Constantinople, he marched an
army into the East, under the pretext of
subduing the Sheik Daher, who was in-
imical to the Ottoman authority, but in
reality to obtain such conquests in the
East, as would render him formidable to
the power of the Grand Seignior. Hav-
ing gone in person to Syria, his army
was attended with success ; but he was
seized with a fever, and died on the sec-
ond day of the disease.

When Mahomet's death was an-
nounced in Egypt, the country was in
commotion, but the principal competitors
for power were the beys Ibrahim and
Murad. After various attempts to ob-
tain the ascendency, it was at length
agreed that the powers of the state should
be held in common by the two contend-
ing chiefs. Ibrahim was to continue in
the office of Sheik Albelled, and Murad
was raised to the situation of Deflerdar,
or accountant-general. About this time,
peace was concluded between the courts
of St. Petersburg and Constantinople,
and, as might have been expected, the
Grand Seignior was determined to restore
his power in the province of Egypt.

By the active and prudent services of
Prince Potemkin, the Empress of Russia
had obtained from the Grand Seignior a
vast extent of territory, which included
the Crimea, together with the provinces
of Circassia, Georgia, and other districts.
The fleets of St. Petersburg were per-
mitted by treaty to traverse the Black
Sea ; and as all these circumstances
weakened the Ottoman government, it
was the more necessary to recover
Egypt, with its resources and tribute.

A fleet belonging to the Grand Seignior
arrived at Alexandria in the month of
May, and landed an army of 25,000 men.
The forces of Ibrahim and Murad Bey
were drawn out to oppose their progress,
and the armies met between Rosetta and
Grand Cairo. The dexterity of the
Mamelukes, who always fight on horse-
back, threw the Ottoman army frequently

into confusion ; but the skill and perse-
verance of Hassan Pacha finally tri-
umphed over the irregular though intrepid
warfare of the Mamelukes. Ibrahim and
Murad Bey withdrew by treaty into Up-
per Eg^'pt. Hassan returned to Con-
stantinople, and Beker was sent into
Egypt with the honorable distinction of
a pacha of three tails. Notwithstanding
his power, he was but ill received, and
found it impossible to collect the tribute,
or preserve the country in order. But
these irregidarities soon gave place to
designs and achievements of greater
moment. The French directed an ex-
pedition against the province of Egypt,
which was followed by warlike exer-
tions, both of Great Britain and Con-
stantinople.

By the two campaigns of 1796 and
1797, Bonaparte had compelled the con-
tinental powers of Europe to make peace
with France — a result ardently desired
by the French, to allow their country
time to recover from the deep wounds
which she had suficred during the con-
\Tjlsions of the revolution, and from the
worthless administration that had pre-
ceded it. The next object was to force
England also to a peace, and Bonaparte
was appointed commander-in-chief of the
army destined for the invasion of this
country. In February-, 1798, he visited
in person the coasts of the British Chan-
nel, and all Europe was expecting the
commencement of the expedition, when,
in May of the same year, the general
appeared as commander-in-chief at Tou-
lon, where an expedition had been fitting
out, of the destination of which the pub-
lic knew nothing — a circumstance liighly
remarkable, as so many persons, both
military and civil, were acquainted with
it. It was the expedition to Egypt. It
also appears, from a letter written by Bo-
naparte to the minister Talleyrand, dated
Passeriano, September 13, 1797, that one
of the main objects of this great under-
taking was to put the French in posses-
sion of part of the East India trade, by
the conquest of Egypt — a plan by no
means chimerical. It was intended to
establish French colonies on the Nile,
ind thus to recompense the republic for

152

EGYPT.

gar islands, and to open a channel for
the French manufactures into Africa,
Arabia, and Syria, where they might be
exchanged for commodities wanted in
France. Napoleon's views were, in fact,
similar to those which, it is said, have
lately led the French to undertake the
conquest and colonization of Algiers —
an object which seems to be generally
applauded. It seems, also, to have been
intended to make Eg}'pt a military posi-
tion, from which a French army could
march into India, raise the Mahrattahs
against the English, and injure the power
of the latter there.

The directory probably encouraged the
enterprise with the further object of get-
ting rid of a general whose victories and
rapidly increasing popularity it feared.
It has, indeed, been said, that he was, at
first, decidedly opposed to the plan ; but
this is very improbable. March 5, Bo-
naparte received the decree of the direc-
tory, relative to the expedition against
Egypt. He had full power to conduct
the business as he saw fit. The minis-
ters in all the departments were ordered
to give him whatever assistance he should
require ; and he had full powers to act
according to his discretion in Egypt, to
return whenever he saw fit, and to ap-
point his successor. Napoleon now col-
lected all the information necessary for
his own direction ; engaged some of the
most distinguished savans and artists of
France to accompany him, drew up ques-
tions and problems to be resolved in
Egypt, and informed himself accurately
respecting the commercial connections
which it was proposed to establish. In
fact, he seems to have always viewed
this expedition in the double light of a
military and a scientific enterprise. The
beginning of his proclamation, before
landing in Egypt, is remarkable : " Bo-
naparte, member of the national institute
of France, and general in chief of the
army of Egypt." Bonaparte was to leave
Paris in April, for the purpose of embark-
ing ; but despatches from Rastadt, and
from Bernadotte, the French ambassador
at Vienna, made a new rupture with x\us-
tria probable.

Bonaparte, however, left Paris, May 3,
and went on board of the Orient the 19th.

The fleet set sail the same day, command-
ed by admiral Brueyes. Bonaparte's pro-
clamation issued before sailing, and sev-
eral others, either prove how much he
himself was animated by the military
fame of ancient Rome, or that he thought
it the strongest stimulus to the French
soldiers. Reports had been carefully
spread to divert the attention of the Eng-
lish to other points ; and lord St. Vincent
sent rear-admiral Nelson, with only three
vessels of the line, four frigates and one
corvette, to watch the Gulf of Lyons, and
to prevent the French from leaving it.
But Nelson arrived too late. He also
sufl^ered severely from a gale, so that the
French fleet was not molested. Bona-
parte had an assurance from the directo-
ry, that the minister of foreign affairs
should go to Constantinople, still retain-
ing his office, for the purpose of negoti-
ating with the Porte, and preventing it
interfering in favor of the Mamelukes.
Talleyrand, however, never went. This
omission, and the defeat at Aboukir,
proved fatal to the expedition. About
2,000 savans, artists, physicians, sur-
geons, mechanics and laborers of all de-
scriptions, accompanied the army. The
flower of the troops was that Italian ar-
my whose valor had effected the peace
of Campo-Formio. The principal offi-
cers were Berthier, Dessaix, Regnier,
Menou, Kleber, Dumas, Cafiarelli, Mu-
rat, Junot, Marmont, Belliard, Davoust,
Lannes, Duroc, Louis Bonaparte, Eu-
gene Beauharnois, and others. June 9,
the armament appeared before Malta.
Bonaparte solicited of baron von Hom-
pesch, the grand master, permission to
procure a supply of fresh water from the
island. His refusal aflbrded a pretext
for the conquest of the island, which had
been long contemplated. The next morn-
ing, the French landed, and by the even-
ing, notwithstanding a brisk cannonade,
were masters of the island, which was
officially surrendered at midnight, with
all its fortresses.

The victors left a garrison of 4,000
men, and, on the 19th, sailed for Alex-
andria. July 1 , the minarets of Alexan-
dria were seen, and Bonaparte issued an
order on board the fleet, in which he ex-
horted his army to endure with patience

EGYPT.

153

the difficulties before them, to respect the
religion of Mahomet, and the customs of
the Egyptians, not to plunder, but to imi-
tate the Roman legions in protecting all
religions. Nelson had been here a short
time before in search of the French.
The apprehension that he might soon
return, induced the general to hasten the
disembarkation of the troops. This was
accomplished without interruption, July
2, at Marabout, an anchorage to the east
of Alexandria, notwithstanding the wind
and waves were unfavorable. The French
army marched, without cannons or horses,
towards Alexandria. Bonaparte was hifh-
self on foot. Some Arabs attacked the
French ; general Kleber was severely
wounded. On the 5th, Alexandria Avas
taken and immediately fortified. Iloset-
ta was taken at the same time by general
Marmont, and, July 6, the whole fleet
was moored in the roads before Aboukir.
Garrisons were left in Alexandria, (where
Kleber was made governor,) Rosetta and
Aboukir, and the army, now 30,000 strong,
marched in five divisions towards Cairo,
the capital of Egypt. Not far from it,
near the p}Tamids of Gizeh, a decisive
battle was fought. Murad Bey had en-
camped himself there, with about 20,000
Mameluke infantry, several thousand
Mameluke cavalry, and forty pieces of
cannon. The well-directed fire of the
French, and the resolution with which
they used their bayonets, frustrated all
the attacks of the Mamelukes, who fled
to the contiguous deserts, as soon as the
camp and village of Embabey were taken
by storm. All the cannon and 400 cam-
els fell into the hands of the French ;
3,000 of the enemy lay dead on the field ;
tlie French lost few men in comparison.
This happened on the 23rd, and Bona-
parte entered Cairo on the 24th ; for Ibra-
him Bey, who was to cover it, after the
unfortunate issue of the battle of the py-
ramids, was driven by Dessaix over the
deserts to Upper Egypt.

Napoleon established a government
here, consisting of seven members, sum-
moned the sheiks, moUahs and shirefls,
who promised to acknowledge the French
republic, and, on his side, pledged him-
self to respect the Mahometan religion,
and the property of the inhabitants. Ju-
20

ly 25, general Bonaparte left Cairo to
pursue the Mamelidces, and, after many
combats with them, returned to the capi-
tal, leaving Regnier as commandant of
the province of Charquich. On his re-
turn to Cairo, an aidecamp of Kleber
brought him the news of the defeat of
the French fleet at Aboukir by Nelson.
It was stated in the French accounts of
this splendid victory by the British na-
val force, that the defeat was in part ow-
ing to the negligence of admiral Brueyes
and vice-admiral Villeneuve, who were
said to have acted against the express
orders of general Bonaparte, who had
directed them to enter the harbor of Alex-
andria, or to sail for Corfu, before he left
the shore to penetrate into the country.
Bourienne, however, in his Memoires, as-
serts that Bonaparte never gave such or-
ders. Bonaparte thus saw his communica-
tion Avith France threatened, and himself
exposed to the greatest of all enemies,
want. Exasperated by the transformation
of so important a dependency as Eg}'pt
into a French province, the Porte declared
war against France, September 2, 1798,
and menaced an attack from the side of
Asia. The inhabitants of Cairo rebelled.
Many of the French, especially the iaua/j.?,
artists and merchants, were murdered ;
but, after a bloody conflict in the city, Sep-
tember 23, and 25, the insurgents, who
had fled to the principal mosque, were
comj)elled to surrender unconditionally.
After the restoration of quiet, Bona-
parte, having organized a system of gov-
ernment for Egypt on French princi-
ples, marched, February 27, 1799, with
about 18,000 men, from Cairo to Syria,
took the fort El-Arish, in the desert, then
Jafla, and, having conquered the inhabi-
tants of Naplous, at Zeta, procured there
a supply of provisions, which he greatly
needed, in order to be able to undertake
the siege of St. Jean d'Acre, and was
again victorious at Jafet. In the mean
while, the English naval force, which
had appeared before St. Jean d'Acre imder
sir Sidney Smith, had succeeded in re-
enforcing the Turkish garrison of this
place with several hundred men, as well
as artillery, and ammunition. This en-
abled the Turks to repel several assaults,
and, notwithstanding the most violent fire

154

EGYPT.

from the French batteries, to sustain the
attack so long, that Bonaparte was obliged
to raise the siege.

May 21, the French commenced their
retreat, and after a fatiguing march of
twenty-six days, arrived at Cairo. A
Turkish fleet soon after landed 18,000
men at Aboukir, who took the fort there.
Bonaparte quickly led his best troops
thither, stationed himself near the foun-
tain between Alexandria and Aboukir,
and offered battle to the Turks, July 25.
Mustapha Pacha, with all his retinue and
artillery, was taken ; 2,000 Turks per-
ished in the waves or in battle, and the
remainder of the army, which had thrown
itself into the fort of Aboukir, was com-
pelled to surrender unconditionally, Au-
gust 2. By this victory, Bonaparte's
power in Egypt was again confirmed.
At this period, the French had experi-
enced considerable reverses in Europe.
The battle of the Trebia had been lost, the
French had evacuated the Genoese ter-
ritory, Massena, in Switzerland, was in
great danger. Bonaparte saw the danger
of his countr}% and the loss of his con-
quests in Italy, and resolved to return,
having from the beginning permission to
do so whenever he chose. The order
which gave the command to Kleber was
dated August 22, 1799, and contained
wise directions respecting the army and
country. By the time his departure was
known to the army, Bonaparte's frigate
had weighed anchor. August 23, he left
Aboukir in the Muiron, a Venetian vessel,
commanded by rear-admiral Gantheaume.

The situation of the troops under Kle-
ber's command became more critical eve-
ry day. General Verdier repelled a new
disembarkation of the Turks, in Novem-
ber, 1 799 ; but, for an army that could
not be recruited, the smallest loss was
serious. The advices from Europe were
not encouraging ; and, at this juncture,
Kleber, having been informed that the
grand vizier was marching from Syria to
Egypt, with a large army, concluded,
January 24, 1800, the treaty of El-Arish,
with the vizier and sir Sidney Smith.
By this treaty it was provided, that a
truce should he granted to the French
for three months till the ratification of the
treaty, when they should evacuate Egypt.

But the letter of Kleber to the directory,
in which he set fortli the miserable state
of the^army, and urged the ratification of
the treaty, fell into the hands of admiral
Keith, .ind was sent to England. It was
now demanded that the Avhole French
army should be made prisoners of war.
Kleber immediately resumed his arms,
and defeated the vizier at Heliopolis, ex-
acted a tax for the payment of his sol-
diers, foiTued new regiments of the Copts
and Greeks, gave security to the coasts,
and founded magazines. In the midst of
his untiring activity, he was murdered in
Cairo by a Turkish fanatic, June 14, and
the command devolved on Abdallah Me-
nou. Meantime the British government
had resolved to wrest Egypt from the
French. March 1, an English fleet ar-
rived before Alexanaria, and on the 1 3th,
the disembarcation was accomplished at
Aboukir. The French, about 4,000 men
strong, gave battle on the next day, but
were forced to retire. On the 21st, Me-
nou commenced an attack with 10,000
men, was beaten, and threw himself into
Alexandria. But general Abercrombie
was mortally wounded, and died on the
28th ; Hutchinson succeeded him in the
command.

On the 28th, re-enforcements were
brought by a Turkish fleet, and the viz-
ier was now approaching from Syria.
On the 19th of April, Rosetta surrender-
ed to the combined forces of the English
and Turks. A French corps of 4,000
men was defeated at Ramanieh by 800
English, and 6,000 Turks. Five thou-
sand French were obliged to retreat, at
Elmenayer, May 16, by the vizier, who
was pressing forward to Cairo, with
20,000 men ; and the whole French
army was now blocked up in Cairo and
Alexandria. June 20, the siege of Cairo
was formally commenced. There were
but 7,000 men to defend the city against
40,000. It capitulated, June 27, to the
English and 'Furks, on condition that
general Belliard and his troops should
evacuate the city and country, should be
transported to France at the expense of
England, and that the native Egyptians
should be permitted to accompany him.
August 17, they embarked at Rosetta,
and arrived at Toulon in September,

EGYPT.

155

Assassination of general Kleber.

1801, about 13,600, in number, of whom
hardly 4,000 were armed. General Me-
nou still remained in Alexandria. Ad-
miral Gantheaume had sailed, before
Belliard's arrival, with several ships of
the line, and from 3,000 to 4,000 troops,
from France, and arrived before Alexan-
dria, but was compelled to hasten back
to Toulon, with a loss of four corvettes.
On the other hand, the English army re-
ceived 5,000 fresh troops from England,
and now attacked Alexandria. They
were already masters of castle Marabout,
when Menou requested a truce ; to which
he was impelled by a want of provisions,
and a new re-enforcement which had
joined the British, consisting of 6,000
men under General Baird, from the East
Indies. Menou capitulated September 2.
Alexandria, with all the artillery and am-
munition, six French ships of war, and
many merchantmen, together with all the
Arabian manuscripts, all the maps of
Egypt, and other collections made for
the French republic, were given up.
The French army was transported, with
its arms and baggage, to a French har-
bor, which they reached at the end of
November. The garrison of Alexandria
comprised above 8,000 soldiers, and 1307

marines. Three years and six months
had elapsed since its first embarkation at
Toulon. Four weeks after the French
evacuated Egypt, the preliminaries of
peace were signed at London.

Soon after the French left Egypt, the
beys were collected at Cairo, and Ibra-
him was reinstated in his office. Osman
Tambour] being chosen as his colleague.
The Turkish government had co-opera-
ted with England to drive out the French ;
but their views with respect to the Mam-
elukes were quite different, as it was the
policy of the Porte to depress that formi-
dable body, whilst the English wished to
conciliate them ; and the latter being
most powerful, the Mamelukes were al-
ready beginning to recover their former
independence — when Hassan, the capi-
tan-pacha of the Ottomans, resolved to
efl'ect by artifice what he found he had
no chance of doing in an undisguised
manner. He accordingly invited all the
principal beys to his camp at Aboukir,
where he entertained them very sumptu-
ously ; but detaining them till they began
to grow impatient, they complained to
general Hutchinson, that they were pre-
vented from departing ; when that officer,
relying on the honesty of the pacha's in-

156

EGYPT.

tentions, persuaded them to remain. In a
few days, Hassan gave a grand entertain-
ment, and invited the beys to embark in
some pleasure boats, to enjoy a sail on the
lake Aboukir. They had scarcely done so,
however, when a small boat was seen pur-
suing them ; on which the pacha lay to.
The boat approached, and he went on board
under pretence of receiving, with due
respect, despatches of great importance
from Constantinople. The skiff instant-
ly fell back ; some large vessels appeared
filled with armed men ; and the next in-
stant discharges of artillery were levelled
against the unfortunate beys. The rage
of the xVIamehikes, at this abominable
treachery, was beyond description ; coop-
ed up like lions in a den, they had no
hope of escaping the fate destined for
them ; and their bravery was useless, for
their enemies were too far distant for
their swords to be of any avail. Some
leaped overboard, and died swearing and
gnashing their teeth ; whilst others tore
their turbans from their heads, and threw
themselves on the bottom of the boats in
an agony of despair. A few reached the
shore, and were compelled to swear upon
the Koran that they would not seek the
protection of the English. It wa.s im-
possible, however, to bury such an act
of base perfidy in oblivion, and equally
impossible that British feelings should
not be disgusted with it. The English,
consequently, compelled the Turks to re-
lease their prisoners, and to bury the
bodies of the butchered chiefs with all
the honors of war.

Mahmoud Cusrouf was chosen to suc-
ceed the faithless Hassan as pacha of
Cairo. Osman, the Mameluke cliief,
submitted to his authority ; but the other
beys refusing to follow his example, and
flying into the Said, Mohammed Ah, since
so celebrated, was appointed general of
the Turks, and joined Osman Bey against
them, Osman and Mohammed entered
into negotiations with the beys, and offer-
ed them all the land from Esnah to Up-
per Egypt ; but they being dissatisfied
with this proposal, Mahmoud sent fresh
troops, under Youssef Bey, to reduce
them to obedience ; when Osman, un-
willing to fight against the corps of which
he had so long been a member, retired

into the desert. This happened about the
period when colonel Sebastiani arrived
in Eg}'pt, for the purpose of carrying into
efiect that part of the treaty of Amiens
which related to the evacuation of Alex-
andria ; and shortly afterwards the Turk-
ish forces were defeated ; the leaders,
Youssef and Mohammed Ali, each ac-
cusing the other of treachery. The pacha
favored the former ; and Mohammed in
revenge demanded, resolutely, a lage sum
of money which was due to the army.
Mahmoud sent to him to try to negotiate
the business secretly ; but Mohammed
who suspected stratagem, refused to leave
his soldiers. The pacha became alarm-
ed, and invited Tahir pacha, an Albanian
chief, to his assistance ; but his troops
also soon became clamorous for their
pay ; and, when the pacha assured them
of his total inability to satisfy their de-
mands, they seized his palace, and forced
him, with his wife and family, to fly to
Mansurah. At first, Tahir used his vic-
tory with moderation, and appeared anx-
ious to conciliate all parties ; but becom-
ing eager for wealth, the populace, en-
raged at his exactions, rose and murdered
him, after a reign of only twenty-two
days. Whilst Taliir's Albanian soldiers
were contending with the Turkish guard
for the possession of Grand Cairo, Ibra-
him returned from Syria, and Osman
from his retreat in the mountains ; and,
uniting their Mamelukes with the Turks
under Mohammed Ali, they seized the
city. The Sublime Porte was now roused,
and sent an officer to re-establish the
Turkish authority. He, however, thought
more of aggrandizing himself than of sub-
duing the Mamelukes, and was wholly
unable to resist the force Mohammed
brought against him. He was taken
prisoner and put to death.

Mohammed's power had now become
too firmly fixed to be shaken ; yet he did
not assume the government till the Porte
attempted to banish him to Jedda, where-
upon he declared himstilf pacha of Egypt ;
and his authority was soon after confirm-
ed by the sultan. A massacre of the
Mamelukes followed ; and Mohammed,
to replenish his finances, made his min-
isters disgorge their ill-gotten wealth, in-
stead of oppressing the people ; giving

EGYPT.

157

them, at the same thne, a gentle hint,
that whenever he found his tax-gatherers
getting rich, he shoukl not only take their
money, bnt their heads also. After seve-
ral minor struggles, in which he was
always successful, he prepared to attack
the Wahabees, a powerful nation in Ara-
bia ; but as the Mamelukes still continued
formidable, he did not dare to leave Egypt
till he had destroyed them ; and for this
an opportunity soon ofl'ered. The grand
seignior sent his kisler aga to Cairo, in
1 807, to invest Tousson, the son of Mo-
hannned, with the dignity of pacha of two
tails ; and the Mamelukes being invited
to assist at the ceremony, came with
their bey at their head, to otfer their con-
gratulations to Mohanuned, in his citadel.
In returning, the procession had to pass
along a passage cut in a rock : Moham-
med's troops moved first, followed by the
Mamelukes ; but as soon as the Turks
had passed, the gates were closed at both
ends, and the Mamelukes, thus enclosed
in a kind of trap, were fired on by the
pacha's soldiers frorrfthe top of the rocks.
At the same moment a general massacre
of them was ordered tliroughout Egypt ;
their property was universally destroyed ;
and above 500 of their houses, in Grand
Cairo alone, were levelled with the ground.
Some beys, however, escaped, and, in the
dress of M'omen or slaves, lied to Upper
Egypt. Shortly after, the few remains
of their body rallied at Dongola, in Nu-
bia, where they fortified the city, and
raised a small army of negroes to defend
it ; Osman IJey, their chief, swearing
that he would neither cut his hair nor
shave his beard, till they were again mas-
ters of Cairo. The aged Ibrahim, who
was still living, protested strongly against
the slaughter of the corps to which he
had himself once belonged ; but it was
in vain ; Mohammed's will was law, and
he su tiered no one to dictate to him with
impunity.

The campaign against the Wahabees
was brilliant in the extreme ; and Mo-
hammed returning to Egypt, after a long
series of victories, loaded with fame and
treasures, immediately directed his at-
tention to the conquest of Nubia and Se-
naar. Tousson having died in Lower
Eg}'pt, the command of the army was

intrusted to the pacha's second son Ish-
mael ; who, in the autumn of 1810,
passed the cataracts of the Nile, seized
Dongola, and annihilated the remaining
^lamehdves. He next attacked and sub-
dued a bold and independent race of
Arabs ; and proceeded to Berber, which
likewise fell before the power of his
arms : he also conquered the city of
Shendy ; and reached the Bahr-el-Abiad,
above its confluence with the Nile. Se-
naar and Kordofan, in like manner, j-ield-
ed to the arms of the victorious Eg\-p-
tians ; anil they would have invaded
Darfoor, had not their attention been re-
called to the north by the insurrection of
the Greeks in the Morea. On his re-
turn, Ishmael was waylaid by the chief
of Shendy, and murdered, with all his at-
tendants, excepting his physician, whom
they spared, that they might torture him
by pulling out his teeth before they put
him to death.

Since that time, Mohammed Ali has
taken an active part in the operations of
the Turks ; and now by his victories over
the armies of the Sublime Porte may be
considered as completely independent.
Mohanuned Pacha is particiUarly atten-
tive to the public security ; he takes,
therefore, all Franks under his immediate
protection, and permits no abuse of the
Greeks. After his successful campaign
in the Morea, in 1825, he caused all the
Christian population to be transplanted
to the countries on the Nile. He is now
attempting to introduce a quarentine sys-
tem to guard against the plague, and also
promotes vaccination.

The pacha has done much for the com-
merce and industry, as well as for the
civilization, of Egypt, and he has now
completed the canal of Alexandria, called
by him, in honor of the sultan, Mahmu-
die canal ; a vast undertaking. It was
commenced Jan. 8, 1819, under the su-
perintendence of six European engineers,
with about 100,000 laborers ; and their
number, though more than 7,000 men
died of contagious diseases, was gradual-
ly increased to 290,000, each of whom
received about lOd. sterling per diem.
The canal extends from Saone, on the
Nile, to Pompey's pillar, and is forty-
seven miles and a half long, ninety feet

158

ENGLAND.

wide, and eighteen feet deep. This is
the first essay towards the execution of
his plan of restoring the ancient com-
merce of Alexandria with Arabia and the
Indies. Within a short time he has es-
tablished a line of telegraphs, a printing-
press at Boulac near Cairo, a military

school, and a higher institution for edu-
cation, principally to form dragomans,
(i.e. interpreters,) and other public offi-
cers. The teachers consist of French
and Italian officers. In 1826, he sent
several young Egyptians to France to re-
ceive a European education.

ENGLAND

The early history of Britain is so
itivolved in the fictions and superstitious
prejudices of the monkish chroniclers,
that it is scarcely possible to furnish any
connected view of the government and
political character of the people : indeed,
Britain was but very little known to the
rest of the world before the time of the
Romans.

Julius Ca;sar having subdued most of
the nations of Gaul, on the opposite side
oi" the Channel, began, about B.C. 56, to
think of extending his conquests by the
reduction of Britain. The motive as-
cribed to him by Suetonius for this expe-
dition, was a desire of enriching himself
by the British pearls, then much esteem-
ed. The pretence, however, to justify
his invasion was, that the Britons had
assisted the Gauls during liis wars with
them.

Caesar's first expedition was \mder-
taken at the close of the summer, (he
landed August 26,) and he stated that he
only purposed viewing the island, that
he might acquire a knowledge of the
manners and customs of the natives,
preparatory to their permanent conquest.
Having marched all his forces into the
country of the Morini, in Gaul, from
whence was the shortest passage into
Britain ; he ordered the vessels that lay
in the neighboring ports, and a fleet
which he had built the year before, to
attend him. The Britons, alarmed at
his preparations, sent ambassadors with
ofTers of submission ; but Caesar, though
he received them with great kindness,
did not abandon his intended scheme.
He only waited till the return of Caius
Volusenus, whom he had sent out with a

single galley to make discoveries on the
coast. His force consisted of two legions
embarked on board eighty transports ;
and he appointed eighteen more, which
lay wind-bound about eight miles ofl", to
convey over the cavalry ; but these last
orders were too slowly executed, which
occasioned some difiiculty in his landing.
The British chiefs at this time, although
they had endeavored to conciliate, were
far from being disposed to submit to him.
As soon as they perceived Caesar's fleet
approaching, a number of foot soldiers
and chariots were despatched to oppose
his landing, while a considerable body
of cavalry hastened after. The Romans
were chiefly, however, embarrassed in
their attempt to land by the size of their
ships ; and the soldiers were obliged to
leap into the sea completely armed for
the combat. Caesar perceivnig this, and
in order to drive the Britons from the
water side, who annoyed his troops
with their slings and arrows, directed
his galleys to advance with their broad-
sides towards the shore. The Britons,
surprised by the size and evolutions of
a species of shipping with which they
were not previously acquainted, began
to give ground. The battle, however,
continued for some time greatly to the
disadvantage of the Romans ; till at last
Caesar, observing the distress of his
men, caused several of his boats to be
manned, and sent them to the assistance
of those who were most exposed. The
Roman legions now soon overcame the
undisciplined native force, and made
good their landing ; but were unable to
pursue the enemy for want of cavalry.
The Britons, on the other hand, were so

ENGLAND.

159

disheartened with their bad success that
they immediately sent ambassadors to
sue for peace. This was granted, on
condition of their delivering a certain
number of hostages for their fidelity.
Part of these they brought immediately,
and promised to return in a few days
with the rest, who they said lived at
some distance. But, in the mean time,
the eighteen transports which carried
Caesar's cavalry being driven back by a
storm, and the fleet greatly damaged, the
Britons broke their engagement, and fell
unexpectedly on the seventh legion,
while busied in foraging. Cajsar has-
tened to their assistance with two cohorts,
and at last repulsed the enemy. This,
however, proved only a temporary ad-
vantage, for the Britons, thinking it would
be possible to cut ofl' all the Romans at
once, drew together a great body of horse
and foot, which boldly advanced to the
Roman intrenchments. Caesar came out
to meet them, and the Britons were once
more put to flight with great slaughter.
Having burned several towns and vil-
lages, the victors returned to the camp,
whither they were soon followed by
deputies from the natives, to whom the
Roman commander, being in want of
horse, and afraid lest another storm
should destroy the remainder of his fleet,
granted peace, on condition of their send-
ing him into Gaul double the number of
hostages which they had promised.

In the following spring, Britain was
again visited by the Roman conqueror,
who brought with him a fleet of eight
hundred vessels ; and on this second in-
vasion, the British cheftains came down
into the woods near the coast, and there
watched every opportunity to annoy his
army. They were at first encouraged
by the Roman Emperor having lost forty
vessels which were wrecked during the
violence of a storm ; but having received
a check from the disciplined Roman sol-
diers, many of the chiefs retired to their
mountains, having first invited Cassibela,
king of the Cassii, to undertake their de-
fence ; and it is very possible, as he had
acquired great skill and judgment by his
previous wars, that he might have been
victorious in his country's cause, but for
the treachery of the native princes, some

of whom conspired to betray him. He
was compelled to sue for peace, and that
campaign ended in the Britons consent-
ing to furnish an annual tribute to Rome,
and Ceesar again quitted the island, and
wintered in Gaul.

During the succeeding ninety-seven
years Britain retained its independence ;
but the Emperor Claudius invaded it in
person, A. D. 43, and, at his departure,
he divided the command of the Roman
legions between Vespasian and the legate
Plautius. The latter fought thirty bat-
tles before he could subdue the natives
of Belgffi and the Isle of Wight ; and the
former was opposed during five years by
Caractacus, who gave the enemy battle
on the lofty hill, Caer-Caradoc. Such
was the courageous valor of the British
on that occasion, that, at the approach of
the Romans, they pledged themselves by
oath to conquer or die. The Romans,
however, mounted the hill, and having
driven the Silures from its summit, took
the wife and daughters of Caractacus
prisoners. His brothers surrendered,
and the king himself was delivered up
to Ostorius, by his step-mother, Cartis-
mandua.

Caractacus, after braving the power
of Rome during nine years, was sent a
prisoner to the imperial city, through
which he passed to grace the triumph of
Claudius ; but his misfortunes in no shape
dismayed the spirit of the British war-
rior, who simply expressed his surprise
that men, who possessed such riches at
home, should have found it worth their
while to fight for the wretched hovels of
Britain. Caractacus afterwards was
restored to liberty, but hostilities con-
tinued ; and after several battles, in which
the Romans generally gained the advan-
tage, their general, Suetonius Paulinus,
resolved on the reduction of the Isle of
Anglesey, which hitherto had been the
secure retreat of the Dniids, to whose
influence the Romans attributed the per-
seA'^ering resistance of the Britons.

At this period Prasatagus, king of the
Iceni, died. He had seconded the views
of the Roman conqueror, and the better
to secure his property, had made the em-
peror joint heir with his own daughters ;
but Roman avarice not being easily satis-

160

ENGLAND.

Queen Buadicea attacking the Romans.

fied, the whole succession was imme-
diately seized in the emperor's name ;
the widow, Boadicea, ventured to re-
monstrate, for which she was scourged
as a slave, and her daughters violated.
The history of her wrongs led her coun-
trymen to feel their own, and excited a
general spirit of revenge, so that they
willingly followed her to battle. The
contest was long and fiercely maintained,
but the Romans were at last victorious,
and Boadicea ended her misfortunes by
a voluntary death.

The celebrated Julius Agricola was
appointed to the command of Britain, A.
D. 78, and his arrival was signalized by
a victory over the Ordovices and the con-
quest of Anglesey. After these successes,
he employed himself most studiously in
reconciling the Britons to the Roman
yoke. In tliis he met with such success,
through his wise and equitable conduct,
that the Britons, barbarous as they were,
began to prefer a life of security and
peace, to the state of wild independence
which they had formerly enjoyed, and
which continually exposed them to the
tumults and calamities of war. The suc-
ceeding campaigns of Agricola were at-
tended with equal success ; he not only
subdued the different tribes inhabiting

England, but carried the Roman arms
almost to the extremity of Scotland. He
also caused his fleet to sail round the
island, and discovered the Orcades, or
Orkney islands. His expedition occu-
pied about six years, and was completed
A. D. 84.

Had this commander been continued
in Britain, it is probable that both Eng-
land and Scotland would have been per-
manently subdued; but he was recalled
by Domitian in the year 85, and we arc
then almost totally in the dark about the
British aflairs till the reign of the em-
peror Adrian. During this interval, the
Caledonians had taken arms, and not
only refused subjection to ihe Roman
power, but also ravaged the territories
of the Britons who continued faithful to
them. Adrian, for what reason is not
well known, abandoned to them the
whole tract lying between the Tyne and
the Forth. At the same time, in order
to restrain them from making incursions
into the Roman territories, he built a
wall eighty miles in length, from the
river Eden in Cumberland to the Tyne
in Northumberland. He was succeeded
by Antoninus Pius, in whose reign the
Brigantes revolted ; and the Caledonians,
having in several places broken down

ENGLAND,

161

the wall built by Adrian, began anew to
ravage the Roman territories. Against
them the emperor sent Lollius Urbiciis,
who reduced the Brigantes ; and having
defeated the northern nations, confined
them within narrower bounds by a new
wall, extending probably between the
friths of Forth and Clyde. From the
lime of Antoninus to that of Severus, the
Roman dominions in Britain continued to
be much infested by the inroads of the
northern nations.

About the year 360, the Picts and
Scots, the former adventurers from Ire-
land, the latter the northern tribes to
whom we have already alluded, united
in making incursions, and even broke
down the wall Avhich Severus had built
to protect the Britons. Since the Roman
legions had been withdrawn from the
island to defend their continental territo-
ries, several ambitious pretenders had
assumed the purple ; but each had en-
joyed for a short time only the power of
usurpation ; and the native Britons, find-
ing they were continually exposed to the
inroads of their enemies, determined to
reject an authority which was become
too weak to afford them protection :
they, therefore, deposed the Roman
magistrates, and proclaimed their own
independence.

We are informed that, on the extinc-
tion of the imperial authority, the pro-
vinces were divided among a multitude
of petty chieftains, whose ambition, wars,
and vices, inflicted more extensive inju-
ries than the incursions of foreign ene-
mies. To these miseries succeeded the
dreadful scourges of pestilence and fa-
mine ; district after district, became the
scene of devastation, till their common
danger warned them to seek other assis-
tance, and a Saxon squadron being then
cruising in the channel, in quest of ad-
ventures, the two commanders, " Hengist
and Horsa, eagerly accepted the over-
tures of the British prince, Vortigern, to
aid in fighting his battles, and to depend
for their reward on his gratitude."

During the Roman power in Britain,
Christianity was introduced, it is believed,
as early as the age of the apostles. In
A. D. 597, Pope Gregory sent Augustus,
and forty other monks, to instruct the
21

inhabitants in the Christian religion ;
from this period, it gradually gained the
ascendency till the seventh century, when
it became the religion of all the inhabi-
tants. Previous to this, the people were
pagans, their religious system was term-
ed Druidism ; their priests were called
Druids, and they occasionally required
human beings to be sacrificed.

Having embarked, about 1,600 men on
board three vessels, the two brothers ar-
rived in the Isle of Thanet, in A. D, 449.
They were received by the inhabitants
with the greatest demonstration of joy ;
the isle in which they had landed was
immediately appointed for their habita-
tion, and a league was concluded, in vir-
tue of which the Saxons were to defend
the provincial Britons against all foreign
enemies ; and the provincials were to
allow the Saxons pay and maintenance,
besides the place allotted them for their
abode. Soon after their arrival, king
Vortigern led them against the northern
nations, who had lately broken into the
kingdom, and advanced as far as Stam-
ford, in Lincolnshire. Here a battle was
fought, in which the Scots and Picts
were utterly defeated. Vortigern was
so highly pleased with his new allies,
that he bestowed large possessions upon
Hengist and Horsa. It is said that, even
at this time, Hengist obseving the inhab-
itants to be quite enervated with luxury,
entertained hopes of conquering part of
Britain. He, therefore, with Vortigern's
consent, invited over more of his coun-
trymen, informing them of the fruitfulness
of the country,' the effeminacy of the
inhabitants, and how easily a conquest
might be effected. The Saxons readily
complied, and in 452, as many more ar-
rived in seventeen vessels, as, with those
already in Britain, made up 5,000 men.

The Saxons by their victories, and
having their numbers augvnnented by
numerous adventurers from Germany,
became powerful. Difficulties having
arisen between them and the Britons,
they turned their arms against them, and
for a long period many bloody conflicts
occurred.

After a violent contest of near two
centuries, the Saxons entirely subdued
the Britons whom they had come to de-

162

ENGLAND.

fend, and eventually erected the seven
independent kingdoms of the Saxon Hep-
tarchy. Of these, Northuinbria, Mercia,
and Wessex, were the most distinguished.
The race of Northumbrian kings, in their
rapid succession, present a continued
scene of perfidy, treason, and murder.
Within the lapse of a century, fourteen
kings assumed the sceptre, of whom
seven were slain ; six were driven from
the throne by their rebellious subjects ;
and only one died in the possession of
the royal dignity ; and, finally, the Danes
extinguished the Northumbrian dynasty,
by the slaughter of Ella and Osbriht, in
the year 867.

The Danes were a hardy race from the
shores of the Baltic, who despised the
tranquil enjoyments of peace, and prefer-
red the acquisitions of rapine. Their
maritime shuation procured for their
chieftains the title of sea-kings. Till the
eighth century, this people confined their
depredations to the northern seas, but the
report of wealth in the south incited them
to more important expeditions.

During the eighth century, this race
of pirates made three attempts to land
in Britain, which created no serious
cause of alarm ; but in 832, they effected
their purpose in the Isle of Sheppy, and
three years after appeared on the coast
of Cornwall, were they succeeded in se-
ducing the Britons from their allegiance.

During the reign of Ethelbert, one of
the kings of Wessex, Radnor Lodbrog,
a famed sea-king, attempted the invasion
of England, and was slain by the hand
of Ella, a Northumbrian. The sons of
Lodbrog arrived from Denmark, with
their relatives and friends, to avenge the
death of their father. The number of
this formidable armament amounted to
20,000. Ethelred had only ascended
the throne of Wessex a few months when
the Danes, under the command of Inguar
and Ubba, the sons of Radnor, landed in
East Anglia. Devastation and murder
every where followed the steps of the
victorious Danes ; they burnt the rich
monasteries of Bardsey and Croyland,
and then proceeded to destroy Medes-
hamstede, at which place Ubba slaugh-
tered, with his own hand, the abbot and
eighty-four monks. The Saxon princes

saw the progress of the Danish arms
without making any effectual efforts to
restrain their rapacity ; but Ethelred,
with his brother Alfred, gave the enemy
battle near Reading. A solitary thorn-
tree long after marked the spot where the
Danes were defeated.

Another desperate engagement took
place at Morton, in Berkshire, where, it
is believed, the Danes remained in pos-
session of the field. Ethelred, who had
been wounded, survived only a few days,
and was buried at Wimborne. The in-
vaders returned to Reading, to divide the
spoil, and to rejoice over their victory.

We come now to one of the brightest
periods of English history, and it is grati-
fying for the chronicler to pass from
scenes of barbaric ignorance and military
tyranny, to the annals of a period when
laws Avere formed for the protection of
the serf, no less than for that of his des-
potic ruler. When the unanimous voice
of the West Saxons called Alfred to the
throne, in 871, he refused the royal hon-
ors ofi'ered to him ; alleging his own in-
capacity, and the increasing num!:»er of
the Danes. But his objections being
overruled, the archbishop of Canterbury
fixed the crown upon his head.

Alfred, after having in vain attempted
to expel the Danes, was forsaken by
his subjects, who could no longer be
roused by the most ardent exhortations.
Some fled to Wales or to transmarine
regions ; and the rest endeavored, by the
most abject submission, to mitigate the
fury of these ferocious invaders.

There is a very characteristic anecdote
told of the fallen fortunes of the monarch
at this period. Destitute of troops, Alfred,
submitting to necessity, dismiss.^d his at-
tendants, and, disguising his person in
the garb of a peasant, took refuge for a
time in the cottage of a neat-herd. Here,
intent on higher objects, he attended not
to the toasting of some cakes which his
hostess, ignorant of his rank, had one day
committed to his care ; and, having suf-
fered them to be burned, he received an
apparently just reprimand for the neglect
of that wluch was so hospitably shared
with him. He is said to have afterwards,
in his prosperity, persuaded this herds-
man, named Denulf, to cultivate letters,

ENGLAND.

163

Alfred disguised as a spy.

and to have promoted him to the church
till he became bishop of Winchester.

Assuming the disguise of a harper, he
had the boldness to enter the Danish
camp, in which he was entertained sev-
eral days, and introduced to Guthrum the
chief commander. Satisfied of his ene-
my's unguarded state, he, by his emissa-
ries in every direction, summoned liis
nobles and their followers to Brixton near
Selwood Forest. These having experi-
enced still deeper affliction in peace from
the brutal tyranny of their conquerors,
than they had before from the violence
of hostility, assembled with alacrity on
the appointed day, and with shouts of
joy recognised their heroic monarch,
whom they had long considered as dead.
Leading them to Eddington, where the
Danes were encamped, without a mo-
ment's loss, he made a well directed and
furious attack. Unprepared, and aston-
ished at the sudden sight of an English
army, with Alfred at its head, the Danes
were with appalling havoc put to flight.
Besieged in a fortified camp, where they
had taken refuge, they surrendered at
discretion from want of provisions. Al-
fred, obeying the dictates of wisdom and
humanity, instead of consigning them to

the sword, admitted Guthrum and his
followers as allies, or feudal subjects, on
their consenting to become Christians ;
to occupy, as settlers, the desolated lands
of the Northumbrians and East-Angles ;
and to co-operate with the English in
preventing the ravages of other Scandi-
navians. Some smaller parties of these
invaders, dispersed in Mercia, were, un-
der the denomination of Fiveburghers,
distributed, as citizens, in the five cities
of Derby, Leicester, Stamford, Lincoln,
and Nottingham. Others, inveterate in
their depredatory habits, departed from
the country, and engaged elsewhere in
piratical expeditions, chiefly under a cele-
brated leader named Hastings.

When these fierce invaders were thus
expelled or subdued, the talents of Alfred
were strenuously exerted in arrange-
ments for the external defence and inter-
nal police of his kingdom, which had
been reduced by the Danes to the most
wild and deplorable state of disorder.

The military arrangements of Alfred,
though the most efficacious which the
debilitated condition of the country ad-
mitted, were soon put to a severe and
decisive trial by a great armament of
Danes, in 893. From the French terri-

164

ENGLAND.

tories, Hastings returned to the English
coast with a fleet of three hundred and
thirty vessels, which probably carried
above twenty thousand combatants. He
was, however, most signally defeated.

As Guthrum, and others of their lead-
ers attached to the English monarch,
were dead, the Danes of the Northum-
brian and East-Anglian territories, yield-
ing to the impulse of a renovated spirit of
plunder, when opportunity seemed given,
collected a fleet, and, sailing to the south-
ern coast, suddeidy invested the city of
Exeter. Alfred, however, made a rapid
march to this quarter, surprised the be-
siegers, routed, and drove them to their
ships. But in his absence the Danes at
Bamflete, leaving their wives, children,
and booty, in their fortified camp under
a strong guard, directed their course to-
wards the interior of the country with the
most wasteful devastation. On this in-
telligence reaching London, the king's
troops made an unexpected and success-
ful attack on the Danish camp, where
they secured much plunder and many
prisoners, among whom were the wife
and two sons of Hastings. Alfred, how-
ever, restored the prisoners to the Danish
commander, in the vain hope of prevail-
ing on him to depart from England. The
banded robbers, still hoping to make a
conquest, continued to alarm the country
for above two years, effecting a retreat
by furious eflbrts from place to place.
Hastings, Avho had been above thirty
years incessantly engaged in predatory
war, and appears to be one of the ablest
commanders recorded in history, is said
to have at length withdrawn himself to
France, and to have spent the rest of his
life in privacy, on a small domain given
him by the French monarch. The rem-
nant of the hostile Danes in England be-
took themselves to sea under Sigefert, a
Northumbrian, who had constructed ves-
sels of an extraordinary height, length,
and swiftness. These were soon sur-
passed in force and celerity, and totally
defeated, by ships of Alfred's contrivance,
who hanged the crews of twenty barks,
condemned at Winchester, as the com-
mon enemies of mankind. The North-
umbrian and East-Anglian Danes, who,
after their overthrow at Exeter, had also

been foiled in their attempts elsewhere,
renewed their submissions ; and the few,
who refused to become peaceable sub-
jects, were obliged to abandon the Eng-
lish territories.

After his final success against the
Danes in 897, Alfred, immolested during
the remaining four years of his reign,
had abundance of leisure to renew his
application to the institutions of civil gov-
ernment, and the general improvement
of his people. These institutions, al-
ready in part established by ancient cus-
tom, he new modelled, extended, and con-
firmed by provisions for the strict execu-
tion of justice.

His eflbrts were extended to the pro-
motion of all the useful arts, particularly
those of navigation and commerce, and
he employed the ablest navigators to
make voyages of discovery. Wulfstan,
an English mariner, explored the Baltic
to the mouth of the river Vistula. Oh-
there, a Norwegian, doubling the North
Cape, discovered the White Sea and the
river Dwina. The journals of these two
voyages are still extant. Sighelm, an
English priest, sent as his envoy to the
Christians of the Island of St. Thomas, re-
turned with a cargo of spices and jewels.

Edward, the elder, succeeded Alfred to
the throne of England. The military
genius this prince possessed was no
doubt inherited from his father, and it
enabled him not only constantly to main-
tain a superiority over the Danes, but
also to subdue the internal commotions
with which he was constantly assailed
at home. In his various operations he
was powerfully seconded by his sister
Ethelfleda, queen of the Mercians. On
the death of this heroine, in the year
920, Mercia, taken under Edward's im-
mediate government, from that time
ceased to be a separate kingdom.

Athelstan having been educated under
the eye of his aunt Ethelfleda, was in-
sured the favor of the Mercians. He
was crowned at Kingston, by Athelm,
archbishop of Canterbury, in 925. All
the counties which had been originally
conquered and colonized by the several
Saxon tribes, united under the authority
of this monarch, so that he really merit-
ed the title of " king of England."

ENGLAND.

165

Dunstan forcing king

The reign of Edmund lasted only six
years. He died by the hand of Leof, a
noted outlaw, whilst celebrating the feast
of St. Augustine. This king left two
sons, Edwy and Edgar ; but the eldest
being only nine years of age, Edred, the
only remaining son of king Edward, was
chosen to represent him.

Edred was much influenced by his
ministers — the chancellor Turketul, and
Dunstan, abbot of Glastonbury. Turke-
tul was a clergyman of royal descent,
and the grandson of Alfred ; he was hon-
ored with the approbation of Edred, and
the applause of the people, and he held
the first place in the royal councils. He
revived the monastery of Croyland, which
had been destroyed by the Danes, and
embraced a monastic life. Dunstan had
been introduced by his relatiA'es, Athelm,
archbishop of Canterbury, and Elphege,
bishop of Winchester, to the court of king
Athelstan ; and afterwards caused the
chancellor Turketul to recommend him
to king Edmund, who bestowed upon
Dunstan, Glastonbury and its possessions.
Over Edred, who made him the director
of his conscience, Dunstan appears to
have exercised the most despotic con-
trol. The reign of Edred was prosper-

Edwy from his queen.

ous, but short ; frequent attacks of illness
enfeebled his frame, and he died in 954.
Edwy was not more than sixteen years
of age when he ascended the throne.
Beautiful in person, of an amiable dispo-
sition, and of promising virtue, he was,
notwithstanding, odious to Dunstan, who
was conscious of having abused the late
king's imbecility to the total impoverish-
ment of the crown, and who also may
have dreaded a discernment and vigor
of mind in the young monarch incompati-
ble with his designs of ecclesiastical
domination. As if determined at once
to enter into a trial of strength with his
sovereign, this audacious monk, on the
very day of the coronation, made a vio-
lent attack on the young king. Disliking
the riot and intemperance to which the
English were addicted, or allured by con-
nubial affection, Edwy, without sufficient-
ly attending to the prevailing habits of his
subjects, retired alter dinner to his queen's
apartment, leaving his nobles and prelates
drinking in the gi-eat hall. It may be
proper to state that Elgiva, the queen,
was his relative within the degrees pre-
scribed by the canons, and as such was
not by the monks allowed to be his wife.
Dunstan, accompanied by Cynesius, a

166

ENGLAND.

bishop, forced his way into the apart-
ment where Edwy was sitting with El-
giva and her mother, outraged the ladies
with the most opprobrious language, and
violently dragged the monarch back into
the hall.

Enraged by such brutality, the king
called Dunstan to account for his abuse
of the public treasure, drove him into
exile, and, expelling the new monks he
had created, restored the rightful owners
to their monasteries. But the partisans
of the ambitious churchman, who were
zealously active, formed a conspiracy,
which completely overmatched all the
force collected by the youthful monarch.
Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, a fero-
cious bigot, who was of Danish race, and
had himself been a soldier, forced the
palace with a body of armed men, seized
Elgiva, against whom he had pronounced
a sentence of divorce, branded her face
with a hot iron to destroy her beauty, and
banished her into Ireland. This prin-
cess, on recovering her health, returned
to England, but was intercepted at Glou-
cester by lier monkish foes, who added
to their previous atrocities by cutting the
tendons of her legs, and left her to ex-
pire in the most excruciating agony.
Edwy, who determinately opposed the
monks, was excommunicated, and dis-
possessed of all his dominions except
Wessex, by the victorious faction, who
placed Edgar his brother, a boy of thir-
teen, at their head. Dunstan returned in
triumph ; and Edwy died in 959, but
whether in consequence of a broken
heart, or the stroke of an assassin, is
matter of some dispute.

Edgar, on commencing his reign, ap-
pears to have made a tacit compromise
with Dunstan and his monks, allowing
them to govern as they pleased, and was
in return indulged in the gratification
of the most licentious desires. By his
monkish historians he is represented as
a mighty conqueror, statesman, and even
saint. But historical facts are totally
wanting to support the first part of this
character, and are copiously furnished to
overthrow the last.

Edward the Martyr was in his thir-
teenth year when his father Edgar died.
But his accession to the throne met with

violent opposition from his mother-in-
law, Elfrida, who wished that her own
son should reign in his stead ; but Dun-
stan, who was always bold and decisive
in his measures, assembled his followers,
and without further delay, placed the
crown on the head of Edward. The
exertions of Elfrida, however, were not
lessened by this circumstance, for she
planned, and successfully executed, the
murder of the king. As Edward was
hunting near Corfe Castle, in Dorsetshire,
the residence of the queen, he rode,
without suspicion, to the entrance gate,
to pay his respects to the queen, and
having requested a draught of wine, at
the moment he raised the cup to his lips
he received a wound in the back. Put-
ting spurs to his horse, he galloped away
at full speed, but fell from the animal,
and was dragged at the stirrup till he
expired.

Tliis reign was most disastrous. Hea-
ven seemed to conspire with man in the
severity of its visitation ; famine and
disease afflicted the human species,
whilst a contagious disorder among the
cattle added to the horrors of invasion,
which the northern pirates practised on
different parts of the coast. Such were
the ravages made by the invaders, that
Ethelred, in 1001, paid them twenty-
four thousand pounds to retire from his
kingdom. This, and repeated sums given
for the same purpose, procured only a
temporary suspension of misery. After
the death of Edgar, the administration
of justice had been only feebly enforced,
and at this period, it was entirely sus-
pended. The absence of legal punish-
ments, and a long continued state of
warfare, left men's passions free from
restraint, and individuals sought to in-
demnify themselves for their own losses
by the spoliation of their neighbors
Relations are said to have sold their
relatives, and parents their children, as
slaves. Wherever money was known
to exist, it was required by the king's
officers, and to that period may be refer-
red the origin of direct and annual tax-
ation. The impost, called " Danegelt,"
was established at that time, and became
an annual land-tax of twelve pence per
hide.

ENGLAND.

167

In the year 1002, Ethelred espoused
as his second wife, Emma, a Norman
princess, and the rejoicings had scarcely
finished before the king ordered a gen-
eral massacre of the Danes to take place,
which command was executed through-
out every county, with every additional
insult which national enmity could sug-
gest. Ethelred expected by his union
with Emma, to have found a powerfid
support against the Danes in her brother
Richard, duke of Normandy ; but the
king's neglect of the queen, and his in-
fidelity, had lost him her affection. The
nobility were divided by the influence
of faction, and treason and murder were
the results. The king was entirely un-
equal to the duties of government, and
the people continued to be the sport of a
vindictive and revengeful enemy, until
Sweyn, having exhausted the spirit of
retaliation on the murderer of his coun-
trymen, consented to terms of peace, on
receiving 36,000/. of silver.

After Sweyn's departure, he secretly
permitted Thurchil to continue the same
work of devastation. The first year he
ravaged the southern provinces ; in the
second, he penetrated through East
Anglia into the fens, which had hitherto
afforded a retreat to the natives ; and the
third year, he besieged the city of Can-
terbury. Treachery favored the surren-
der, and the Danes numbered 800 cap-
tives, whilst 8,000 inhabitants perished
in the flames. On that occasion, Elphege,
the archbishop, venerable for his age
and virtues, was bound and dragged to
behold the fate of his cathedral ; in which
were collected the monks and the clergy,
the women and the children. The pile
was set on fire, and as the melting lead
and falling timbers compelled them to
quit their retreat, they were massacred
before the eyes of the primate, who was
reserved some weeks in the hope of re-
ceiving a ransom of 3000/. ; but the old
man refused to ask his friends or the
clergy to pay the sum. He Avas inhu-
manly murdered whilst laboring to im-
press his captors with a reverence for
the doctrine of Christianity. After rav-
aging thirteen counties, Thurchil sold his
services to Ethelred in 1012, for the
sum of 40,000/. ; which, when Swevn

heard, he was jealous of the chieftain's
compromise with the English, and de-
clared his intention to conquer England.
Hoping thereby to inspire the islanders
with a terror of his name, he issued or-
ders to his followers " to ravage the
open countiy, pillage the churches, burn
the towns, and put every male to the
sword ;" which instructions were ob-
served, except where the inhabitants ap-
peased the invaders by prayers and hos-
tages. Ethelred, after some unsuccess-
ful attempts to defend London, fled in
despair, and having abandoned the crown
to his competitor, remained concealed in
the Isle of Wight, until a messenger
from his queen brought him the offer of
an asylum in Normandy. Sweyn, how-
ever, died the following month, leaving
the crown to his eldest son, who landed,
in 1016, at Sandvvitch, then the most cel-
ebrated haven in Britain, accompanied
by Thurchil. When they arrived, Eth-
elred was confined by illness at Cosham,
in Wiltshire, from Avhence he Avas re-
moved to London, Avhere he lingered
through the Avinter, and died on the 23rd
of April, at the moment the invaders were
preparing to besiege him in his capital.
By his first wife he had three sons, Ed-
mund, Edwy, and Athelstan ; and by his
second, he left two, Edward and Alfred.

Edmund, surnamed Ironside, the eldest
son of Ethelred, succeeded to the throne
at a period of the most imminent danger
to the liberties of his country. The fe-
rocious character of the invading army
was too Avell knoAvn for either him or his
people to expect mercy at their hands in
the event of their expedition proving suc-
cessful ; and yet their very ferocity pre-
A'ented the people from bravely second-
ing their sovereign in his attempts at de-
fence. Edmund was a man of great
courage as Avell as bodily strength, and
in the latter respect excelled almost any
of his subjects.

He possessed abilities sufficient to
have saved his country from ruin, had he
come sooner to the throne ; but it Avas
now too late. He bravely opposed the
Danes, however, notwithstanding every
disadvantage ; till at last the nobility of
both nations obliged their kings to come
to a compromise, and divide the king-

168

ENGLAND.

dom between them by treaty. Canute
reserved to himself Mercia, East An-
gUa, and Northumberland, which he had
entirely subdued. The southern parts
were left to Edmund. This prince sur-
vided the treaty oidy about a month ; be-
ing murdered at Oxford by two of his
chamberlains.

After the death of Edmund nothing
was left for the English but submission
to Canute.

Though Canute had, previous to his
accession to the throne, received bap-
tism, he knew little of the Christian doc-
trine ; but no sooner was he seated on
the English throne, than the ferocity of
his disposition yielded to the precepts of
religion ; and the sanguinary sea-king
was insensibly moulded into a just and
beneficent monarch. He placed the two
nations on an equality, and admitted them
alike to offices of trust and emolument.
He prohibited the custom of sending
Christians for sale into foreign countries ;
and, in his frequent visits to Denmark,
he took with him pious and learned mis-
sionaries to civilize and instruct his
countrymen.

Of Canute, historians speak highly, as
regarding his piety, and his equitable
system of government. He revised sev-
eral old laws, and formed many new
ones, all of which tended to the public
welfare. In 1030, Canute went to Rome,
and on his return, paid a visit to Denmark.

By the marriage settlement between
Canute and his queen Emma, the crown
of England should have descended to
their son Hardicanute, but as he was ab-
sent at the time of his father's death, the
ambition of his half brother Harold,
caused him to aspire to the throne ; and,
being generally supported by the nobility,
he took possession of it in the place of
Hardicanute.

The early part of this king's short
reign was marked bj'' many acts of cruelty
and injustice. Having first induced Al-
fred, the youngest son of Ethelred, to
visit England, he caused the adherents
of the prince who accompanied him to
Guildford to be assassinated, and then
murdered the unsuspecting Alfred. Af-
ter a reign of four years he died, in 1039,
and was buried at Westminster.

Hardicanute was with his mother Em-
ma, (who had accepted an asylum at
Bruges from Baldwin of Flanders,) when
a messenger arrived with intelligence of
the death of Harold, and who was fol-
lowed by a deputation of English and
Danish thanes, requesting Hardicanute
to ascend the throne of his father. On
his arrival in London, his feelings urged
him to an act of impotent revenge ; he
ordered the tomb of his predecessor to
be opened, the body to be decapitated,
and the head and trunk to be thrown into
the Thames. The command was obeyed;
but the head and trunk were both recov-
ered by some fishermen, who deposited
them in the cemetery of St. Clements,
London, the buiying place of the Danes.

The reign of this prince was short and
popular, the strength of his constitution,
from which he derived the name of Hardy,
was entirely overpowered by habitual in-
temperance, and he suddenly expired at
Lambeth, in the second year of his reign,
at the bridal of a noble Dane. The death
of Hardicanute severed the crown of
Denmark from that of England, and the
Saxon Edward was placed on the throne.

Before the body of the departed king
was laid in the grave, Edward ascended
the throne. This prince was about forty
years of age when he commenced his
reign, and appears to have aimed only at
improving the condition of his people :
all historians agree in his being rather a
good than a great man.

The only foreign war maintained by
this prince was one against Macbeth, the
usurper and murderer of Duncan, king of
Scotland ; and ihe victory of Laufanan,
in Aberdeenshire, by the fall of Macbeth,
secured the crown on the head of the
rightful heir.

King Edward wished, according to the
fashion of those times, to visit Rome,
but his desig-n being opposed by his
council, he sent his nephew and ixame-
sake, the exiled son of his brother Ed-
mund, and who, in the Saxon line, was
the rightful heir to the throne. The
prince arrived in London, and kept at a
distance from the king, and in a few days j
he died suddenly, not without suspicion j
being attached to Harold, who was now
resident in England ; and between whom

ENGLAND.

169

Death of king Harold at the battle of Hastings.

and the throne there stood only one indi-
vidual, namely, Edgar, son of the lately
deceased prince Edward. By an acci-
dental occurrence, some time before this
event, Harold fell into the hands of earl
Guy, who surrendered him to William
who was then in Normandy; and he
found himself so completely a prisoner as
to be induced to do homage for his lands
and honors to William, as the apparent
successor of Edward. Harold returned
to London only five weeks before the
death of Edward, which took place on the
5th of January, 1066.

In consequence of a report that Ed-
ward had appointed Harold to be his
successor, the latter was proclaimed
king, and was crowned by Aldred, the
archbishop of York ; while to Edgar,
who was the last male descendant of the
race of Cedric, was given the earldom
of Oxford.

On learning the death of Edward, and
accession of Harold, William duke of
Normandy determined to enforce his
claim to the crow-n of England. Prepa-
rations were made on both sides, and
Harold was waiting with confidence the
approach of his enemy, when his pro-
jects were disconcerted by the arrival of
32

a fleet of Norwegians, under the com-
mand of Hardrada their king. An obsti-
nate battle was fought near York, in
which the Norwegians were defeated and
Hardrada slain. Harold w^as at York,
when the news of the descent of the Nor-
mans was announced to him.

William effected his landing on the
29th of September, 1066, with an army
composed of warriors from every prov-
ince of France. Harold marched his
army to Scnlac, an eminence near Has-
tings ; where, on the opposite hill, he
found William employed in marshalling
his host. Each army spent the night in
its camp ; the English in revelry and
mirth, the Normans in fasting and prayer.
The battle began at nine o'clock on the
morning of the 14th of October, 1066.
The Normans advancing in three lines
raised the national shout of " God is our
help!" which was as loudly answered by
the adverse cry of " Christ's rood ! the
holy rood !" from the English, who rushed
forward in two lines, principally com-
posed of infantry. The battle seemed
for some time in favor of the English,
and a report spread that W^illiam had
fallen ; but the duke, with his helmet in
his hand, galloped along the line exclaim-

170

ENGLAND.

ing, "I am still alive, and with the help
of God I still shall conquer." Long and
desperate was the contest of that day ;
the ground was strewed with the slain,
and yet the ardor of the surviving comba-
tants seemed unabated ; when, a little
before sunset, an arrow, shot at random,
entered Harold's eye. He instantly fell,
and the knowledge of his fall relaxed the
efforts of the English ; they wavered, and
fled in great confusion, closely pursued
by the Normans ; who, by the order of
William, gave no quarter. On the side
of the victors sixty thousand men had
been engaged, and more than one-fourth
were left on the field. The numbers of
the vanquished, and the amount of their
loss, is unknown. The king's mother
begged, as a boon, the body of her son,
offering as a ransom its weight in gold ;
but William ordered the corpse of the
fallen monarch to be buried on the beach,
adding sarcastically, " He guarded the
coast while he was alive, let him continue
to guard it after death." By stealth, how-
ever, or by purchase, the royal remains
of Harold were removed, and deposited
in the church of Waltham, which Har-
old had founded before he ascended the
throne.

William had vainly expected on his re-
turn to Hastings after the battle, that the
British crown would have been offered to
him : a few days, however, dissipated
the illusion. London was put in a state
of defence by its citizens, and it required
great exertions to subdue the English to
his yoke ; they were, however, ultimately
compelled to submit. The castle of Do-
ver yielded, and the inhabitants of Kent
gave hostages as security for their obe-
dience. Soon after a deputation arrived,
consisting of the nobility, the clergy, and
the principal citizens of London, who, in
the name of their fellows, swore alle-
giance to the Conqueror, gave hostages,
and made him an offer of the crown. He
affected not to accept it until his Norman
barons had ratified the proposal with
their applause ; and then he appointed the
festival of Christmas for his coronation.
It accordingly took place in Westminster
Abbey, on the 25th of December, 1066.

All the first measures of the Conquer-
or's reign tended to allay former animosi-

ties, and to win the affections of his new
subjects ; all his commands seemed to
be dictated by justice and moderation,
with a due regard to ancient laws and
customs. The monarch was easy of ac-
cess, and listened graciously to the com-
plaints of those who approached him.
From this period the term "bastard,"
which hitherto had distinguished Wil-
liam, was dropped ; and he received the
name of " Conqueror."

To increase his revenue, he erected a
court of exchequer, wherein the accounts
of all the officers' collectors were passed,
and all delays and defaults in payment
were cognizable. All fines and forfeit-
ures, by which nearly all crimes were
commuted for, added greatly to the royal
income ; and, as a further stretch of des-
potism, William introduced a regulation,
formerly established in his continental
dominions, to prevent nocturnal riots and
conflagrations, by which the common
people, on pain of death, were obliged to
extinguish their fires and candles on the
ringing of a bell, which, from the purpose
intended, had derived the appellation of
couvrefeu, corrupted by the English into
curfew.

In the year 1 080, a book of judgment
was begun by order of the king, who ap-
pointed commissioners to make a survey
of the kingdom, and who completed their
work in two volumes, in 1086. It was
called Domesday-book, "b-3cause," as
Carte states, "every man was to receive
his doom, or be judged by it in case any
dispute about the value, tenure, payment,
or services of his lands, should arise upon
the collection of the king's ordinary reve-
nue, or raising extraordinary taxes." This
valuable record, having served ever since
for a decisive evidence in such disputes,
is lodged in the office of the chamberlains
of the exchequer.

William died at Rouen, September 10,
1087, and was succeeded by his son Wil-
liam II, surnamed Rufus, on account of
his red hair. To gain the national con-
sent, William hastened from Normandy
to England, seized the principal fortresses
on the southern coast, and the royal treas-
ure at Winchester, by the influence of
which, and of the primate, to whom he is
said to have made the most solemn en-

ENGLAND.

171

gagements to govern with justice and
mercy, he so far prevailed as to be crown-
ed at Westminster, September, 1087, in
an assembly of the chief barons and pre-
lates, and to be acknowledged as their
sovereign by all the other vassals of the
crown, in their oaths of allegiance before
the end of that year.

The royal treasure seized at Winches-
ter, beside jewels, gold, plate, and other
articles, consisted of sixty thousand
pounds of coined silver, which may be
estimated as equal to at least a million
sterling at the present time.

Notwithstanding the influence of this
treasure, which William spared not in the
application, and the oaths of allegiance
recently sworn, a conspiracy was formed
in 1088, by the barons, for the dethrone-
ment of the new monarch, and the eleva-
tion of his brother Robert to his place.

During the period that AVilliam was
engaged in making war on his brother
Robert in 1091, Malcolm, king of Scot-
land, took the opportunity of his absence
from England, to gratify the rapacity of
his followers with the spoil of the north-
em counties. This outrage William am-
ply revenged. Malcolm did him homage,
and received from him the manors and
the pension which he had enjoyed under
the Conqueror. But William, on his re-
turn from Normandy, visited Carlisle, from
which he expelled the lord of the district,
and peopled the city with a colony of
Englishmen from the south. Whether
this settlement was considered to be an
act of invasion by Malcolm, is uncertain ;
but a new quarrel was created between
the nations, and on the 1 3th of November,
1093, Malcolm received his death by the
sword of Morel, Mowbray's steward.
His queen, Margaret, survived him only
four days ; on which occasion the Athel-
ing Edgar was placed on the throne, and
restored the children of his sister Marga-
ret to their former honors.

Ever since Harold had effected the
reduction of Wales, the natives acknow-
ledged themselves the vassals of Eng-
land ; but their ancient hostility was not
extinguished, and, in the year 1094, the
natives of every district in Wales were
in arms. Their momitainous country
bade defiance to the heavy cavalry of the

Normans, and the best William could
effect, was to adopt his father's policy,
and draw a chain of castles round the
country, to stop their further incursions.

In the following summer, messengers
arrived to William, at a time when he
was hunting in the New Forest, with in-
telligence that his former enemy Helie
had defeated the Normans, and was lay-
ing siege to Mans ; upon which he pro-
ceeded with such speed to that place that
Helie had scarcely time to save himself
by flight. The king ravaged the lands
of his enemies, and then returned to Eng-
land, where he found Robert de Mow-
bray at the head of a rebellious party.
This nobleman was the most powerful of
the Anglo-Saxon barons ; he inherited
from his uncle, the bishop of Constance,
280 manors ; and was moreover allied, by
blood, or affinity, to all the first families
in England. He was joined in the rebel-
lion by many northern earls, but was at
length compelled to surrender, and lived
thirty years a prisoner in the castle of
Windsor.

In 1 100, the duke of Guienne wishing
to join the Crusade to the Holy Land,
applied to William to advance him mo-
ney on his province, to w^hich the latter
readily agreed, and was about to pay the
money and acquire possession of the ter-
ritories, when an accident terminated his
life. He was hunting in the New Fo-
rest, and had alighted from his horse after
a short chase, when a stag suddenly start-
ing up near him, a French gentleman,
named Walter Tyrrel, let fly an arrow at the
animal, which glancing from a tree, en-
tered the king's breast and pierced him
to the heart. Tyrrel immediately fled,
and the king's body was found by the
country people and interred without cer-
emony at Winchester.

On the death of William II, Henry,
the youngest son of the Conqueror, has-
tened to Winchester, seized the royal
treasure in spite of the resistance of the
keeper, and proceeded direct to London,
where he was proclaimed king by the
great council of state, and was crowned
on the following Simday at Westminster
Abbey as Henry I.

Duke Robert, the rightful heir of Eng
land, both by primogeniture and his treaty

172

ENGLAND.

with Rufus, had delayed so long his re-
turn from the Crusade, in which he had
acquired the highest reputation by his
valor and generosity, that he lost the op-
portunity of entering into the possession
of this kingdom, which he otherwise
might have accomplished without oppo-
sition. Arriving in France about a month
after William's decease, he obtained un-
opposed possession of the Norman duchy,
and made vigorous preparations to en-
force his claim to the English crown
with the troops of Normandy, aided by
most of the Normans in England, who
revolted from Henry, probably through
the influence of those great barons, who,
having estates in both countries, may
have wished a perpetual union of the
kingdom and duchy.

When Henry returned to England from
Normandy, after defeating Duke Robert,
he was requested by Stephen, a Norman
mariner, to allow him the honor of con-
veying him in his vessel, " the White
Ship," to England, saying, he had car-
ried his father when he went to the con-
quest of England. Henry made answer,
that he had selected a vessel for him-
self, but he would intrust his son and
treasures to the White Ship. Accord-
ingly the young prince, who was in his
eighteenth year, with Richard and Ade-
la, natural children of the king, and a
number of noble ladies and knights, set
sail at sunset ; but in consequence of
the revelling and feasting which had pre-
viously taken place on the deck, the di-
rection of the vessel was neglected, and
she struck against a rock called the Cat-
terage. Fitz-Stephen immediately low-
ered the prince into a. boat, ordering it
to row back to land ; but the shrieks of
Adela moved the generous youth to re-
turn to her assistance, and, in a short
time the ship went down, carrying with
her three hundred persons to the deep.
A nobleman, Geoffrey L'Aigle, and Ber-
trand, a butcher of Rouen, were alone
saved by clinging to the topmast ; but
only one, the last named, lived to recite
the tale, as it was on a November night,
and the nobleman perished from extreme
cold. From that day king Henry was
never seen to smile. The prince had
married, six months before his death,

! Matilda, the daughter of Fulk of An-
jou, and she was left a widow at the
age of twelve years. She remained
some time with the king, who behaved
towards her with the affection of a pa-
rent ; .she then returned to her father,
and ten years afterwards took the veil,
in the convent of Fontevraud.

Henry while hunting near St. Denis
le Froment, in Normandy, was seized
with an acute fever, of which he died on
the seventh day. His bowels were there
taken out, and deposited in the church of
St. Mary, at Rouen, which had been
foiuided by his mother. His body hav-
ing been embalmed, was conveyed to
England, and interred in the abbey of
Reading, which he had founded and rich-
ly endowed.

Henry preserved, throughout his reign,
a great regard for the administration of
justice ; and the severity with which he
punished flagrant crimes, caused his sub-
jects to believe he was " the lion of jus-
tice" described in the prophecies of Mer-
lin. In 1 125, the king found it necessa-
ry to punish the coiners, who abused the
licence they received from the royal trea-
sury, to enrich themselves. Another
grievance redressed by Henry was the
royal claim of purveyance. Whenever
the king moved from place to place, he
was attended by a number of prelates,
barons, and officers, each of whom was
followed by a long train of dependants,
who were accustomed to enter, without
cermony, the houses of the farmers and
husbandmen to live at free quarters,
and, in the insolence of superiority, to
sell, burn, or waste, what they could not
consume. A commission of judges was
appointed to examine the attendants of
the court and the most culpable of
them were punished with the loss of an
eye, a hand, or a foot. It appears from
ancient writers that the punishment of
mutilation was thought more useful than
that of death. The sight of the latter
was confined to few, and the impression
was soon obliterated ; but the culprit
who suffered mutilation carried about
with him the evidence of his punish-
ment, and admonished all who saw him
of the consequence of violating the laws.
He relieved the tenents of the crown of

ENGLAND

173

the oppression exercised by the caprice
of the royal officers, who collected the
rents in kind, by ordering a new survey
to be made of the royal demesnes, and
an equitable rent to be paid in money.
In short, it appears, that w^here the
king's own interests were not concerned,
he showed no reluctance to punish the
exactions and rapacity of others.

The intervening space between the
death of Henry I, and the arrival of his
daughter Matilda in England, was one
of rapine and confusion — it being a re-
ceived opinion, that there could be no
violation of the king's peace until the
new king had ascended the throne and
received the homage of his subjects. In
consequence of this doctrine, the great-
est outrages were committed. The vio-
lence of the people was chiefly directed
to the destruction of the royal forests,
which Henry's passion for the chase had
led him to protect with the most vexa-
tious tyranny. While that monarch lived,
the whole country was covered with
beasts of chase ; he had forbidden the ba-
rons to hunt on their own estates with-
out his permission. " You might," writes
a contemporary, " have seen them wan-
dering in herds of a thousand together ;
within a few days after his death, you
could not discover two heads of deer in
a whole forest."

Before Matilda could arrive to claim
tlie crown, which had been left her by
her father, Stephen availed himself of
the interest of his brother, the bishop of
Winchester, to seize it for himself. These
young men stood in the relationship of
nephews to the deceased king ; their mo-
ther, Adela, who married the Count de
Blois, being sister to Henry I. Stephen
had himself sworn allegiance to Henry's
daughter, Matilda, but to do away with
any difficulty on that head, his steward,
Hugh Bigod, swore that the late king,
on his death bed, had disinherited his
daughter, and left the crown to his ne-
phew Stephen, whose affability and be-
nevolence had gained the love of all,
and the people were inclined to favor
his pretensions. The citizens of Lon-
don proclaimed him king, and he was
crowned on the 22d December, 1135,
before the prelates and barons had assem-

bled to signify their acquiescence. He
had long been the most popular nobleman
in England ; the high bom he won by
courtesy, the low by mixing in their
sports and pastimes, and he was beloved
by all ; so that, in a short time, they who
at first were inclined to demur had joined
the torrent, and the succession of Ste-
phen was admitted by the whole nation.

In the meajitime Matilda landed in Eng-
land with her brother the earl of Glou-
cester, and being joined by several pow-
erful barons, a civil war ensued, which
proved the most calamitous in the Eng-
lish annals. Stephen performed his
part with vigor and courage, but being
taken prisoner in the battle of Lincoln,
in M41, his party was broken up, and
Matilda was acknowledged queen. Ow-
ing to her haughty conduct, an insur-
rection was excited against her govern-
ment. The earl of Gloucester was soon
after taken prisoner and exchanged for
Stephen, and Matilda was induced to re-
tire into Normandy ; and the contest was
carried on by her son Henry Plantage-
net. An armistice, however, took place,
in 1153, and it was agreed that Stephen
should reign during his life, and that Hen-
ry should succeed him. Soon after this
pacification, Stephen died at Canterbury,
on the 25th of October, 1154, and was
buried in the convent which he himself
had founded at Feversham.

The lower classes, and especially the
agriculturalists appear to have suffered the
severest distress during the reign of Ste-
phen. The situation of two competitors
for the throne, subjected the inhabitants
to the caprices and cruelties of their dif-
ferent adherents ; when one party in-
flicted an injury, the other hastened to
retaliate ; and both gloried in the com-
mission of barbarities which would have
disgraced their pagan forefathers.

Henry being in Normandy at the time of
Stephen's death, a continuance of stormy
weather detained him at Barfleur, and
delayed his arrival in England for more
than six weeks. On the 19th of Decem-
ber, 1154, Henry was crowned with
his queen, at Westminster, and from
that period the principal object of his ad-
ministration seemed to be to repair the
evils which civil war had occasioned du-

174

ENGLAND.

ring the preceding reign. The same
month which witnessed the coronation
of Henry, was signalized by the succes-
sion of Nicholas Breakspear to the throne
of the Vatican. This prelate is the on-
ly Englishman who ever sat in the chair
of St. Peter. The English felt proud of
this elevation of their countryman, and
an embassy was sent by Henry to con-
gratulate pope Adrian, the name assumed
by the new pontilf.

Many of the useful measures adopted
by Henry have been attributed to the ad-
vice of Thomas a Becket, who, on Ro-
ger de Pont being promoted to the see
of York, was made archdeacon of Canter-
bury ; but the jealousy entertained by the
prelate of York of Becket's abilities "ren-
dered him a great enemy. Becket's abili-
ties soon gained him the notice and friend-
ship of Henrj', who appointed him his
chancellor, made him tutor to his son,
and conferred on him many other sub-
stantial proofs of the royal favor ; such
as the wardenship of the tower of Lon-
don, the custody of the castle of Berk-
hamstead, and the honor of Eye, with
the services of one hundred and forty
knights. The splendor of his course
more than equalled the rapidity of his
rise to favor ; his table was open to eve-
ry person who had business at court.
Lingard states, that " it often happen-
ed that the number of uninvited guests
could not be accommodated at table ;
and then Becket, that they might not
soil their garments when they sate on
the floor, was careful to have it daily
covered with fresh straw." Nor did the
chancellor act only as a councillor to the
king, for he served, as occasion required,
the oflice of a negotiator or a warrior.

When Theobald died, in 1161, all eyes
were turned towards Becket as the fu-
ture archbishop of Canterbury. Henry,
however, was in no hurry to part with the
episcopal revenue, and kept his intention
locked up within his own breast for thir-
teen months, and then told his chancel-
lor to prepare himself for the dignity.
Becket accepted it ; he was ordained
priest, and the next day was consecrated
by Henry of Winchester, in the presence
of the king and his courtiers.

From the period of Becket's promotion

to the see of Canterbury, he renounced
his luxurious habits, and practised a dai-
ly course of secret mortifications. In
lieu of the train of knights and noblemen
who formerly waited on him, he selected
a few companions from the most exempla-
ry and learned of the clergy ; his diet
was abstemious ; his charities were abun-
dant ; his time was divided into certain
portions, alotted to prayer and study, and
the episcopal functions.

Amidst many discordant statements, it
is difficult to fix on the original cause of
dissension between the king and his
archbishop, but that which brought them
into immediate collision was a controver-
sy respecting the jurisdiction of the ec-
clesiastical courts.

A man in holy orders had debauched
the daughter of a gentleman in Worces-
tershire, and then murdered the father to
prevent the effects of his resentment.
The atrociousness of the crime produ-
ced a spirit of indignation among the
people ; and the king insisted that the
assassin should be tried by the civil ma-
gistrate. Becket opposed this, alleg-
ing the privileges of the church. This
produced a warm contest between the
king and archbishop, and the latter se-
cretly left the kingdom and repaired to
the pope at Sens. Several fruitless at-
tempts were made towards an accommo-
dation between the king and Becket ;
but at length the mutual aim of both
made a reconciliation necessary. But no-
thing could exceed the insolence with
which Becket conducted himself upon
his first landing in England. Instead of
retiring quietly to his diocese with that
modesty which became a man just par-
doned by his king, he made a progress
through Kent, in all the splendor and
magnificence of a sovereign pontift'. As
he approached Southwark, the clergy,
the laity, men of all ranks and ages,
came forth to meet him, and celebrated
his triumphal entry with hymns of joy.
Thus confident of the voice and hearts
of the people, he began to launch forth
his thunders against those who had been
his former opposers. The archbishop
of York, who had crowned Henry's eld-
est son in his absence, was the first
against whom he denounced sentence of

ENGLAND.

175

Assassination of archbishop Bccktt.

suspension. The bishops of London and
SaUsbury, he actually excommunicated.
One man he exconmiunicated for hav-
ing spoken against him ; and another
for having cut off the tail of one of his
horses. Henry was in Normandy, while
the primate was thus triumphantly para-
ding through the kingdom ; and it was
not without the utmost indignation that
he received information of his turbulent
insolence. When the suspended and
excommunicated prelates arrived with
their complaints, his anger knew no
bounds. " What an unhappy prince am 1,"
said the king, " who have not about me one
man of spirit enough to rid me of a sin-
gle insolent prelate, whom I have raised
from the lowest station to be the plague
of my life, and the continual disturber
of my government."

Upon hearing which, four knights who
were present, Reginald Fitzurse, William
Tracy, Hugh de Moreville, and Richard
Brito, considering that passionate expres-
sion to be a royal licence, secretly pro-
ceeded to Saltvvood to arrange their oper-
ations ; and each bound himself by oath
to carry off or murder Becket. For this
purpose they proceeded to the primate's
house, abruptly entered his apartment,

and began by intimidating him. Pre-
tending to have received their commission
from the king, they ordered him to ab-
solve the excommunicated prelates. He
replied, that he was willing to do so,
(with the exception of the archbishop of
York, whose case was reserved for the
consideration of the Pope,) on condition
that they previously took the accustomed
oath of submitting to the determination
of the church. When the primate had
entered his cathedral, during the hour of
vespers, the same laiights with twelve
companions, in complete armor, entered ;
and Hugh de Moreville asked, " Where
is the traitor ?" To this no answer was
made ; upon which Fitzurse asked,
" Where is the archbishop ?" and Becket
replied, " Here I am, the archbishop,
but no traitor. Reginald, I have granted
thee many favors ; what is thy object
now ? If you seek my life, I command
you, in the name of God, not to touch
one of my people." He was then told
he must instantly absolve the bishops ;
he answered, " Till they offer satisfac-
tion, I will not." " Then die !" exclaim-
ed the aasassin, aiming a blow at his
head, Avhich bore away his cap, and
wounded him on the crown. The bishop

176

ENGLAND.

joined his hands, and boAved his head,
saying, " In the name of Christ, and for
the defence of his church, I am ready to
die." A second stroke threw him on his
knees ; and a third laid him on the floor,
at the foot of St. Bennet's ahar. Thus,
on the 29th of December, 1170, at the
age of fifty-three, perished this extraor-
dinary man, a martyr to what he deemed
his duty, the preservation of the privileges
and immunities of the church.

When the news of Becket's death
reached Normandy, the king was so
strongly aflected, as to decline company
and food for several days. He knew
not, says a contemporary of that period,
how to behave to the murderers. To
punish them for that they had understood
he wished them to do, seemed imgener-
ous ; to spare them was to confirm the
general suspicion, that he had ordered
the murder. He therefore left them to
the judgment of the spiritual courts. In
consequence, the guilty knights travelled
to Rome, and were enjoined by Alexan-
der to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
where some, if not all of them, died.

The king, to avoid the immediate con-
sequences which he had so much reason
to fear from the anger of Alexander, di-
verted the attention of his subjects by an
expedition to Ireland. In battle, the Irish
are said to have measured the valor of
their combatants by their contempt for
artificial assistance ; and when they saw
the English knights cased in iron, pro-
nounced them to be void of real courage.

On the 12th November, 1170, Henry
arrived in Dublin, where a wooden pal-
ace had been erected for his reception,
as he chose rather to allure, than to com-
pel, submission. This conduct obtained
him a nominal homage from all but the
princes of Ulster ; they refused to visit
the king, or to acknowledge his authority.
However, in 1 175, a treaty of " final con-
cord" was concluded, by which it was j
decreed that Roderick, king of Con- j
naught, should govern, under the English :
crown, as long as he performed the ser- 1
vices to which he was bound, and Rod- ,
erick surrendered one of his sons as a j
hostage to Henry for his fidelity. j

Soon after this, Henry was disturbed j
by quarrels in his own family, and which j

probably originated in his own domestic
conduct. Henry had for several years de-
serted his consort for a succession of mis-
tresses ; particularly Rosamond, daugh-
ter of Walter Clifford, usually denomina-
ted " Fair Rosamond." Though, in their
early years, he had indulged his children
to excess, that affection, as they grew up,
gradually changed into the tyranny of a
despotic and jealous sovereign. His
queen, Eleanor, who knew herself to be
an object of indifference to the king, en-
couraged and fomented the discontent of
her sons. Prince Henry, who had mar-
ried Margaret, the daughter of Louis, fled
to his father-in-law at Chartres. Rich-
ard and Geoffry followed the steps of
their brother, and the queen also ab-
sconded. In this dilemma, the oflended
monarch had recourse to the bishops of
Normandy, who, in an admonitory letter,
advised the queen's return to her hus-
band ; but she persevered in her refusal,
and having put on male attire, was se-
cured by the friends of her husband, and
confined by him during the remainder of
her life.

Henry after many domestic troubles,
died near Tours, to which place he had
repaired, in order to adjust a peace with
the French king, and was succeeded by
his son Richard.

Although Richard showed some marks
of regret for the loss of his father, he
evidently thirsted too much for the exer-
cise of real power and independent do-
minion, to feel much sorrow, when the
death of his predecessor gave him the
sovereignity of England. He remained
a short time on the continent, to take for-
mal possession of his foreign territories,
and to settle the differences between the
crowns of fVance and England. In the
meantime, he sent immediate orders for
the liberation of his mother Eleanor,
whom he appointed regent of the king-
dom, until his arrival in this country.
On the 13th of August, 1189, he landed
at Portsmouth ; the chief of the nobility
met their sovereign at Winchester, and
on the 3rd of September, he was crown-
ed with great pomp and magnificence at
Westminster. The day was, however,
disgraced by an inhuman massacre of
the Jews, who at this period were, in

ENGLAND.

177

every Christian country, the principal if
not the sole, bankers. Their profits were
enormous ; and, as there was no law
in existence to regulate the interest of
money, their demands rose in proportion
to the wants of the borrowers. They
liad been protected under the late reign
by Henry ; but as Philip, the French
king, had banished them from France,
they feared that similar measures might
be adopted by Richard ; to obviate which,
the Jews had hastened from every coun-
try to London, with valuable presents to
the king. Richard had issued a procla-
mation, forbidding all Jews to enter the
church during the coronation service, or
to come into the place while his majesty
should be at dinner ; but some of these
unfortunate people had mixed with the
crowd at the coronation, and entered the
palace. Their appearance there excited
popular auger, and a report having been
spread that the king had given a general
permission to his subjects to kill them,
every Jew who had the temerity to ap-
pear in the street was murdered, and
every house belonging to that people was
set on fire. It was in vain that Richard
despatched the justiciary with several
knights to disperse the rioters ; the work
of murder continued till the next morn-
ing. It was equally vain that, by pro-
clamation, he took the Jews under his
protection ; the example of the capital
was followed in all the principal towns
in England ; they were every where plun-
dered and murdered.

After the fatal battle of Tiberias, Acre,
Sidon, Ascalon, and Jerusalem succes-
sively fell into the hands of the sultan
Saladin. Tyre alone remained in the
possession of the Christians ; and if the
struggle was still faintly maintained, it
was owing to the exertions of thousands
from Europe, whose misguided zeal led
them annually to perish under the walls
of Acre. The considerations of danger
that would have deterred a more prudent
monarch sensed only to excite the ambi-
tion of Richard. He had taken the cross
during the reigTi of his father ; and now
an expedition to the Holy Land offered
such attractions to his adventurous spirit,
that he spent the four months he passed
in England in preparing for the Crusades,
23

and chiefly in raising money on terms
that were dishonorable to himself and in-
jurious to his successors. The demesne
lands and the offices belonging to the
crown were exposed to public sale ; he
received bribes from Geoffry, the natural
son of Henry, who, according to the wish
of his father, was now archbishop of
York ; also from the bishop of Durham,
and the king of Scotland, to whom he
resigned the right of superiority over the
crown of that country, which had been
acquired by Henry.

The kings of England and France,
having engaged to make the pilgrimage
to the Holy Land together, an army of
more than a hundred thousand men, in
the double character of warriors and pil-
grims, assembled, to march under their
banners.

Previous to Richard's departure from
England, he added to his mother's dower
the lands that had been settled on Ma-
tilda, queen of the first Henry, and Alice,
the relict of Stephen ; and in order to
attach his brother John to his interests,
he gave him about one-third of his king-
dom. On the 23rd of September, in the
year 11 90, both the kings had reached the
port of Messina in safety. Philip occu-
pied a royal palace within the walls, and
the English prince had a house in the
suburbs, which was surrounded with
vineyards.

Richard was profuse in the disposal of
money ; at Christmas, he invited to his
table every gentleman of the two armies,
and gave to each, after dinner, a present
proportionate to his rank. The queen
dowager having arrived Avith Berengaria,
daughter of the king of Navarre, to be
the consort of Richard, she was anointed
and crowned on her bridal day by the
bishop of Evreux.

Richard's conduct displeased the allies,
who were waiting his presence at Acre,
which place ha^-ing endured a siege of
more than two years under the direction
of Saladin, surrendered to the valor of
the Crusaders on the 10th of June 1191,
a few days after the arrival of Richard,
who, though laboring under the weakness
of an intermittent fever, was carried, in
the intervals between the fits, to the
trenches, and superintended the opera-

178

ENGLAND.

Battle between Richard and Saladin.

tions of his army. After numerous pro-
posals, made and rejected by each party,
a negotiation took place, in which it was
agreed that Saladin should surrender the
city, and that the Turks, as a ransom for
their lives, should restore the holy cross,
and set at liberty 1500 captives. The
term of forty days was assigned for the
performance of the conditions, and some
thousands of hostages were detained by
the Christians.

The nations of Christendom received
intelligence of this conquest as a prelude
to the deUvery of Jerusalem ; but the
general joy was damped on learning that
the king of France was about to return
home. In justification of this step, it was
stated that his health was deeply impaired
by sickness, but, in fact, the two kings
had never cordially co-operated togeth-
er ; and the temper of Richard was so
irritable, that all were obliged to submit
to liis caprice, or come to open hostilities ;
so that the friends of Philip contended
he would advance the cause of the Cru-
sade by Avithdrawing from the army. He
therefore quilted Acre, and left 10,000 of
liis followers under the command of his
vassal, the duke of Burgundy. The forty

days had nearly expired which had been
fixed for the performance of the treaty
between Saladin and Richard, when the
former refused, under diflerent pretexts,
to perform his part of it, and king Rich-
ard declared that the hostages should pay
the foreit of his perfidy with their lives.
In these wars neither party had been
sparing of the blood of their captives ;
on that occasion the hostages were led
to the summit of a hill, and 2,700 infidels
were butchered ; and at the same time
almost an equal number, that had fallen
to the lot of the king of France, were
massacred on the walls of Acre, by the
duke of Burginidy. After this bloody
deed, Richard conducted his army, now
reduced to 30,000 men, from Acre to
Jaffa, near which place he obtained a
complete victory over Saladin.

A want of union in opinion had hith-
erto operated against the success of the
Crusaders ; as personal interests or na-
tional jealousy continually threw some
obstacle in the way of general co-opera-
tion. But in the following siunmer all
seemed unanimous, and demanded, with
one voice, to march against Jerusalem,
and Richard returned for that purpose to

ENGLAND.

179

Bethany. Then with Jerusalem before
his eyes, he recommended the selection
of twenty counsellors, who should decide
upon oath whether it were better to be-
siege that capital, or Cairo, the capital
of Egypt, from whence Saladin drew his
supplies. To the astonishment of all,
they preferred the latter ; so that the king
led them back to Acre, notwithstanding
the remonstrances of his followers. The
duke of Burgimdy composed a song, in
which he severely censured this conduct
in the British king ; and the latter, in re-
venge, wrote a satire on the personal
vices of his opponent. On the retreat of
the Christians, Saladin poured his army
into the town of Jaffa, upon which Rich-
ard hastened to its succor, and, by per-
forming prodigies of valor, succeeded in
raising the siege. His exertions, how-
ever, brought on a fever, and he conde-
scended to ask for an armistice, which
was agreed upon for three years. At this
treaty Saladin insisted on the destruction
of Ascalon ; and, in return, he granted to
the pilgrims free access to the holy sepul-
chre. Thus ended a Crusade which had
cost Europe the lives of more than 200,000
of her bravest warriors, which had drain-
ed the nobles of their long hoarded wealth,
and shown to the high-minded chivalry
of France and England that a handful of
" infidels" could resist the united attacks
of pope, kings, and people. The worst
enemy of the Crusaders might certainly
be traced to their own internal dissen-
sions. They could neither agree while
marching together in armies with a view
to conquest, nor yet unite their conquests
imder one government after they had made
them. The states they did form, instead
of assisting, made war upon each other,
and latterly even on the Greek emperors,
and thus became an easy prey to the
common enemy. The invading armies
were dissolute in their habits, and their
licentiousness was viewed with abhor-
rence by their abstemious and intellectual
opponents.

Previous to his return to Europe,
Richard, on taking a last view of the
shores of Asia, on the 9th of October,
1193, is said to have exclaimed, " Most
holy land, I commend thee to the care
of the Almighty ! May he grant me life

to return and rescue thee from the yoke
of the infidels ! "

Whilst these things were passing
abroad, Richard's English subjects were
suffering from the rapacity of his minis-
ters, and the ambitious views of his broth-
er John. At his departure for Pales-
tine, the king had entrusted the reins of
government to William de Longchamp,
a Norman of obscure birth, on whom the
most costly preferments were bestowed.
He was first made chancellor, then bishop
of Ely, afterwards, grand justiciary, and,
lastly, papal legate in England and Scot-
land; which placed him during the king's
absence, at the head of the church and the
state. This twofold authority he exer-
cised in the most despotic manner.

England was in a state of civil dis-
sension, when the news arrived of Rich-
ard having set out on his return from
Acre, and a general impatience prevailed
to behold this champion of the cross.
After repeated disappointments, all Eu-
rope was electrified at learning that Henry
VI, of Germany, had purchased the royal
captive from Leopold of Austria, for the
sum of 60,000/., and that he was con-
fined in one of the castles of the Tyrol.
Whilst his English subjects were using
every exertion to procure the liberty of
their sovereign, John repaired to Paris,
and leagued with Philip, king of France,
in the invasion of Normandy. Several
fortresses yielded ; but Rouen was saved
by the exertions of the earl of Essex.

Longchamp, who still remained in ex-
ile, was the first to discover the retreat of
his royal master. By repeated solicita-
tions he obtained permission to conduct
the king to the diet at Hagenau, where
he answered the accusations alleged
against him, in so manly and persuasive
a manner, that the cold-liearted emperor
ordered his chains to be struck off; show-
ed him the respect due to a crowned head ;
and consented to treat about the amount
of his ransom.

The negotiations for procuring the
king's liberty occupied four months. At
the end of that time one hundred and
fifty thousand marks was fixed upon as
the price to be paid ; the other conditions
were that Richard should restore Isaac,
the late emperor of Cyprus, to his liberty,

180

ENGLAND.

but not to his dominions ; and to deliver
Isaac's captive daughter to her uncle, the
duke of Austria. Henry, in return, pro-
mised to set the king at liberty on receipt
of the money ; to aid him against all his
enemies ; and to invest him with the feu-
dal sovereignty of Provence. Richard,
with a view to bind the emperor more
firmly to his interest, adopted the strange
expedient advised by his mother, which
was, by the delivery of the cap from his
head to resigir the crown into the hand
of the emperor, who restored it to him
again to be held as a lief of the empire
with the obligation of a yearly payment
of five thousand pounds. But John and
the French king offered a more tempting
bait to keep Richard in captivity. This,
however, the German princes and barons,
who were security for Richard's freedom,
would not agree to. The money was
raised by a tax upon the people ; and such
was the poverty of the nation, or the
peculation of the agents employed, that
a second, and even a third collection was
obliged to be levied on the impoverished
and murmuring inhabitants.

Richard ultimately perished in a quar-
rel with the viscount of Limoges, in
Normandy, with -whom the king was dis-
satisfied, because the baron refused to
give to him the whole of a treasure found
on his estate of Vidomar. As Richard
was going round the walls with one of
his officers, on the 26th of March, 1199,
he was wounded in the shoulder by an
archer named Gourdon. An imskilful
surgeon drew out the head of the arrow,
but mortification ensued. On learning
his danger, Richard ordered the man to
be brought into his presence, and asked
him, " VVhat injury did I ever do to thee,
that thou shouldst kill me ?" The soldier
replied, "My father and two brothers
fell by your sword ; and you intended to
have hanged me. You may now satiate
your revenge. I should cheerfully suffer
all the torments that can be inflicted,
were I but sure of having delivered the
world of a tyrant, who has drenched it
with blood and carnage." This spirited
answer struck Richard with remorse, and
he ordered Gourdon to be set at liberty,
with one hundied shillings to take him
home.

As soon as Richard's death was known,
John was crowned as his successor to
the throne of England. According to
the right of hereditary succession, the
crown should have descended to Arthur,
duke of Britany, who was the son of
John's brother, GeofTry.

One of the first acts of John's sove-
reignty was to obtain a divorce, (on the
usual plea of consanguinity,) from his
wife, Hadwisa, whom he had married
twelve years before, and to form another
matrimonial connection. With this intent
he sent ambassadors to Lisbon, to de-
mand the princess of Portugal ; but be-
fore he could receive an answer, having
accidentally seen Isabella, daughter to
Aymor, count of Angouleme, he was
captivated with her beauty. She had
been publicly promised and privately
espoused to Hugh, count of La Marche ;
but the glitter of a crown seduced the
faith of both father and daughter; and
John conducted Isabella as liis bride to
England. The count La Marche appeal-
ed to the justice of Philip of France ;
and the latter, glad of an excuse to hmn-
ble his powerful rival, entered the field
against John. The consequence of this
war was, that John lost the best portion
of his possessions in France. During
that contest, however, he took his nephew,
Arthur, who had previously been allowed
to reside with the French king, prisoner,
and confined him in a dungeon of the
castle of Rouen, from which place he
suddenly disappeared a few weeks after.
The silence observed by his imcle re-
specting the circumstance was considered
a proof that the young prince was mur-
dered ; report attributed the manner of
his death to the dagger of John, and he
whispers of suspicion were soon convert-
ed into a general belief of the king's
guilt. The Bretons swore to be revenged
on the murderer of Arthur, and pro-
ceeded to settle the succession to the
dukedom, which was claimed for Alice,
daughter of Constantia, and Guy de
Thouars, Avhom she had married after the
death of her first husband, GeofTry. Phi-
lip summoned John to prove his innocence
before the French peers ; John refusing,
he soon after, with the Bretons, entered
his dominions, and the king returned to

ENGLAND.

181

England, leaving the direction of a pow-
erful army to his general, the earl of
Pembroke. Such, however, was the
success of Philip, that Normandy was
soon re-annexed to the French crown,
after a separation of 292 years.

John next engaged in a contest with
the Roman pontiff. It originated in an
exclusive right, claimed by the monks of
Christ church, and founded on ancient
custom, to elect their prelates ; and this
they exercised on the demise of arch-
bishop Hubert, when the junior part of
the monks assembled clandestinely in the
night, and placed Reginald, their sub-
prior, on the archiepiscopal throne, with-
out, as was usual on all former occasions,
applying for the royal license.

Soon after John became involved in a
contest with the Pope, in which he was
obliged to submit to great humiliations,
and in 1215, he was compelled by his
subjects to give them the " Magna Char-
ta," — the charter of their liberties. This
charter was afterwards extended and
confirmed by several kings. John, how-
ever, had no intentions of adhering to its
provisions ; but as soon as he could col-
lect a sufficient force, he renewed the
war against his subjects, and died in the
midst of civil broils in 1216.

John was succeeded by his son, Henry
HI, who had only just completed his
tenth year. He had a long, but through
his own weakness, an vmquiet reign.
Under him, in 1265, was established
the lower house of parliament, or house
of commons. He died in 1272, and
was succeeded by his son, Edward
I, who was Avise and brave, and one
of the most distinguished in the line
of English kings. At the time of
his father's death he was in Palestine,
and nearly two years elapsed before he
reached England. He was crowned in
Westminster Abbey, August 19, 1273.
Soon after this event, Llewellyn, prince
of Wales, having refused to swear fealty
as a vassal to the throne of England,
Edward advanced with his fleet across
the Dee, and cut off the communication
between Snowden and the sea. The
Welsh suffered so much from famine, that
lilewellyn was compelled to surrender
on the conditions prescribed by the con-

queror, but which Edward afterwards
rendered easy, by the terms of friendship
which he extended to the chieftain, and
to his brother David. Shortly after this
event, Llewellyn married Eleanor de
Montfort, daughter of the late earl of
Leicester, and who was then the king's
prisoner. To David he was a liberal
protector ; yet a very short period sufficed
to convince Edward that his bounty had
been bestowed on a faithless and un-
worthy object. The Welsh had imbi-
bed, from their ancestry, an antipa-
thy towards the English. They beheld
with grief the gradual extinction of their
national usages, the distribution of the
cantreds into hundreds and shires, and
the introduction of English laws and
English judicatures. David, with all his
obligations to Edward, felt dissatisfied ;
even Llewellyn had, or pretended to have,
causes of complaint, and lent a willing
ear to the inflammatory suggestions of
his brother, who headed the rebellious
party.

The Welsh poured from their moun-
tains into the marshes, and laid the coun-
try waste with fire and sword. But the
struggle was of short duration, as the
Welsh leader was killed by an English
knight, and his head sent to London.

The independence of Wales expired
with Llewellyn ; but the better to secure
the permanency of his conquest, Edward
spent the following year in Wales, dur-
ing which period his son Edward was
born at Caernarvon. From the final
pacification of Wales to the commence-
ment of the troubles in Scotland, was an
interim of four years ; and much of that
period was spent by the monarch in
settling disputes between the kings of
France, Aragon, and Sicily ; all of whom
were consigned within a few months to
the tranquillity of the grave. The French
regency invited Edward to assume the
office of mediator ; but while he was en-
gaged in the concerns of foreign states,
the people of England complained that
he neglected the interests of his own
kingdom.

The refusal of a supply by the parlia-
ment admonished liim to return ; and he
soon found in the unfortunate situation
of Scotland, ample field for the exercise

182

ENGLAND.

of his policy and liis ambition. Ed-
ward's sister, Margaret, had married
Alexander, king of Scotland, by whom she
had two sons, who both died, and one
daughter, married to Eric, King of Nor-
way, the latter had also a daughter Mar-
garet ; and now, by the death of the
infant princess, the posterity of the three
last Scottish kings had become extinct ;
and the crown of Scotland was claimed
by thirteen competitors.

Some of the leading Scottish barons
invited Edward to take the place of arbi-
trator, and his ambition led him to main-
tain his claim to the appointment, as a
right inherent in his own crown, because,
he said, being the superior lord, the kings
of Scotland reigned but as his vassals.
In consequence of this acceptance, the
king summoned the barons, prelates, and
commons of Scotland to meet him at
Norham, on the borders of the two king-
doms ; in the church of which place,
Brabancon, the English justiciary, an-
nounced Edward's arrival for the purpose
of settling the right of succession to the
crown. The true heir was to be found
in the descendants of David, earl of
Huntingdon, brother to king William, and
from the eldest daughter of whom had
sprung John Baliol, lord of Galloway.
'I'o him the crown was adjudged, for
which he did fealty to king Edward, as
sovereign lord of the realm of Scotland.
Baliol soon felt the consequence of this
disgraceful vassalage, as every suiter who
was dissatisfied with the king's decision,
appealed to Edward as his superior lord ;
and in the first year of his reign, he was
served with four citations to answer in
the court of England : in every other
respect the conduct of Edward towards
Baliol Avas generous and honorable. But
Baliol was soon involved in an endless
quarrel with a powerful adversary, Mac-
duft", the son of Malcolm, earl of Fife,
which, with the frequency of appeals,
that he refused to answer, alTorded a
pretence for dissatisfaction ; a succession
of difficulties divided the general inter-
ests of the Scottish people, and a war was
the result, which deprived Baliol of the
crown.

Baliol was deposed by the English
king, and removed to the Tower of Lon-

don, which was assigned him as a resi-
dence by Edward. After three years the
royal captive was allowed to retire into
Normandy, Boniface, the pontiff, having
become responsible for his future good
conduct, which we have cause to think
was never infringed upon, as no further
mention is made of Baliol until his death,
in 1 305. After that event, Edward made
a tour through Scotland, and found every
sword sheathed, and every knee ready to
bend to him as their lord ; but the mon-
arch had learned that oaths, extorted from
a conquered people, impose but a feeble
restraint on the spirit of independence.
No sooner had the king settled the gov-
ernment of Scotland, than William Wal-
lace rekindled the flame of Scottish pa-
triotism. He was soon joined by a large
body of troops, headed by sir William
Douglas ; they were at first successful,
but were at length defeated at the battle
of Falkirk. Wallace escaped into the
woods, but after the fortress of Stirling
had surrendered to Edward, he was taken
and brought to London, where he was
tried and basely executed as a traitor.

Towards the close of the king's reign,
Comyn, one of the claimants to the Scot-
tish throne, was slain by the hand of his
rival, Bruce. Edward immediately sent
orders to his lieutenant, Aymar de Val-
ence, to chastise the presumption of
Bruce ; and all the young nobility of Eng-
land were summoned to receive, in com-
pany with prince Edward, the honor of
knighthood, previous to accompanying
that prince on an expedition to Scotland.
The king knighted his son within the pal-
ace ; and the prince conferred a similar
honor in the abbey church on his two hun-
dred and seventy champions. The king
vowed before God that he would avenge
the death of Comyn, and besought the peo-
ple, in the event of his death, during the
expedition, to keep his body unburied,
till they had enabled his son to fulfil
his vow. His son then swore he would
not sleep two nights in the same place,
until he had entered Scotland to execute
his father's commands. His example
was applauded and foUow^ed. The next
morning, the prince, with his knights'
companions, departed for the borders.
The king followed by easy journeys, but

ENGLAND.

183

was obliged from weakness to remain in
the neighborhood of Carlisle, where his
military tenants joined him.

In the mean time Bruce had assmiied
the title of king, and was crowned at
Scone without opposition. But after a
series of disasters, he was obliged to take
shelter in Ireland. At the end of winter
the exiles issued from their retreat.
Bruce, who soon collected a large num-
ber of followers, in one instance defeated
the English army, which proved such a
source of vexation to Edward that he de-
termined to advance into Scotland ; but
the exertion of mounting his horse threw
him back into his former state of weak-
ness, and having proceeded only six
miles in four days, he expired at Burgh,
on the Sands, on the 7th of July, 1307,
in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the
thirly-tifth of his reign.

This king's reign is mainly distin-
guished by the subjugation of Wales,
which at his death was firmly united to
the English crown. Edward was twice
married, and had seventeen children.

Edward II, surnamed of Caernarvon,
from the place of his birth, was the first
royal prince who bore the title of Prince
of Wales. Besides the many advantages
bequeathed him by his noble father, he
was much beloved by the English peo-
ple, who hoped for great prosperity un-
der his government. But they entertain-
ed a better opinion of the young king
than he deserved ; as an unfortunate at-
tachment to Piers Gaveston was produc-
tive of the most fatal results. Whatever
portion he inherited of the disposition of
his father was obliterated by the trifling
manners and example of his companion,
with whom he joined in the pursuit of
dissipation and pleasure. His royal pa-
rent having, by frequent admonition, and
occasional punishment, vainly tried to in-
stil into his mind the love of worthy ob-
jects, had banished Gaveston from the
kingdom ; and when he did so, required
from him a solemn promise that he would
never return without the royal consent.
He however was recalled, but he was
the source of many troubles till he was
beheaded.

Being at peace with his own subjects,
Edward thought this a favorable time to

go to Scotland ; for, while he had been
contending for a favorite, he had contrived
to lose a crown. Bruce had made slow,
but constant progress in obtaining the in-
dependence of his country, and the cele-
brated battle of Bannockburn, ended in
the defeat of the English army.

Soon after this victory, Bruce endeav-
ored to enter into a treaty with the Eng-
lish monarch, but as Edward denied to
him the title of king, the negotiation
was soon at an end, and Bruce turned his
arms towards Ireland, which had long
presented a state of dissension and war-
fare. Accordingly, Edward Bruce, broth-
er to the king of Scotland, landed at Car-
rickfergus with an army of six -thousand
men, all bent upon emancipating the na-
tives from the yoke of their English op-
pressors ; and his first victories gave him
such powerful influence with the inhabi-
tants, that they unanimously crowned
him as their king. His inactivity, how-
ever, caused the destruction of the differ-
ent septs who had joined him ; and, al-
though assisted by the presence of his
brother Robert, king ofi Scotland, such
numbers of the army perished through
want, fatigue, and the inclemency of tlxe
weather, that Robert Bruce soon became
dissatisfied with his Irish expedition, and
hastened back to his native dominions.

During the continuance of the war in
Ireland, the English had sufiered the
miseries of pestilence and famine. A
deficiency in the harvest of 1314 created
general alarm ; so that it became difficult
to obtain a supply of bread even for the
royal table ; and this calamity increased
to such an alarming height, that the poor
were reduced to feed on roots, horses,
dogs, and the most loathsome animals.
The want of nourishment, and the insa-
lubrity of the food, produced dysenteries
and other epidemic disorders among the
people ; and the king, at the suggestion
of the citizens of London, suspended the
breweries, as a measure, " without which,
not only the indigent, but the middle
classes must inevitably have perished
through want of food." During this pe-
riod of unexampled distress, the Scotch,
taking advantage of the calamitous sea-
son, poured down in great numbers upon
the English borders. The dissensions

184

ENGLAND.

between the king and the barons frus-
trated the means of resistance, which
might otherwise have been offered, and
the northern counties were ravaged with
impunity; until, at length, a truce for two
years was concluded through the inter-
ference of pope John.

The hostilities between England and
Scotland were now concluded by a truce
of thirteen years, and queen Isabella, un-
der the pretence of effecting a reconcilia-
tion between her royal consort and her
brother, Charles le Bel, took a journey to
France, and contrived to get her son Ed-
ward there also, a boy of twelve years of
age. Whilst there, the queen was joined by
Mortimer, with whom she lived on terms
of great intimacy. Charles had succeeded
his brother Philip to the throne of France,
and had latterly formed several frivolous
pretexts to quarrel with the king of Eng-
land. It had been artfully suggested to
the papal envoys, employed by the pon-
tiff to restore peace between the two
kings, that Charles might be induced to
grant to the solicitations of a sister what
he would withhold from an indifferent
negotiator. Edward fell into the snare,
and Isabella proceeded with a splendid
retinue to France. Months passed away,
and neither mother nor son appeared in-
clined to revisit England.

Isabella, at length, appeared at the
head of the insurgents at Orewell, in Suf-
folk. In a council purposely summoned
on the occasion, several instances were
detailed of the king's brutal conduct to-
wards his queen; and it was declared
she could not return to her consort with-
out being in evident danger of her life.
Under this and similar pretexts, the queen,
aided by Mortimer, and the remnant of
the Lancastrian faction, worked upon the
credulity of the people, the great bulk of
whom, now struggling with the effects of
disease and famine, were in a fit state for
revolution. When Isabella approached
the capital, Edward found it requisite for
his safety to seek concealment, and re-
tired with a small retinue to the marches
of Wales, where lay the estates of Hugh
Spencer. At Bristol, it was ascertained
that the king had taken shipping for Lun-
dy, a small isle in the mouth of the Bris-
tol Channel, which had been previously

fortified and stored with provisions. A
proclamation was immediately made, sum-
moning him to return and resume the
government. The barons and prelates
assumed the power of parliament, and re-
solved, that by the king's absence the
realm had been left without a ruler, and
they declared the young prince guardian
of the kingdom, in the name, and by the
right, of his father.

The king having landed at Swansea,
M^as conducted to the strong fortress of
Kenilworth, where he was treated as a
prisoner. A deputation came, who used
promises and threats to induce him tore-
sign the crown, which it appears he ac-
ceded to, and his son Edward, who was
in his fourteenth year, was declared king.
The custody of his person was given to
sir John de Maltravers, who, to conceal
the place of his residence, successively
transferred the royal prisoner from Ken-
ilworth to Corfe, Bristol, and Berkeley
castles ; and, by severity, endeavored to
deprive him of his reason, or to shorten
his life. From the period of his son's
coronation, the deposed monarch suffered
every indignity which the malice of his
keepers could invent. During the illness
of lord Berkeley, who had been joined
with sir John Maltravers in the guardian-
ship of the unfortunate king, he was mur-
dered at Corfe castle, by the introduction
of a red-hot iron into his bowels, and the
corpse was privately buried in the abbey
church of St. Peter, at Gloucester.

The part acted by Isabella in this tra-
gedy is, however, much more atrocious
than that of any other queen in the annals
of our country. It has been proved that
she left England with the most friendly
professions, and that she was actually
cognizant of the murder of her husband,
which she might have prevented by the
slightest effort with her party.

Edward, the son of the preceding mon-
arch, commenced his reign in 1327. At
first the whole power of the government
was. usurped by Isabella. The Scots
now taking advantage of the unsettled
state of the political horizon in this part
of the island, crossed the Tees, and be-
gan to ravage Durham. Bruce now' col-
lected an army of 20,000 men, which
principally consisted of cavalry, and by

ENGLAND.

185

the rapidity of his movements, eluded the
vigilance of the English forces, which
were headed by the youthful Edward,
who, by proclamation, promised the honor
of knighthood and an annuity of 1 00/, for
life to the first who should bring him in-
telligence of the Scots. Thomas de Roke-
by gave the required information ; but the
English were completely foiled in this
campaign. In the ensuing spring, peace
was concluded between the two nations.
Edward resigned, by a solemn treaty,
every claim of superiority over Scotland,
and consented that the dominions of
Bruce, his friend and ally, should form a
kingdom distinct from that of England,
without subjection, right of service, claim,
or demand whatsoever. It was also agreed
that Jane, the sister of the English king,
should marry David, the eldest son of
Bruce ; and that the sum of 30,000 marks
should be paid to Edward, as a compen-
sation for the damages inflicted by the
Scottish army in the last invasion ; which
sum, on the marriage of her daughter at
Berwick, Isabella divided between her-
self and Mortimer.

The arrogance of this man now ex-
ceeded all bounds. He assumed the re-
gal authority in coimcil, and filled the
court with Ms dependents, maintaining a
guard of 180 knights for his own secu-
rity. Such conduct excited the jealousy
of the gi-eat barons ; his scandalous fa-
miliarity with Isabella, the murder of the
late king, and the public disapprobation
of the recent peace with Scotland, con-
curred to embolden the enemies of Mor-
timer, and associations were formed to
remove him from the court. As the dis-
content of the nation increased, many
strange reports were circulated and be-
lieved. Among others it was asserted,
that the late king was still living in Covfe
castle, under the custody of sir John
Deverel. The earl of Kent was sur-
rounded by the agents of Mortimer, who,
under the guise of friendship, drew him
into a snare which cost him his life. He,
with the archbishop of York and bishop
of London, was arrested on the charge of
having conspired to depose the young
king, and replace his father on the throne.

At eighteen years of age, Edward had
a son by his wife Philippa, and the king,
24

feeling the degraded situation in which
he was placed by his mother, consulted
with lord Montacute, and, acting under
the advice of that nobleman, he resolved
to assume the regal authority ; and a
plan was arranged to arrest Mortimer
during the session of the parliament at
Nottingham. For this purpose, Monta-
cute gained the confidence of sir William
Eland, governor of the castle, in which
the royal party resided during the session,
as every precaution was taken for Morti-
mer's security. Through a subterraneous
passage, leading from the west side of the
rock to the castle, the king's friends were
introduced ; and having seized Mortimer,
he was brought before the parliament to
answer to the following charges : — That
he had fomented the dissensions between
the late king and his queen ; — that he
had illegally assumed that power which,
by law, was vested in the king's council
alone ; — that of his own authority he had
removed the late king from Kenilworth
to Berkeley, wliere he caused him to be
put to death ; — that by his agents he had
caused the earl of Kent to believe his
brother was alive, and then procured the
earl's death on pretence of treason ; — and
that he had embezzled the royal treasures,
&c. The peers retired with the bill of
impeachment, and after some delibera-
tion, declared all the charges to be noto-
riously true ; they therefore condemned
Mortimer "to be drawn and hanged as
a traitor and enemy of the king and
kingdom."

The attention of Edward was now
drawn to the affairs of the Scottish bor-
der, and he induced the English parlia-
ment to give its approbation to a renewal
of the war. The English were victorious
at the battle of Halidon Hill, when sir
Archibald Douglas, the regent of Scot-
land, with six earls, and many barons,
fell on the field of battle ; and Baliol was
seated on the throne of Scotland. In a
short period, however, the cause of inde-
pendence again triumphed ; though, as
long as Baliol was supported by the king
of England, he rose victorious from every
disaster ; but from the moment that Ed-
ward determined to claim the crown of
France, the war with Scotland was suf-
fered to languish, and fortress after for-

186

ENGLAND.

Naval battle of

tress surrendered to David, the son of
Robert Bruce. It had been the policy
of the French crown to support the Scot-
tish kings against the power of England.
Edward beheld this conduct with dis-
pleasure, and his enmity was strengthen-
ed by the advice of Robert of Artois.
Having obtained the aid of several conti-
nental princes and sovereigns, the Eng-
lish monarch sailed with a numerous
fleet from Orwell to Antwerp. To de-
fray the expenses of this expedition, Ed-
ward had recourse to subsidies, tallages,
and forced loans ; he pledged his jewels
and his crown, and seized for his present
use, the tin and wool of the year. The
allies who had promised their assistance
to Edward were unwilling to come into
the field ; and for twelve months he did
nothing more than ravage the country in
his march, and burn many villages, and
exercise all the annoyances to the gov-
ernment, and cruelty to the inhabitants,
which the practice of war had rendered
usual on similar occasions. In vain did
pope Benedict XII, represent to Edward
that his ambition and the interested views
of his allies, were leading him into diffi-
culties and disgrace. Although the king
had disbanded his armv, and had involved

Sluys in 1340.

himself in debt to the amount of 300,0007,
he persisted in his purpose, and set forth
his claim to the French crown in two
proclamations, issued at Ghent, in which
he assumed the title of king of France,
and quartered in his arms the French
lilies with the English lions.

Leaving his queen at Ghent, as a hos-
tage for his speedy return, Edward re-
visited England, and obtained from his
parliament an imprecedented supply.
This time Edward sailed with a gallant
fleet from Orwell, and obtained so com-
plete a victory over Philip, who had as-
sembled, with the aid of the Genoese
and Normans, a powerful fleet in the har-
bor of Sluys, that the French ministers
were fearful of informing their monarch
of the disaster. His buffoon first hinted
it to him by calling the English cowards ;
and when the king asked the reason, he
replied, that they had not the courage to
leap into the sea like the French and
Normans.

After a fruitless attempt to gain the
earldom of Flanders for his son, Edward
collected a numerous force, consisting
solely of his own subjects, and sailed to
the coast of Normandy ; which province
was so defenceless, that, while the fleet

ENGLAND.

187

burnt the vessels in the different harbors,
the army pillaged the country, set fire to
the villages, and collected prisoners. Ed-
ward's object was to cross the Seine, and
lay siege to the town of Calais. This
was rendered so difficult on account of
the bridges having been purposely des-
troyed, that a crossing could only be ef-
fected by stratagem, which he at length
accomplished over the Seine and the
Somme ; and having got possession of
Crotoi, he issued his orders to make the
necessary preparations in the event of a
battle, as the French army was then at
Abbeville. The spot on which Edward
determined to receive the enemy, was an
eminence which rose on a gentle ascent
a little behind the village of Crecy.

On the morning of the 26th of August,
1346, Edward drew up his army in three
lines on a gentle slope, with a wood be-
hind, where he placed baggage and
horses. His cavaliers were to fight on
foot ; as, from the smallness of the Eng-
lish numbers, "one eighth of the French,"
says Froisart, but at most one third, — it
was requisite they should keep together
and fight on the defensive. Edward,
after riding through the ranks and exhort-
ing his soldiers, cheerfully commanded
them to sit down, to take ample refresh-
ment, and in repose await the enemy.
Philip in the mean time was leading
forth his numerous host from Abbe-
ville : it was an army lately gathered,
obeying many chiefs, some Genoese,
some Germans ; undisciplined, weak,
and disorderly, from its very numbers.
From Abbeville to Crecy was a march
of three or four leagues. The hour was
late, and the French were tired ere they
approached the English line. Philip
was advised to halt and await the follow-
ing day : he gave orders for so doing ;
but such was the rivalry of the chiefs,
that each would have his banner next the
enemy, and in the disorder they approach-
ed too near the English to retreat or de-
fer the action. The choleric Philip, too,
when he saw the English array, and its
small extent, became anxious to annihi-
late his enemies. He ordered the Geno-
ese cross-bowmen to begin the action ;
they were reluctant, and pleaded fatigue.
*' Kill the lazy ribalds !" said the count

d'Alen<jon ; and the Genoese were com-
pelled to attack : they did so with a loud
clamor, which was increased by a storm
of rain and thunder, and by an immense
flock of crows which hovered over the
armies, and was regarded as an evil pre-
sage. The English archers advanced
each one step in silence, and by one
volley slaughtered and discomfited the
Genoese. The French knights, enraged,
drew their swords on the unfortunate
auxiUaries, and cut their way through to
arrive at the enemy. They encountered
the first line of the English imder the
prince of Wales ; and here was the heat
of the battle. Edward was sent to for
aid ; but he, who saw the strife and knew
the mettle of his men, refused. "Let
my son win his spurs !" said the monarch ;
and bravely did young Edward, after-
wards the Black Prince, earn these sym-
bols of knighthood. The French were
beaten, despite their immense numbers ;
and as darkness soon came on to increase
the confusion and render it impossible to
recognise knight or noble, the slaughter
was great. Eleven princes fell in the
field ; also nearly a hundred nobles bear-
ing banners, twelve hundred chevaliers,
and thirty thousand soldiers. Amongst
them were the kings of Bohemia, and
Majorca, the dukes of Lorraine and Bour-
bon, the counts of Flanders and Alenqon.
Godfrey of Harcourt, who was in Ed-
wards army, saw his brother, the count of
Harcourt, and his two sons, perish in the
opposite ranks. Philip was compelled
to take flight. Such was the battle of
Crecy, re*narkable for the noble blood
shed in it, and for the brief space in which
it was decided. Though the defeat was
owing in a great measure to the want of
discipline and ill assortment of Philip's
army, the chief cause in this, as in other
instances, was the contempt of the French
princes and nobles for the present levies
and infantry, to which they evidently pre-
ferred the rabble of foreign mercenaries.
The day after the action large bodies of
the militia of neighboring municipalities
arrived, and were slaughtered by the Eng-
lish. Edward, on the contrary, reUed
upon his country's yeomen, and compell-
ed his knights to dismount and fight on
foot with them.

ENGLAND.

We may now follow Edward to the
siege of Calais, which is one of the most
memorable features of the campaign.
Edward was determined to reduce the
town by famine. John de Vienne, the
governor, upon seeing a town of huts rise
around him, perceived the design of the
king, and turned out of the place every
individual who, upon inquiry, did not pos-
sess a sufficient supply of provisions for
several months. Philip did not neglect
to employ every means in his power to
relieve so important a fortress. Taking
with him the Oriflamme, the sacred stand-
ard of France, he encamped at Whilsand,
with 150,000 men ; but finding the roads
rendered impassable by the fortifications
of the besiegers, he proposed a peace,
which was rejected ; he then challenged
Edward to a general battle, which the
latter accepted ; but the French monarch,
fearful of defeat, retired on the eve of the
day which had been arranged for the
combat.

In vain did the governor solicit for a
capitulation ; Edward insisted that he
should surrender at discretion. This in-
telligence brought despair to the inhabi-
tants, as they knew the king had express-
ed a resolution to punish them for their
obstinacy and resistance. They met in
the market-place to consult together,
when the noble generosity of Eustace de
St. Pierre induced him to offer his life
for the sake of his fellow townsmen ;
five others imitated his example ; and
they proceeded barefooted and barehead-
ed, with halters in their hands, to the
English camp, where Edward received
them Avith great severity, but granted
their lives to the tears and entreaties of
his queen Philippa. Thus was Calais
severed from the French crown, after a
siege of twelve months. {See France.)

Early in the year 1356, the prince of
Wales, who commanded the English army
in the French provinces, and who, from
the color of his armor, was styled the
"Black Prince," left Bordeaux with a
small army, and overran the fertile prov-
inces of Querc, Limousin, Auvergne and
Berri. The harvest was trodden under
foot ; the cattle were slaughtered ; the
wines and provisions which the army
coidd not consume were destroyed ; the

farm-houses, villages and towns, were
reduced to ashes ; and every captive,
able to pay his ransom, was conducted
to Bordeaux. Elated with success, the
young prince was unconscious of his dan-
ger in penetrating so far into the country,
and found, on arriving at Maupertuis, they
were within five miles of the enemy.
The two armies met near Poitiers, and
such was the extraordinary valor of the
English, that the whole chivalry of France
was defeated by a handful of our coun-
trymen ; and John became the captive of
prince Edward.

On the death of theBlack Prince, which
happened in 1376, the king began to feel
the most fatal symptoms of decay, and
retired to his palace at Eltham. Here
he was entirely abandoned by his nobles,
and left to the mercy of Alice Perrers, a
very beautiful mistress, who had long re-
sided there. This bad woman after hav-
ing plundered the dying monarch of all
that was valuable, even to the ring on his
finger, left him in his last agony. The
ordinary servants of the king were simi-
larly engaged, and all that the power and
wealth of the regal state could procure
for his last moments, was the attendance
of one poor priest, who was passing the
palace at the time of the tumultuous
scramble.

Richard II, ascended the throne of
England, July 13, 1377 ; he was the
grandson of Edward III, and inherited
the kingdom in the right of his father, the
late prince of Wales, usually called the
Black Prince. As he was but eleven
years of age when he commenced his
reign, the government was vested in the
hands of his three imcles, the dukes of
York, Lancaster, and Gloucester. The
very opposite dispositions of these noble-
men it was thought would counteract the
designs of each other. Lancaster was
neither popular nor enterprising, York
was indolent and weak, and Gloucester
was turbulent, popular and ambitious.

At this period, a spirit of independence
was awakened in the minds of the peo-
ple, which may be ascribed to a variety
of causes First, to the progressive im-
provement of society ; secondly, to the
heavy pressure of taxation ; and, above
all, to the many and lasting wars by

ENGLAND.

189

wliich Europe had so long been con-
vulsed. The faint dawning of the arts
and sciences, which now began to revive,
encouraged the people to hope for better
fortune, and to feel the weight of those
chains with which the laws, enacted by
the nobility and gentry, had so long and
so severely galled them. Their discon-
tent was greatly increased by the repre-
sentation of John Ball, an itinerant
preacher, who inculcated the doctrine of
perfect equality, that mankind were all
derived from one common stock, and
that every one of them had an equal right
to liberty and a share of the goods of na-
ture, of which they had been deprived
by the ambition of their tyrannical ruler.
Wat Tyler, a blacksmith, was the first
who excited the people to take up arms.
The immediate cause was the insolent
behavior of one of the collectors of the
poll-tax to Tyler's daughter, which the
enraged father resented by knocking out
the ruffian's brains with his hammer.

The bystanders applauded the action,
and exclaimed that it was high time for
the people to take vengeance on their ty-
rants, and to vindicate their rights. The
whole country immediately took arms,
and the insurgents soon amounted to
more than 100,000 men. They advan-
ced to Blackheath, where they sent a
message to the king, who had taken
shelter in the Tower, desiring a confer-
ence with him. The king was desirous
of complying with their demands, but
was intimidated by their behavior. In
the mean time they entered the city, burn-
ing and plundering the houses of such
as were obnoxious to the people. Their
animosity was particularly levelled against
the lawyers, to whom they showed no
mercy. The king at last, knowing that
the Tower was notable to resist their as-
saults, went out among them, and desired
to know their demands. To this they
made a very humble remonstrance ; re-
quiring a general pardon, the abolition of
slavery, freedom of commerce in the
market towns, and a fixed rent instead of
those services required by the tenure
of villenage. The king granted all these
requests, and charters were made out by
which the grant was ratified. In the
mean time, however, another body of

these insurgents had broken into the
Tower, and slain the Chancellor, the pri-
mate, and the treasurer, with some offi-
cers of distinction. They then divided
themselves into bodies, and took up their
quarters in diflferent parts of the city.
At the head of one of these was Wat
Tyler, who led his men into Smithfield,
where he was met by the king, who in-
vited him to a conference under pretence
of hearing and redressing his grievances.
Tyler ordered his companions to retire
till he should give them a signal, and
boldly rode up to the king in the midst of
his retinue. His demands were, that all
slaves should be set free ; that all com-
monages should be open to the poor as
well as to the rich ; and that a general
pardon should be passed for the late out-
rages. Whilst he was making these de-
mands, William Walworth, lord Mayor
of London, without considering the dan-
ger to which he exposed his majesty,
stunned Tyler with a blow of his mace ;
and one of the king's knights, riding up,
despatched him with his sword. The
mutineers seeing their leader fall, pre-
pared themselves to take revenge. Their
bows were already bent for execution,
when Richard, though not yet sixteen
years of age, rode up to the rebels, and
with admirable presence of mind, cried
out, " What, my people, Avill you kill your
king ? Be not concerned for the loss of
your leader. I myself will now be your
general. Follow me into the field, and
you shall have whatever you desire."
The multitude immediately desisted, and
followed the king into the fields, where
he gxanted them the same charters that
he had before granted to their compan-
ions. These charters, however, were
soon after revoked, and the people redu-
ced to their former degraded state of vas-
salage.

In 1389, the Idng, at an extraordinary
council of the nobility assembled after
Easter, to the astonishment of all pres-
ent, desired to know his age. Being
told that he was turned of twenty-two,
he alleged that it was then time for him
to govern without help, and that there
was no reason why he should be de-
prived of those rights which the meanest
of his subjects enjoyed. The lords an-

190

ENGLAND.

swered in some confusion, that he had
certainly an undisputed right to take upon
himself the government of the kingdom.
" Yes," replied the king, " 1 have longbeen
under the government of tutors, and I will
now first show my right to power by their
removal." He then ordered Thomas
Anmdel, whom the commissioners had
lately appointed chancellor, to give up
the seals, which he next day delivered
to William of Wickham, bishop of Win-
chester. He next removed the duke of
Gloucester, the earl of Warwick, and
other lords of the opposition, from the
council ; and all the great officers of the
household, as well as the judges, were
changed.

These and other acts raised a power-
ful party against him. While absent in
Ireland, the Didte of Lancaster Avhom he
had banished, embarked at Nantz ; and
with a retinue of only sixty persons, in
three small vessels, landed at Ravenspur,
in Yorkshire. The earl of Northumljer-
land, together with Henry Percy his
son, who was usually called Hotspur, im-
mediately joined him with their forces ;
and the people flocked to him in such
numbers, that in a few days his army
amounted to 60,000 men.

Richard, in the mean time, continued
in perfect security in Ireland for some
time. Contrary winds, for tliree succes-
sive weeks, prevented, his receiving any
news of the rebellion which was begim
in his native dominions. He landed
therefore at Milford Haven without sus-
picion, attended by a body of 20,000
men, but immediately found himself op-
posed by a power which he could by no
means resist. His army gradually de-
serted him, till at last he was obliged to
acquaint the duke, that he would submit
to whatever terms he pleased to pre-
scribe. The duke did not think proper
to enter into any treaty with the king,
but carried him to London, where he
was confined a close prisoner in the
Tower, formally deposed by parliament,
or rather by the duke of Lancaster, and
at last put to death.

The new king assumed the name of
Henry IV, and all things having been
arranged for his coronation, a proclama-
tion was issued in the following words :

" In the name of Fadher, Son, and
Holy Ghost, I, Henry of Lancaster,
challenge this rewme of Ynglonde, and
the croun, with all the membres and the
appurtenances ; als that I am descenditby
right line of the blode, coming fro the
glide King Henry therde, and throge
that right that God of his grace hath
sent me, with help of kyn, and of my
frendes to recover it ; the which rewme
was in pojmt to be ondone by defaut of
governance, and ondoying of the gude
laws." His eldest son, Henr}% then in
his thirteenth year, was created duke of
Cornwall, prince of Wales, and earl of
Chester. His son Thomas, only eleven
years old, high steward, constituting
Thomas Percy, earl of Worcester, his
lieutenant. He was crowned with great
solemnity, and with the usual ceremonies,
with this addition, that the sword he
wore when he landed at Ravenspur,
was borne naked in his left hand by the
earl of Northumberland.

Henry commenced his reign by an
expedition to Scotland, and it afforded
the king an occasion for exhibiting a
moderation unknown in the annals of
Scottish warfare. From humanity, or
policy, he labored to mitigate the horrors
of invasion, by granting his protection to
all who asked it ; and the royal banner
invariably served to protect the inhabi-
tants from the violence and rapacity of
the soldiers. Meanwhile the war raged
on the borders of the two realms. The
Scottish earl of March had done homage
to Henry, and directed the inroads of the
Percies into Scotland ; and the earl of
Douglas had retaliated by making similar
incursions into Northumberland. On
Hol}^TOod-day was fought a decisive bat-
tle. The Scots, headed by Douglas, oc-
cupied the hill of Holmedon, on the bor-
ders of Northumberland; the English,
led by the duke of Northumberland, his
son Henry Percy, sumamed Hotspur,
and the earl of March, were on the oppo-
site eminence. Douglas, with the flower
of the Scottish nobility, was made pris-
oner ; and the English won a complete
victory by the archers alone, the English
men at arms not having occasion to draw
the sword. The next year was signal-
ized by the rebellion of the Percies ; the

ENGLAND.

191

very party, whose exertions had fixed
Henrj' on the throne, now wished to dis-
place him. In this they Avere assisted
by the Welsh cliieftain, Owen Glendoiu:;
but Henry intercepted the progress of
the insingents by appearing with his
army in Shrewsbmy, just as the enemy
came in sight of its walls. The conspi-
racy was ended by the battle of Shrews-
bury, which was one of the most obsti-
nate and bloody recorded in history. In
numbers the two armies were nearly
equal. The king made proposals of
peace, which were rejected, and the air
resounded with the adverse shouts of
" St. George," and " Esperance Percy.'"
Hotspur was slain, and his father, the
duke of Northumberland, surrendered
afterwards to Henry at York, where he
was left in honorable custody to plead
his cause in the next parliament ; when
the lords sentenced him to pay a line at
the king's pleasure ; but, on the earl
swearing feahy to Henry and to the
king's sons, he obtained a full remission
of all fines and penahies.

An insurrection having been attempted
in favor of the young earl of March, the
good archbishop Scroop, who was an
enthusiastic defender of his claim to the
throne, suffered as a traitor, and acquired
among the people the reput-ation of a
mart\-r. Henry, aware that the trial
and punishment of an archbishop would
have been attended with great ditficullies,
appointed sir William Fultlirop judge on
that occasion. Sir William, without any
form of trial, pronounced sentence of
death, which was instantly put in execu-
tion. The act so enraged the pope, that
he published a sentence of excomnnmi-
cation against all who were concerned
in the death of the archbishop Scroop ;
but Henr}- so far satisfied his successor,
Clement VII, that he removed the in-
terdict. After many unsuccessfid at-
tempts on the part of the insurgents, the
earl of Northumberland, who, though he
had been restored to his estates, had
been deprived of the offices of constable
and warden of the marches, and had
again joined the rebellious party, fell in
a contest on Bramham Moor. But there
yet remained one who had defied the
power of Henry during the whole of his

reign. This was Owen, commonly call-
ed Glendour, who traced his descent
from the last of the native princes of
Wales. His small property lay conti-
guous to that of the lord Grey de Ruthen,
and the latter, despising the weakness of
the Welshman, added a portion of it to
his own. Glendour presented a petition
to parliament, which was contumeliously
rejected through the influence of his op-
ponent. He therefore seized the first
opportimity of the king's absence in Scot-
land to do himself justice by force of
arms. Henry resented the attempt as an
insult to his aiuhority. Owen Avas de-
clared an outlaw by the English govern-
ment, and he declared iiimself the right-
ful sovereign of Wales. Adventurers
from every quarter of the kingdom en-
listed imder his standard, and Glendour
indidged the hope of restoring the inde-
pendence of his countr\-. Thrice did
Henry lead a powerful army into Wales,
and thrice he was bafik-d by the poUcy
and braver}- of Glendour. These failures
increased the power of the chieftain ;
France assisted him with troops, but
Henry committed the conduct of the war
to his eldest son, who, by his activity
and perseverance^ gradually subdued
Wales ; though Glendoiu" himself never
submitted, as he contrived to spin out the
contest among the wilds of Snowden, till
long after the accession of the next mon-
arch. The contest between the prince
of Wales and Glendour forms the subject
of the most interesting of Shakspeare's
historical dramas.

A series of epileptic fits was the fore-
runner of the king's death. His last fit
seized him while he was pra\-ing in St.
Edward's chapel at Westminster. He
was carried into the abbot's chamber, and
quietly expired on the 20th of March,
1413, in the fourteenth year of liis reign.
As soon as the death of Henr}' IV was
knoAA-n, his son Henry was called to the
; throne by the mianimous vote of parlia-
i ment, under the title of Henr}- V.
j Henry, having determined to revive
j the claim of the English croAvn to the
French dominions, embarked at South-
! amptou, and entered the mouth of the
I Seine with a fleet of 1 ,500 sail, canying
6,000 men at arms, and 24,000 archers.

192

ENGLAND.

He landed at Harfleur, took the place by
storm, and wished to march through Pi-
cardy to Calais, in order to fix his winter
quarters in its neighborhood. With a
powerful force, the Dauphin advanced
against him. The numerical superiority
of the French was great, and the confi-
dence of the leaders and the nobles such,
that they refused the profTcred aid of the
Duke of Burgundy and the city of Paris.
Henry V, retreated to the Somme. The
French followed to harass his retreat,
and to defend the passage from Abbe-
ville to St. Quentin, which he gained
only through the inattention of the enemy.
The English, however, being destitute
of every thing, and reduced by sickness,
Henry asked for peace on disadvan-
tageous terms. The French refused his
proposals, and succeeded in throwing
themselves between Calais and the Eng-
lish. The latter consisted of 2,000 men
at arms, and 12,000 archers, and were
ranged in order of battle between two
hills, with the archers on the wings.
Stakes, of which every man carried one,
were fixed in front of them. The French,
commanded by the Constable d'Albret,
numbered 100,000 troops, of whom 8,000
were men at arms. They arranged them-
selves in two divisions, with the men at
arms, of whom 2,000 were mounted, in
front. The English first put themselves
in motion. The French horse instantly
hastened to meet them, but were received
with such a shower of arrows by the
archers, that they fell back on the second
division, and threw it into confusion.
The light-armed archers seized their
clubs and battle-axes, and broke into the
ranks of the knights on foot, who could
not move on account of their heavy coats
of mail, and the closeness of their array.
The English horse flew to assist the
archers ; the first French division re-
treated ; the second could not sustain
the charge of the victors ; and the whole
French army was soon entirely scattered.
The victory was complete. Henry
thought that the French would rally and
renew the battle ; and, being alarmed
also by the report that a party of peasants
in arms were plundering Ids baggage, he
ordered all the prisoners to be massacred.
The command was already executed

when he discovered the gi-oundlessness ]

of his fear. The victorious army, how-
ever, in the pursuit of the flying enemy,
took 14,000 prisoners more. Ten thou-
sand Frenchmen lay dead on the battle-
field ; among them was the Constable,
with six dukes and princes ; five princes, j

among whom were the Dukes of Orleans |

and Burboun, were taken prisoners. The
English lost 1600 men killed, among them
the Duke of York, Henry's uncle, whom ^

the Duke d'Alen9on slew at his side,
while pressing towards the king. He
had already dashed the crown from
Henry's head, and lifted his hand for a
more effectual blow, when the king's at-
tendants surrounded him, and he fell I
covered with wounds. After the battle, |
the English continued their march to
Calais.

But the insurrection of the Lollards,
or followers of WickliflTe, headed by Sir
John Oldcastle, called the king from his
French conquests to a nearer attempt on !

his English throne. The Lollards were |

joined by the duke of Albany, but were
ultimately defeated, and Oldcastle exe-
cuted. In the spring, Henry resumed
his victorious career ; and the whole of
Lower Normandy was reduced by his
arms. France was divided into two sep-
arate governments ; the queen, with the
duke of Burgundy, having possession of
the king's person, exercised the royal
authority in Paris ; while the opposite fac-
tion proclaimed the young Dauphin regent
of the kingdom. Proposals from both par-
ties were made to Henry, buthe dismissed
tlie negotiators, saying, that " Charles from
his infirmity, and the duke from his inferior
rank as a vassal, were equally incapable
of disposing of the territories belonging
to the French crown." Henry proceed-
ed with the war, and laid siege to Rouen,
the capital of Upper Normandy. The
natural and artificial strength of the place,
with the number and courage of the gar-
rison, rendered it unlikely that Rouen,
could be reduced by force, though it
might be starved into submission. The
latter mode was adopted, and Guy de
Boutellier had the command of its de-
fence ; the siege lasted for six months,
but during the last ten weeks of that
time, the inhabitants had no other means

ENGLAND.

193

of subsistence than reptiles and weeds.
It was calculated that 50,000 fell victims
to famine and disease.

The despair of the garrison at length
subdued the obstinacy of the governor ;
Rouen surrendered, the other fortresses
followed the example of the capital, and
the Normans submitted to wear the red
cross, the distinguishing badge of the
English nation. Henry having reduced
Meaux, undertook the siege of Cosne,but
on account of sickness was obliged to re-
sign the command. lie ex])ired, Au-
gust 31 , 1422, and his body was removed
to England ; he was interred in West-
minster Abbey, near the tomb of Ed-
ward the Confessor.

On the death of Henry V being an-
nounced, the parliament assembled to
make the necessary arrangement for the
government during the minority of his
infant son, in whose name, under the ti-
tle of Henry VI, the different summon-
ses were issued. The duke of Bedford
took the title of " protector of the realm
and church of England," and the duke of
Gloucester was temporarily invested with
the dignity during the absence of his
brother. The care of the young prince
was committed to his great uncle, Henry
Beaufort, bishop of Winchester. The
lords next day proceeded to name the
chancellor, treasurer and keeper of the
privy seal, and sixteen members of the
council, and these appointments were
ratified by the commons.

The English at this period were in
possession of almost the whole of the
kingdom of France; and the youthful
Henry was solemnly invested with the
regal power by legates from Paris ; so
that Charles VII succeeded but to a
nominal kingdom. With all these great
advantages however, the English daily
lost ground, and in the year 1450 were
totally expelled.

In the year 1450, Richard, duke of
York, first preferred his claims to the
crown. All the males of the house of
Mortimer were extinct ; but Anne, the
sister of the last earl of March, hav-
ing married the earl of Cambridge,
who had been beheaded for treason in
the region of Henry V, had transmitted
her latent, but not yet forgotten claim,
25

to her son Richard. This prince de-
scended by his mother from Philippa,
only daughter of the duke of Clarence,
second son of Edward III, stood plainly
in the order of succession before the
king ; who derived his descent from the
duke of Lancaster, third son of that
monarch. The duke was a man of cour-
age and abilities, as Avell as some ambi-
tion ; and he thought the weakness and
unpopularity of the present reign afforded
a favorable opportunity to assert his title.
The ensign of Richard was a white rose,
that of Henry a red one ; and this gave
the names to the two powerful factions,
who in after years deluged the kingdom
in blood.

The complaints against Henry's gov-
ernment were heightened by an insurrec-
tion headed by an illiterate man named
Cade. He had been obliged to fly over
into France for his crimes ; but, on his
return, seeing the people prepared for
violent measures, he assumed the name
of Mortimer ; and, at the head of 20,000
Kentish men, advanced towards Black-
heath. The king sent a message to de-
mand the cause of their rising in arms.
Cade, in the name of the community,
answered, " That their only aim was to
punish evil ministers, and to procure a
redress of grievances for the people."
On this a body of 15,000 troops were
levied ; and Henry marched with them
in person against Cade, who retired on
his approach. Cade and the rebels,
being pursued by a part of the king's
troops, remained in ambush, and cut to
pieces a detachment which had been
sent in pursuit.

Soon after the citizens of London
opened their gates to the victor ; and
Cade, for some time, maintained great
order and regularity among his followers.
He led them out into the fields in the
night time, and published several edicts
against plunder and violence of any kind.
He was not, however, long able to keep
his followers in subjection. He behead-
ed the treasurer. Lord Say, without any
trial ; and soon after, his troops commit-
ting some irregularities, the citizens re-
solved to shut their gates against him.
Cade endeavoring to force his way, a bat
tie ensued, which lasted all day, and was

194

ENGLAND.

only ended by the approach of night.
The archbishop of Canterbury, and the
chancellor, who had taken refuge in the
Tower, being informed of the situation
of affairs, drew up, during the night, an
act of amnesty, which was privately dis-
persed among the rebels. This had
such an effect, that in the morning Cade
found himself abandoned by his follow-
ers ; and, retreating to Rochester, was
obliged to fly alone into the woods. A
price being set on his head by proclama-
tion, he was discovered and killed by a
soldier, named Eden, who in recompense
for this service, was made governor of
Dover castle.

The court now began to entertain sus-
picions that the insurrection of Cade did
not occur merely in consequence of his
own machinations and ambition, but that
he had been instigated by the duke of
York, who pretended to have a right
to the crown. As he was about this
time expected to return from Ireland, and
a report took place that he was now
to assert his supposed right by force of
arms, orders were issued in the king's
name to deny him entrance into Eng-
land. This was prevented by his ap-
pearing with no more than his ordinary
attendants ; but though he thus escaped
the danger for the present, he saw the
necessity of instantly proceeding in sup-
port of his claim.

Encouraged by a disagreement be-
tween Henry and his parliament, the
duke of York raised an army of 10,000
men, with which he marched towards
London, demanding a reformation in mat-
ters of government, and the removal of
the duke of Somerset. This first enter-
prise, however, proved unsuccessful ;
the gates of the city were shut against
them, and he was pursued by the king
at the head of a superior army. On this
he retired into Kent ; and as there were
a number of his friends in the army of
the king, a conference took place, in
which Richard still insisted upon the
removal of the duke of Somerset, and
his submitting to be tried in parliament.
This request was in appearance com-
plied with, and Somerset arrested : the
duke of York was then persuaded to
wait upon the king in his royal paviUon ;

but, on repeating his charge against the
duke, he was surprised to see the latter
come out from behind the ciu-tain, and
offer to maintain his innocence. Rich-
ard perceiving that he had not suflficient
interest to niin his adversary, pretended
to be satisfied, and retired to his seat at
Wigmore, in Wales ; and, during the
time he resided there, a better opportu-
nity was given him of accomplishing his
designs than he could have hoped for.
The king fell into a kind of lethargic
disorder, which increased his natural im-
becility to such a degree, that he could
no longer retain even the shadow of roy-
alty. Richard was now appointed pro-
tector, with power to hold parliaments
at pleasure ; with which high ofhce he
was no sooner invested, than he turned
out all the Lancastrian party from their
offices, and sent the duke of Somerset
to the Tower ; but on the recovery of
the king, he himself was dismissed from
his employment, the duke of Somerset
released, and the administration once
more put into his hands. On this, the
duke of York levied an army, merely, as
he pretended, to enforce the reformation
of government, and the removal of the
duke of Somerset. Thus Henry, though
sore against his will, was obliged to face
him in the field. A battle ensued at St.
Alban's, in which the royalists were de-
feated, and the duke of Somerset, the
chief partisan of their cause, killed in
the action. The king himself was wovmd-
ed, and took shelter in a cottage near
the field of battle ; where he was taken
prisoner, but was afterwards treated with
great respect and kindness by the duke
of York.

Henry, though he was now only a pris-
oner, seemed well pleased with his situ-
ation ; but his queen, a woman of bold
and masculine spirit, could not bear to
have only the appearance of authority,
while others enjoyed all the real power.
She therefore excited the king once more
to assert his right by force of arms, and
the duke of York was obliged to retire
from court. A negotiation for peace
was at first set on foot, but the mutual
distrusts of both parties soon broke it
off. The armies met at Bloreheath, on
the border.s of Staffordshire, on the 23rd

ENGLAND.

195

of September, 1459, and the Yorkists at
first gained some advantages ; but when
a more general engagement was about to
ensue, a body of veterans, who served
under the duke of York, deserted to the
king ; and this so intimidated the duke's
party, that they separated the next day
without striking a blow. The duke of
York fled to Ireland ; and the earl of
Warwick, one of his ablest and best sup-
porters, escaped to Calais, with the gov-
ernment of which he had been intrust-
ed during the late protectorship.

The York party, though thus in ap-
pearance suppressed, only waited a fa-
vorable opportunity of retrieving their af-
fairs. Nor was this opportunity long
wanting. Warwick having met with some
successes at sea, landed in Kent ; and
being there joined by some other barons,
marched up to London amidst the accla-
mations of the people. The city imme-
diately opened its gates to him, and he
soon found himself in a condition to face
the royal army. An engagement ensued
at Northampton on the 10th of July,
1460, in which the royalists were en-
tirely defeated, and the king again taken
prisoner. The duke of York then open-
ly laid claim to the crown ; and on this
occasion the first instance of a spirit of na-
tional liberty is said to have appeared in
the house of lords. The cause of Henry
and the duke of York was solemnly de-
bated ; and the latter, though a conqueror,
did not absolutely gain his cause. It
was determined that Henry should pos-
sess the throne during his life ; and that
the duke of York should be appointed
his successor, to the utter exclusion of
the prince of Wales, who was then a
child.

The royal party now seemed destitute
of every resource, the queen, however,
fled into Wales, where she endeavored
to raise another army. The northern
barons, provoked at the southern ones
for settling the government and .succes-
sion to the crown without their consent,
soon furnished her with an army of 20,000
men. Another battle was fought near
Wakefield Green, on the 24th of Decem-
ber, 1460. The Yorkists were defeated,
and the duke himself was killed in the
action. His head was afterwards cut

off" by the queen's orders, and fixed on
one of the gates of York, with a paper
crown, in derision of his pretended title.
His son, the earl of Rutland, a youth of
seventeen, was taken prisoner, and killed
by lord Clifford, in revenge for his fath-
er's death, who had fallen in the bat-
tle of St. Alban's.

After this victory, Margaret marched
towards London, in order to set the king
at liberty ; but the earl of Warwick, who
now put himself at the head of the York-
ists, led about the captive king, in order
to give a sanction to his proceedings.
He engaged the queen's forces at St.
Alban's ; but through the treachery of
lord Lovelace, who deserted during the
heat of the engagement with a consider-
able body of forces, Warwick was de-
feated, and the king fell once more into
the hands of his own party.

The submission of the city of London
seemed now to be the only thing want-
ing to complete the queen's success ;
but Warwick had secured it in his inter-
ests, and the citizens refused to open
their gates to the queen. In the mean
time, young Edward, eldest son of the
late duke of York, put himself at the
head of his father's party. He was now
in the bloom of youth, remarkable for
the beauty of his person and his bravery,
and was a great favorite of the people.
He defeated Jasper Tudor, earl of Pem-
broke, at Mortimer's Cross, in Hereford-
shire. The earl himself was taken pris-
oner, and immediately beheaded by Ed-
ward's order. After this, he advanced
to London ; and being joined by the re-
mainder of Warwick's army, he soon
obliged Margaret to retire, entered the
city amidst the acclamations of the peo-
ple, and was crowned under the title of
Edward IV, on the 5th of March, 1461.

Notwithstanding all her misfortunes,
however, Margaret still continued un-
daunted. She retired to the north, where
she was soon joined by such numbers,
that her army amounted to 60,000 men.
She was opposed by young Edward and
Warwick at the head of 40,000 ; and
both armies met near Towton in the
county of York, on the 29th of March,
1461. A bloody battle ensued, in which
the queen's army was totally defeated ;

196

ENGLAND.

and as Edward, prompted by his natural
cruelty, had ordered no quarter to be giv-
en, 40,000 of the Lancastrians were
slain in the field or in the pursuit. Ed-
ward is said to have gained this victory
by means of a violent storm of snow,
which blew full in the face of the
queen's army, and so blinded them that
they could scarce make any use of their
arms. After this disaster, the queen fled
to Scotland with her husband and son ;
and notwithstanding all the misfortunes
she had met with, resolved once more to
enter England at the head of 5,000 men,
granted her by the king of France. But
even here she was attended by her usual
bad fortune. Her little fleet was dis-
persed by a tempest, and she herself es-
caped with the utmost difficulty, by en-
tering the mouth of the Tweed. Soon
after, a defeat, which her few forces sus-
tained at Hexham, seemed to render her
cause entirely desperate ; and the cruel-
ties practised upon all her adlierents, ren-
dered it ver}- dangerous to befriend her.
By these repeated misfortunes the
house of Lancaster was so eflfectually
ruined, that Margaret was obliged to sep-
arate from her husband. The king was
still protected by some of his friends, who
conveyed him to Lancashire, where he
remained in safety for a twelvemonth ;
but being at last discovered, he was
thrown into the Tower and kept a close
prisoner. The queen fled with her son
to a forest, where she was attacked by
robbers, who stripped her of her rings
and jewels, treating her otherwise Avith
the utmost indignity. A quarrel which
happened among them about the division
of the spoil, afforded her an opportunity
of escaping from their hands into anoth-
er part of the forest, where she wandered
for some time. At last, when quite spent
with fatigue, she saw a robber coming
towards her with a drawn sword in his
hand, and finding it altogether impossible
to escape, she suddenly resolved to place
herself under his protection. The rob-
ber, instead of oflfering her any injury,
professed himself entirely devoted to her
service ; and, after living for some time
concealed in the forest, she was at last con-
ducted to the sea-side, where she found a
sliip which conveyed her to Flanders.

Edward, thinking himself securely
fixed on the throne, gave a loose to his
passions, and the earl of Warwick, to
whom he was indebted for his crowm, ad-
nsed him to many. Edward consented,
and sent him over to the continent to ne-
gotiate a match with the princess of
Savoy. The negotiation proved suc-
cessful, but, in the mean time, the king
had privately married Elizabeth Wood-
ville, daughter to Sir Philip Woodville.

Unfortunately the match was conclu-
ded just as the earl of Warwick had
completed the negotiations with the prin-
cess Savoy. The minister, therefore,
returned full of indignation against his
sovereign ; and Edward forgetting how
great reason he had to be offended,
determined to remove him entirely from
his councils. A plan of revenge was
soon devised ; and a powerful combina-
tion was formed against Edward ; to
accomplish which, Warwick not only
employed his own influence, which Avas
very extensive, but likewise that of the
duke of Clarence, Edward's brother, to
whom the earl had allied himself by
giving him his daughter in marriage ;
after which he persuaded him to embrace
his cause.

As a very close alliance subsisted be-
tween Warwick and the duke of Burgun-
dy, the king of France became uneasy ;
and therefore, as soon as the earl landed
on his dominions, received him with the
greatest marks of esteem.

A fleet was prepared to reconduct
them to England ; and seizing a proper
opportunity, they landed at Dartmouth
with a small body of troops, while Ed-
ward Avas in the north suppressing an in-
surrection which had lately appeared
there. Warwick was attended with as-
I tonishing success on his arrival in Eng-
land, and in less than six days saw him-
self at the head of 60,000 men. Ed-
ward was now obliged in his turn to fly
from the kingdom.

Warwick in the mean lime advanced
to London, and once more released and
placed Henry YI, on the throne. A par-
liament was called, which very solemnly
confirmed Henry's title, and Warwick
himself was dignified by the people
with the title of the kins maker. All

ENGLAND.

197

the attainders of the Lancastrians were
reversed ; and ever)' one was restored
who had lost either honors or fortune by
his former adherence to Henrj^'s cause.
All the adherents of Edward fled to the
continent, or took shelter in monasteries,
where they were protected by the eccle-
siastical privileges. But Edward's party
was not yet destroyed. After an ab-
sence of nine months, being seconded by
a small body of troops granted him by
the duke of Burgimdy, he made a de-
scent at Ravenspur in Yorkshire. At
first he met with little success ; but his
army increasing on his march, he was
soon in a condition to appear before the
capital, which irmnediately opened its
gates.

The unfortunate Henry was thus
again snatched from the throne, and the
hopes of Warwick were almost totally
blasted by the defection of Clarence, Ed-
ward's brother. Nothing now remained
but to come to an engagement as soon
as possible. Warwick knew his forces
to be inferior to those of Edward, but
placed great dependence on his own
generalship. He therefore advanced to
Bamet, witliin ten miles of London,
■where he resolved to wait the coming of
Edward. The latter soon came up with
him, and on the 14th of April, 1471, a
most obstinate battle was fought. Ed-
ward, according to custom, had ordered
no quarter to be given; and obtained
the victory through a mistake of a body
of Warwick's forces, who fell whh fury on
their own party instead of the enemy.
The earl himself was slain, together
with his brother, and 10,000 of his bravest
followers.

The queen had just returned with her
son from France, where she had been
soliciting supplies. She had scarce time
to refresh herself from the fatigxies of
the voyage, when she received the news
of the death of Warwick, and the total
destruction of her party.

Queen Margaret and her son were
taken prisoners, and brought to the king,
who asked the prince in an insulting
manner, how he dared to invade his do-
minions ? The young prince replied,
that he came hither to claim his just in-
heritance ; upon which Edward struck

him on the face with his gauntlet. The
dukes of Clarence and Gloucester, lord
Hastings, and sir Thomas Grey, taking
this blow as a signal for farther vio-
lence, hurried the prince into the next
apartment, and there despatched him
with their daggers. Margaret was thrown
into the Tower along with her husband
Henry, who expired a few days after.
It was universally believed that he was
murdered by the duke of Gloucester,
though of this there was no direct evi-
dence. Margaret was ransomed by the
king of France for 50,000 crowns, and
died in the course of a few years.

Edward, after a short illness, expired
on the 9th of April, 1483, in the twenty-
first year of his reign. He spent the
few days preceding his death in the exer-
cises of devotion, and directed that full
restitution should be made to all whom he
had wronged, and from whom he had
extorted money. He left two sons, Ed-
ward, in his twelfth year, who sitcceeded
him ; and Richard, duke of York, in his
eleventh.

On the death of the king, the whole
I country was again dinded into new fac-
I tions. The relatives of the queen, then
in power, had become obnoxious to the
i old nobility, who considered them as their
i inferiors. The king had endeavored to
! smother the embers of dissatisfaction by
I desiring, on his death-bed, that his broth-
t er Richard, duke of Gloucester, should
j be intrusted with the regency ; and
, strongly recommended peace and imani-
[ mitv during the minority of his son. But
Edward was no sooner dead, than their
I former resentment broke out with greater
I violence than ever ; and Richard is said
I to have profited by their contentions.
I His first step was to get himself declared
I " protector of the realm ;" and having
; arrested the earl of Rivers, the king's
i uncle and guardian, he met young Ed-
I Avard in his way from Ludlow castle,
where the late king had resided during
: the latter part of his reign, and respect-
fully otlered to conduct him to London.
Having thus secured the person of the
i king, he next got possession of his broth-
! er"s person also. The queen had retired
j with this son to Westminster abbey;
! and it was not without extreme regret that

198

ENGLAND.

she delivered him up at the intercession
of the primate and archbishop of York.

In a few days after Gloucester had
made himself master of the persons of
the two princes, he had them closely con-
fined in the Tower, under the pretence of
guarding them from danger ; and soon
after spread reports of their illegitimacy,
and, by pretended obstacles, deferred the
young king's coronation.

Richard is believed to have caused the
death of the two young princes, his ne-
phews. It is said that he ordered sir
Robert Brackenbury, governor of the
Tower, to put the young princes to death.
But this he refused, and submissively an-
swered, that he knew not how to imbrue
his hands in innocent blood. Sir James
Tyrrel readily undertook the office, and
Brackenbury was ordered to resign the
keys to him for one night. Tyrrel, choos-
ing three associates, Slater, Deighton, and
Forrest, came in the night time to the
door of the chamber where the princes
were lodged, and sending in the assassins,
bid them execute their commission, while
he himself stayed without. They foimd
the young princes in bed, and fallen into
a sound sleep. The assassins smothered
them with the bolster and pillows ; after
which they showed their naked bodies to
Tyrrel, who ordered them to be buried at
the stair-foot.

Richard, having secured himself on
the throne, attempted to strengthen his
interest by foreign alliances, and procur-
ing the favor of the clergy at home by
great indulgences ; but he found his pow-
er threatened from a quarter where he
least expected an attack. The duke of
Buckingham, who had been so instru-
mental in raising him to the throne, did
not think himself properly rewarded.
He made a demand of some confiscated
lands in Herefordshire, to which his fam-
ily had an ancient claim. Richard either
reluctantly complied with his request, or
only granted it in part ; so that a cool-
ness soon ensued between them, and in
a little time Buckingham came to a reso-
lution of dethroning the monarch whom
he had just raised. For some time he
remained in doubt, whether he should
assume the crown himself or set up an-
other. At length he determined on the

latter, and resolved to declare for Henry,
earl of Richmond, who was at that time
an exile in Britany, and was considered
as the only surviving branch of the house
of Lancaster. He was one of those who
had the good fortune to escape the nu-
merous massacres of the former reigns ;
but as he was a descendant of John of
Gaunt by the female line, he was for
that reason obnoxious to those in power.

Buckingham being suspected, fled to
Wales, but his servant betrayed him into
the hands of Richard, who executed him
without delay. Henry at this time hav-
ing made preparations for landing in Eng-
land, set sail from Harfleur, in Normandy,
and landed without opposition, on the
17th of August, 1485, at Milford Haven,
in Wales. Richard, in the mean time,
not knowing where the invasion was to
take place, had posted himself at Not-
tingham. Sir Rice ap Thomas and sir
Walter Herbert, were commissioned by
Richard to oppose his rival in Wales ; but
the former immediately deserted to him,
and the latter made but a very feeble re-
sistance. Richard instantly resolved to
meet his antagonist, and to risk every
thing on the event of a battle. Rich-
mond, though he had not above 6,000
men, and the king near double that num-
ber, did not decline the combat ; being
chiefly encouraged by the promises of
lord vStanley to join him with a body of
7,000 men, which were posted at a little
distance from the intended field of bat-
tle, seemingly undetermined to join either
side.

The king, having commanded his army
to form themselves in order of battle, in-
trusted the van to the duke of Norfolk,
while he himself took the command of
the main body. Lord Stanley, in the
mean time, posted himself on one flank
between the two armies, while his broth-
er, sir William, took his station directly
opposite. As his intention of either join-
ing the enemy, or keeping neutral during
the time of the engagement, was now far
from being doubtful, Richard sent him
orders to join the main body, which not
being complied with, Richard determined
to put to death Stanley's son, who had
been left with him as a pledge of his
father's fidelity. He was persuaded,

ENGLAND.

199

however, to defer the execution till after
the engagement, that Stanley might be
induced to delay his purpose in joining
the enemy. Soon after the battle com-
menced, Stanley deserted Richard's par-
ty, and, joining Richmond, entirely de-
cided the fortune of the day. Richard
now saw that the battle was entirely lost,
but he continued to fight with the great-
est bravery. The king is said to have
killed sir William Brandon, the earl's
standard bearer ; he dismounted sir John
Cheyney ; and was within reach of Rich-
mond, when sir William Stardey break-
ing in with his troops, Richard was sur-
rounded and overwhelmed by numbers.
His body, which was found in the field,
was thrown carelessly across a horse,
carried to Leicester amidst the shouts of
insulting spectators, and interred in the
Grey Friars' church of that place.

In Richard III, expired the line of the
Plantagenet monarchs, which had reign-
ed OA'^er England 331 years, from the
accession of Henry II, to the death of
Richard, in 1485.

Henry VII, surnamed Tudor, was
crowned with the diadem of Richard af-
ter the battle of Bosworth Field. Henry
had not, previous to that time, made any
claim to the crown ; but, from the above
period, he never would allow his title to
be questioned, and by a marriage with
Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV,
he united the houses of York and Lan-
caster, and thus ended a national quarrel
which had for years deluged England
with blood. He died in 1509.

Henry VIII, Avas the only surviving
son of Henry VII. The beauty of his
person, joined to his youth and the ap-
parent amiability of his temper, made him
a universal favorite with the people.

To prevent his interfering in the aflairs
of state, he had been employed by his
father in literary pursuits, and in these
he displayed a considerable degree of
talent. The union in his person of the
rival claims of the Yorkist and Lancas-
trian factions had precluded all danger
of civil war. The first acts of his reign
tended much to confirm the favorable ex-
pectations entertained by his subjects.

Henry ascended the throne of England
under the most favorable auspices : he

had a well stored treasury, an imdisputed
title, and was at peace with all the
powers of Europe. Commerce and arts
had been some time introduced into Eng-
land, where they met with a favorable
reception.

One of Henry's first actions in his
royal capacity was to punish Empson
and Dudley, who were obnoxious to the
populace on account of their having been
the instruments of the late king's rapa-
city. As ihey could not be impeached
merely on account of their having strictly
executed the will of the king, they were
accused of having entered into a treason-
able conspiracy, and of having designed
to seize by force the administration of
government ; and though nothing could
be more improbable than such a charge,
the general prejudice against them was
so great, that they were both condemned
and executed.

In 1510, the king entered into a league
with pope Julius II, and Ferdinand, king
of Spain, against Louis XII, of France.
In this alliance Henry was the oidy dis-
interested person. He expected nothing
besides the glory wliich he hoped would
attend his arms, and the title of Most
Christian King, which the pope assured
him would soon be taken from the king
of France to be conferred upon him.
The pope was desirous of wresting from
Louis some valuable provinces which he
possessed in Italy, and Ferdinand was
desirous of sharing in the spoil. Henry
summoned his parliament, who very
readily granted him supplies, as he stated
that his design was to conquer the king-
dom of France, and annex it to the crown
of England. It was in vain that the
wisest of his counsellors objected that
conquests on the continent would only
drain the kingdom without enriching it,
and that England from its situation was
not fitted to enjoy extensive empire.
The young king, deaf to all remonstran-
ces, and hurried away by his military
ardor, resolved immediately to begin the
war ; but after several attempts, which
were rendered unsuccessful only by the
mismanagement of those who conducted
them, a peace was concluded with France,
on the 7th of August, 1514. Henry's arms
were attended with more success in

200

ENGLAND.

Scotland, where James IV, with the
greatest part of the Scotch nobility, were
cut ofl' in the battle of Flodden. Henry,
in the mean time, elated with his imagi-
nary successes against France, and his
real ones against Scotland, continued to
lead a life of the most wasteful extrava-
gance. The old ministers who had been
appointed by his father to direct him,
were now disregarded, and the king's con-
fidence was entirely placed in Thomas,
afterwards Cardinal Wolsey, who sec-
onded him in all his favorite pursuits,
and who, from very humble life, had
gradually raised himself to the first em-
ployments of the state. He does not
seem to have had many bad qualities be-
sides his excessive pride, which ren-
dered him very unpopular with the
nobility ; but the gi'cat share he pos-
sessed in the favor of such an absolute
prince as Henry VIII, put him quite out
of the reach of his enemies.

The king, having soon exhausted all
the wealth left him by his father, as well
as the supplies which he could by fair
means obtain from his parliament, ap-
plied to Wolsey for new methods of re-
plenishing his cofl'ers. The minister's
first scheme was to get a large sum from
the people under the title of a benevo-
lence ; though no title could be more im-
properly applied, as it was not granted
without the greatest murmurings and
complaints. Wolsey even met with op-
position in the levying of it. In the first
place, having exacted a considerable sum
from the clergy, he next applied himself
to the house of commons ; but they only
granted him half the sum he demanded.
The minister was at first highly ofl^ended,
and desired to be heard in the house ;
but they replied, that none could be per-
mitted to speak there except such as
were members. Soon after, the king,
having occasion for new supplies, by
Wolsey's advice, attempted to procure
them by his prerogative alone, without
consulting his parliament. He issued
commissions to all the counties of Eng-
land for levying four shillings in the
pound from the clergy, and three shil-
lings and four pence from the laity.
This stretch of royal power was soon
opposed by the people, and a general in-

surrection seemed ready to ensue. Henry
endeavored to pacify them by circular
letters ; in which he declared, that what
he demanded was only by way of benev-
olence. The city of London, however,
still hesitated to the demand ; and in
some parts of the country insurrections
were actually begim. These were sup-
pressed by the duke of Suffolk ; biit the
cardinal lost much of the king's favor on
account of the improper advice he had
given him. To reinstate himself in his
good graces, Wolsey made the king a
present of a noble palace called York-
place, at Westminster, assuring him that
from the first he had intended it for the
king's use. In order to have a pretence
for amassing more wealth, Wolsey next
undertook to found two new colleges at
Oxford ; and for this purpose he received
every day fresh grants from the pope and
the king. The former gave him liberty
to suppress some monasteries, and make
use of their revenues for the erection of
his new colleges ; but this was a fatal
precedent for the pontifl''s interests, as it
taught the king to seize on the monastic
revenues whenever he stood in need of
money.

For a considerable time Wolsey con-
tinued to enjoy the king's favor in an ex-
treme degree ; and as no monarch was
ever more despotic than Henry VIll, no
minister was ever more powerful than
Wolsey. This extraordinary elevation,
however, only served to render his fall
the more conspicuous. The cause of his
final overthrow was the desire king Henry
began to entertain of having his queen
Catherine divorced. The doctrines of
the reformation, propagated l)y lAither in
1517, had gained considerable ground in
England, and many professed a belief in
them, notwithstanding the severe perse-
cution which had been carried on against
heretics during some of the preceding
reigns. The clergy had become so ex-
ceedingly corrupt, and were so ignorant,
that they were universally hated even by
their own party, while no regard at all
was paid to their decisions. Even the
papal authority, though still very great,
had declined very sensibly. The mar-
riage of king Henry, therefore, being in
itself looked upon by all parties as illegal,

ENGLAND.

201

and only sanctified by a dispensation
from the pope, had been frequently ob-
jected to on different occasions. We are
informed by some authors, that when
Henry VII, betrothed his son, at that
time only twelve years of age, he evi-
dently showed an intention of taking af-
terwards a proper opportunity to annul
the contract ; and that he ordered prince
Henry, as soon as he should come of
age, to enter a protestation against the
marriage ; charging him on his death-
bed not to finish an alliance so unusual,
and liable to such insuperable objections.
The queen was six years older than
the king. All her children had died in
infancy except one daughter, the princess
Mary ; and Henry was, or pretended to
be, greatly struck with this, as it seemed
something like the curse of being child-
less, pronounced in the Mosaic law
against evil-doers. Another point of the
utmost importance was the succession
to the crown, which any question con-
cerning the legitimacy of the king's mar-
riage would involve in confusion. It was
also supposed, with great reason, that
should any obstacles of this kind occur,
the king of Scotland would step in as the
next heir, and advance his pretensions
to the crown of England. But, above
all, it is most probable that he was in-
fluenced by a new passion for Anne
Boleyn, who had been appointed maid of
honor to the queen. In this office Henry
had frequent opportunities of seeing her,
and finding that his passion could not be
gratified but by marriage, he sent his
secretary to Rome to obtain from Clement
a bull for dissolving his marriage with
Catherine. That he might not seem to
entertain any doubt of the pope's prerog-
ative, he insisted only on some grounds
of nullity in the bull granted by his pre-
decessor Julius for the accomplishment
of the marriage. In the preamble to this
bull, it had been said, that it was granted
only upon the solicitation of Henry him-
self; though it was Imown that he was
then a youth under twelve years of age :
it was likewise asserted, that the bull
was necessary for maintaining the peace
between the two crowns ; though other-
wise it is certain that there was no ap-
pearance of a quarrel between them.
26

These false premises seemed to afford a
very good pretence for dissolving it ; but,
as matters then stood, the pope was in-
volved in the greatest perplexity. Queen
Catherine was aunt to the emperor. On
the other hand, Henry was his protector
and friend ; the dominions of England
were the chief resource from whence his
finances were supplied ; and the king of
France, some time before, had received
a bull of divorce in circumstances nearly
similar. In this exigence he thought
the wisest method would be to spin out
the affair by negotiation ; and in the
mean time he scut over a commission to
Wolsey, in conjunction with the arch-
bishop of Canterbury, or any other Eng-
hsh prelate, to examine the validity of
the king's marriage, and of the former
dispensation ; granting them also a pro-
visional dispensation for the king's mar-
riage with any other person.

The pope's message was laid before
the council in England ; but they con-
sidered, that an advice, given by the
pope in this secret manner, might very
easily be disavowed in pul)Uc ; and that
a clandestine marriage would totally in-
validate the legitimacy of any issue the
king might have by such a match. In
consequence of this, fresh messengers
were despatched to Rome, and evasive
answers returned ; the pope never im-
agining that Henry's passion would hold
out during the tedious course of an eccle-
siastical controversy. But in this he was
mistaken. The king of England had
been taught to dispute as well as the
pope, and valued himself not a little in
his knowledge on theology ; and to his
arguments he added threats ; telling him
that the English were but too well dis-
posed to withdraw from the holy see ;
and that if he continued uncomplying,
the whole country would readily follow
the example of their monarch, who
would not pay obedience to a pontiff that
had treated him so unjustly.

The pope, perceiving the king's eager-
ness, at last sent cardinal Campeggio,
his legate, to London ; v/ho, with Wol-
sey, opened a court for trying the legiti-
macy of the king's marriage with Cathe-
rine, and cited the king and queen to
appear before them. The trial com-

202

ENGLAND.

menced the 31st of May, 1529 ; and both
parties presented themselves. The king
answered to his name when called; but
the queen, insteatl of answering to hers,
rose from her seat, and, throwing herself
at the king's feet, made a very pathetic
address ; which her dignity, her virtue,
and mislbrtunes, rendered still more af-
fecting. She told her husband, " That
she was a stranger in his dominions,
"without protection, without counsel, and
without assistance ; exposed to all the
injustice which her enemies were pleased
to impose upon her ; that she had quit-
led her native country, without any other
resource than her connections with him
and his family; and that, instead of suf-
fering thence any violence or iniquity,
she had been assured of having in them
a safeguard against every misfortune.
That she had been his wife during twenty
years ; and would here appeal to him-
self, whether her affectionate submission
to his will had not merited other treat-
ment than to be thus, after so long a
time, thrown from him with indignity.
That she was conscious, he himself was
assured, that her connections with his
brother had been carried no farther than
the mere ceremony of marriage. That
their parents, the kings of England and
Spain, were esteemed the wisest princes
of their time, and had undoubtedly acted
by the best advice when they formed the
agreement for that marriage, which was
now represented as so criminal and un-
natural ; and that she acquiesced in their
judgment, and would not submit her
cause to be tried by a court, whose de-
pendence on her enemies was too visible
ever to allow her any hopes of obtaining
from them an equitable or impartial de-
cision." Having si)oken these words,
the queen rose, and, making the king a
low reverence, left the court ; nor would
she ever again appear in it. The legate,
having again summoned the queen to
appear before them, on her refusal, de-
clared her contumacious, and the trial
proceeded in her absence. But when
the business seemed to be nearly decided,
Campeggio, on some frivolous pretence,
prorogued the court, and transferred the
cause to the see of Rome.

All this lime cardinal Wolsey seemed

to be in the same dilemma with the pope,
and indeed much worse ; as he could not
boast of the same independence which
his hohness possessed. On the one hand,
he was solicitous to gratify the king, his
master, who had distinguished him by so
many and extraordinary marks of favor ;
on the other, he feared to offend the pope,
whose servant he more immediately was,
and who likewise had power to punish
his disobedience. He soon saw thai this
unfortunate quarrel was likely to end in
his ruin ; and by attempting to please all
parties, he fell under the displeasure of
every one ; so that he was at last left
without a single friend. The king was
displeased on account of his not entering
into his cause with the warmth he thought
he had reason to expect ; Anne Boleyn
imputed to him the disappointment of her
hopes ; while queen Catherine and her
friends expressed the greatest indigna-
tion against him on account of the part
he had openly taken in the affair of her
divorce. In this situation, the king sent
him a message by the dukes of Norfolk
and Suffolk, demanding the great seal :
the cardinal refused to deliver it without
a more express warrant; upon which
Henry wrote him a letter, and on receipt
of this it was instantly given up. The
seal was bestowed on sir Thomas More ;
a man who, besides elegant literary tal-
ents, was possessed of the highest integ-
rity and virtue. Wolsey was next com-
manded to retire to Esher, a coimtry-seat
which he possessed near Hampton-court,
and there to wait the king's pleasure. One
disgrace followed another , and his fall
was at length completed by a simimons
to London to answer a charge of high
treason. This summons he at first re-
fused to answer, as being a cardinal.
However, being at length persuaded, he
set out on his journey ; but was taken ill,
and died some distance from London.
After the death of Wolsey, the king,
by the advice of Cranmer, had the legali-
ty of his marriage debated in all the uni-
versities of Europe ; and the votes of
these were obtained in his favor by the
aid of money. To a subdeacon he gave
a crown, to a deacon two crowns, and so
to the rest in proportion to the import-
ance of their station or opinion.

ENGLAND.

203

Being thus fortified by the opinions of
the universities, and even of the Jewish
rabbis, Henry began to think he might
safely oppose the pope himself. He be-
gan by reviving in parliament an old law
against the clergy, by which all those
who had submitted to the authority of the
pope's legate were condemned to severe
penalties. The clergy, to conciliate the
king s favor, were obliged to pay a fine
of 118,000/; a confession was likewise
extorted from them, that the king, and
not the pope, was the supreme head of
the church and clergy of England. An
act was soon after passed against le\'ying
the first-fruits, or a year's rent of all the
bishoprics, that fell vacant. About this
period, the king privately married Anne
Boleyn ; he afterwards passed with her
through London with great magnificence :
the streets were strewn with flowers, the
walls of the houses hung with tapestry,
and an universal joy seemed to be dif-
fused among the people. The imfortunate
queen Catherine, perceiving all further
opposition to be vain, retired to Ampthill
near Dunstable, where she continued the
rest of her days in privacy and peace.
Her marriage with Henry was at last de-
clared invalid, but not till after the latter
had been married to Anne Boleyn.

The pope was no sooner informed of
these proceedings, than he passed a sen-
tence, declaring Catherine to be the king's
only lawful wife ; requiring him to take
her again, and denouncing his censures
against him in case of a refusal. Henry,
on the other hand, knowing that his sub-
jects were entirely at his command, re-
solved to separate totally from the church
of Rome. In the year 1534, he was de-
clared head of the church by parliament ;
the authority of the pope Avas completely
abolished in England ; all tributes former-
ly paid to the holy see were declared il-
legal ; and the king was intrusted with
the collation to all ecclesiastical bene-
fices. All the credit which the popes
had maintained over England for ages
was now overthrown at once, and none
seemed to regret the change, except those
who were immediately interested by their
dependence on Rome.

But though the king thus separated
from the church of Rome, he by no means

j adhered to the doctrines of Luther which
j had been lately published. He had
written a book against this celebrated
reformer, which the pope pretended
I greatly to admire ; and honored king
Henry, on its account, with the title of
"Defender of the Faith." This charac-
ter he seemed to be determined to main-
tain, and therefore persecuted the reform-
ers most violently. Many were burnt
for denying the papal doctrines, and some
also were executed for maintaining the
supremacy of the pope. The courtiers
knew not which side to take, as both the
new and old religions were equally per-
secuted ; and as both parties equally
courted the favor of the king, he was by
that means enabled to assume an abso-
lute authority over the nation. '^ As the
monks had all along shown the greatest
resistance to Henry's ecclesiastical char-
acter, he resolved at once to deprive them
of the power of injuring him. He ac-
cordingly empowered Cromwell, secre-
tary of state, to send commissioners into
the several counties of England to in-
spect the monasteries, and to report with
rigorous exactness, the conduct and de-
portment of such as were found there.

The persons employed in this under-
taking discovered that every kind of ex-
cess was committed in the religious
houses. Frauds were constantly prac-
tised, to increase the devotion and liber-
ality of the people, and an exaggerated ac-
count of these facts prepared the way for
the entire suppression of these commu-
nities. In 1536, three hundred and sev-
enty-six monasteries were abolished, and
their revenues, amounting to 32,000/ per
annum, confiscated to the king's use, in
addition to a vast quantity of plate and
other valuable property, computed at
more than 100,000/. In 1538, the great-
er monasteries shared the fate of their
predecessors ; and to lessen the odium
of such conduct, the most improbable
tales were invented relative to the life
which the friars led.

It was expected that the spirit of op-
position shown by Henry to the church
of Rome, would have at last made him
fall in Avith the doctrines of the reformed ;
but though he had been gradually chang-
ing the theological system in which he

204

ENGLAND.

Execution of Anne Boleyr,

was educated, ever since he came to
years of maturity, he was equally positive
and dogmatical in the few articles he re-
tained, as though the whole fabric had
continued entire and unskaken ; and
though he stood alone in his opinion, the
flattery of courtiers had so much inflamed
liis tyrannical arrogance, that he thought
himself entitled to regidate by his own
particular standard the religious faith of
the whole nation. The point on which
he chiefly rested his orthodoxy, was the
most absurd in the whole Catholic doc-
trine ; namely, that of transubstantiation.
All departure from this he held to be a
damnable error ; and nothing, he thought,
could be more honorable for him, than,
while he broke off all connection with
the Roman pontiff, to maintain, in this
essential article, the purity of the Catho-
lic faith.

In this tyrannical and overbearing man-
ner, Henry proceeded with regard to ec-
clesiastical affairs. In other respects
his conduct was equally violent. With
regard to his domestic concerns, history
scarce affords his parallel. We have al-
ready taken notice of his extreme love
for Anne Boleyn, whom he married, con-
trary even to his own principles, before the

marriage with Catherine was dissolved.
His affection for the former was carried
to such a height, that he even procured
an act excluding from the succession the
issue of queen Catherine, in favor of the
children of Anne Boleyn, and failing
them to the king's heirs for ever.

The unfortunate queen Catherine died,
in her retreat at Ampthill, in the year
1536. On her death-bed she Avrote a
most pathetic letter to the king, in which
she forgave him all the injuries she had
received, and recommended to him, in
the strongest terms, their daughter, the
princess Mary. Henry's passion for
Anne Boleyn now began to decline, and
to this her delivery of a dead son did not
a little contribute ; for such was his de-
sire for male issue, that the disappointment
in this respect alone Mas sufficient to
alienate his affection from his wife. The
levity of her temper, and her extreme
gaiety of behavior, gave her enemies an
opportunity of exciting the king's jeal-
ousy against her. The viscountess of
Rochford, in particular, a woman of pro-
fligate manners, and who was married to
the queen's brother, had the cruelty to
report to the king that her husband com-
mitted incest with his own sister. At

ENGLAND.

205

the same time, it must not be forgotten
that he, who insisted on such rigid fidelity
from his wives, was himself the most faith-
less of mankind. She was speedily tried
and condemned, and the sentence pro-
nounced against her was that she should
be burned or beheaded at the king's
pleasure. On hearing this dreadful denun-
ciation, she exclaimed, " O Father ! O
Creator ! thou who art the way, the truth,
and the life ! thou knowest that I have not
deserved this fate." She then made the
most solemn protestations of innocence
before her judges. Anne was beheaded
by the excutioner of Calais, who was
reckoned more expert than any in Eng-
land, and Henry was thus enabled to
marry Jane Seymour. His satisfaction,
however, was of no long continuance ;
for the queen died in two days after the
birth of her first child, who, being a son,
was baptized by the name of Edward
VI. The king's grief, which is said to
have been A^ery violent, did not hinder
him from entering very soon afterwards
into a new matrimonial scheme, in which
he met with many difiiculties. His first
proposals were made to the duchess
dowager of Milan, niece to the emperor
and to Catherine, his own former queen ;
but as he had behaved so indifferently to
the aunt, it is scarcely to be supposed
that liis addresses could prove agreea-
ble to the niece. On this he demanded
the duchess dowager of Longueville,
daughter of the duke of Guise ; but on
making the proposal to the French mon-
arch, Francis I, he was informed that the
princess had been already betrothed to
the king of Scotland. Henry, however,
would take no refusal. He had learned
that the object of his affection was endow-
ed with many accomplishments, and was
very beautiful. Francis, to prevent any
more solicitations on this subject, sent
the princess to Scotland, but at the same
time made Henry an offer of Mary of
Bourbon, daughter of the duke of Ven-
dome. This princess was rejected by
Henry, because he had heard of her
being formerly refused by the king of
Scotland. He was then offered his
choice of the two younger sisters of the
queen of Scotland, both of them being
equal in merit as well as size to the one

whom he had desired ; but Henry, un-
willing to trust to any reports concerning
the beauty of these ladies, or even to
their pictures, proposed to Francis that
they should have a conference at Calais
under pretence of business, and that the
latter should bring with him the two
princesses of Guise with the finest la-
dies of quality in France, that he might
make a choice. To this proposal Fran-
cis returned for answer, that he was too
much impressed with regard for the fair
sex to carry ladies of the first quality,
like " geldings, to a market," to be chosen
or rejected according to the humor of
the purchaser Henry remonstrated and
stormed as usual ; but though Francis
at this time earnestly wished to oblige
him, he at last totally rejected the pro-
posal. Negotiations were then entered
into for a German match, and the prin-
cess of Cleves was proposed by Crom-
well, on account of the great interest her
father had with the protestant princes of
Germany. Henry had also become en-
amoured with her person from a picture
of her ; but when the negotiation was
quhe finished, and the bride arrived in
England, he lost all patience, swearing
that she was a great " Flandcr's mare,"
and that he could never bear her the
smallest affection. The matter was still
worse, when he found that she could
speak no language but Dutch, of which
he was entirely ignorant. Notwith-
standing all these objections, however,
he determined to complete the mar-
riage, telling Cromwell that since he
had gone so far, he must now put his
neck into the yoke. The reason for this
was, that the friendship of the German
princes had now beconie more than ever
necessaiy for Henry, and it was sup-
posed that the affront of sending the prin-
cess back to her own country might be
resented. Soon after the marriage his
aversion had increased to such a degree,
that he determined to rid himself of his
queen and prime minister both at once.
Cromwell had long been an object of
aversion to the nobility, who hated him
on account of his obscure birth, his fath-
er having been a blacksmith. By his
office of vicar-general he had an almost
absolute authority over the clergy ; he

206

ENGLAND.

was also lord privy seal, lord chamber- 1
lain, and master of the wards. He had
also been invested with the order of the [
g^arter, and was created earl of Essex.
This was sufficient to raise the envy of
the courtiers ; but he had also the mis-
fortune to fall under the displeasure of
both protestants and catholics, the form-
er hating him on account of his concur-
rence with Henry in their persecution,
and the latter looking upon him as the
greatest enemy of their religion. To
these unfortunate circumstances on the
part of Cromwell, may be added the
fact that Henry, having fallen in love
with Catherine Howard, determined to
divorce Anne of Cleves. By the insin-
uations of this lady and her uncle, Crom-
well's ruin was accomplished ; and he
was condemned not only without any
trial, but even without an examination.
The charge was of heresy and high
treason, but the instances of the latter
were quite absurd and ridiculous. He
submitted, however, without murmuring,
knowing that any complaints on his part
would be revenged on his son. He was
terribly mangled by the executioner be-
fore his head could be struck oil'. His
death was followed by the dissolution
of the marriage with the princess of
Cleves, which was annulled by the con-
sent of both parties. The princess parted
from him with the utmost indifl'erence, and
accepted of 3,000^, per annum, as a com-
pensation, but refused to return to her own
country after the affront she had received.
The king's marriage with Catherine
Howard soon succeeded the dissolution
of that with Anne of Cleves ; but the
event may be regarded as a punishment
upon this tyrant, whose cruelty, lust, and
other bad qualities can scarcely find a
parallel in history. Henry imagined
himself so happy in this new marriage,
that he publicly returned thanks for his
conjugal felicity. But shortly after in-
formation was given to Cranmer by a dis-
carded servant, named Lascelles, whose
sister had also been servant to the duch-
ess dowager of Norfolk ; he not only
charged her with licentious amours before
marriage, but affirmed that she had con-
tinued the same practices ever since.
Two of her paramours were arrested,

and confessed their crimes ; the queen
herself also confessed her guilt before
marriage, but denied having ever been
false to the king's bed. She was behead-
ed on Towerhill along with the viscount-
ess of Rochford, who had been a confidant
in her crimes. The latter was a principal
instrument in procuring the destruction
of the unhappy Anne Boleyn, and there-
fore died unpitied ; while the virtuous
character of that unfortunate lady received
an additional confirmation from the dis-
covery of this woman's guilt.

To secure himself from any further
disasters of this kind, Henry passed a
most extraordinary law, enacting that any
one who should know, or strongly sus-
pect, any guilt in a queen, might, within
twenty days, disclose it to the king or
council, without incurring the penalty of
any former law against defaming the
queen ; though at the same time every
one was prohibited from spreading matter
abroad, or even privately whispering it
to others. It was also enacted that if
the king married any woman who had been
incontinent, she should be guilty of trea-
son, if she did not previously reveal her
guilt to him. In less than a year after
the death of Catherine Howard, Henry
married for his sixth wife, Catherine
Parr, widow of Nevil, lord Latimer. This
lady, being somewhat inclined to the
doctrines of the reformation, and having
the boldness to tell her husband her mind
upon the subject, had like to have shared
the fate of the rest. The furious mon-
arch, incapable of the least contradiction,
was so exasperated, that he consented
that articles of impeachment should be
drawn up against her. But the attack
proved abortive by the prudence and ad-
dress of the queen.

Henry still continued to tyrannise over
his nobility in the most cruel manner.
The old countess of Salisbury, the last
of the house of Plantagenet, was execu-
ted with circumstances of great cruelty.
She had been condemned, as usual, with-
out any trial ; and when she was brought
to the scaffold, refused to lay her head
on the block in obedience to a sentence,
to the justice of which she had never
consented. She told the executioner,
therefore, that if he would have her head,

ENGLAND.

207

he must win it the best way he could ;
and the executioner aimed many fruitless
blows at her before he was able to put
an end to her life. Soon after her, the
lord Leonard Grey was hkewise execu-
ted for high treason.

A period was put to the cruelties and
violence of the king by his death, which
happened on the 28th January, 1546, the
night before Norfolk was to have been
executed.

Henry was succeeded by his only son
Edward, a boy of nine years of age. The
most remarkable transactions of this
reign are those which relate to the dis-
putes between the catholics and protes-
tants. The restraints which Henry VIII
had laid upon the latter were taken off;
and they not only maintained their doc-
trines openly, but soon became the pre-
vailing party.

A commission was granted to the pri-
mate and others, to search after all ana-
baptists, heretics, or contemners of the
new liturgy. Among the numbers who
were found guilty upon this occasion, was
Joan Boucher, commonly called Joan of
Kent. This poor woman was condemned
to be burnt to death as a heretic. The
young king, Avho it seems had more sense
than his teachers, refused at fi-st to sign
the death warrant ; but at last, being
overcome by the repeated importunities
of Cranmer, he reluctantly complied ;
declaring, that if he did wrong, the sin
should be on the head of those who had
persuaded him to it. The primate, after
making an unsuccessful effort to reclaim
the woman from her opinions, committed
her to the flames. Some time after, Van
Paris, a Dutchman, was condemned to
death for Arianism. He suffered with
so much fortitude, that he caressed the
fagots that were consuming him.

The duke of Northumberland, who
assumed the ofllce of protector, represent-
ed to Edward, who was now in a de-
clining state of health, that his sisters
Mary and Elizabeth, who were by Hen-
ry's will to succeed, in failure of direct
heirs to the crown, had both been de-
clared illegitimate by parliament ; that
the queen of Scots, his aunt, stood exclu-
ded by the king's will ; and, being an
alien also, lost all right of succeeding.

The three princesses, being thus exclu-
ded, the succession naturally devolved to
the marchioness of Dorset, eldest daughter
of the French queen, Henry's sister, who
had married the earl of Suffolk after her
first husband's death. The next heir to
the marchioness, was lady Jane Grey, a
lady universally respected, both on ac-
count of the charms of her person, and
the virtues and endowments of her mind.
The king, who was accustomed to sub-
mit to the politic views of his minister,
agreed to have the succession submitted
to the council, where Northumberland
hoped to procure an easy concurrence.
The judges, however, who were appoint-
ed to draw up the king's letters patent
for this purpose, warmly objected to the
measure ; and gave their reasons before
the council. They begged that a parlia-
ment might be summoned both to give
it force, and to free its partisans from
danger: they said that the document was
invalid, and would not only subject the
judges who drew it, but every counsellor
who signed it, to the pains of treason.
But Northumberland was not to be thwart-
ed in his designs ; a method was found
out of screening the judges from danger,
by granting them the king's pardon for
what they should draw up ; and at length
the patent for changing the succession
was completed, the princesses Mary and
Elizabeth were set aside, and the crown
settled on the heirs of the duchess of
Suffolk, who, it appears, had consented
to relinquish her claim.

For some time the young king had suf-
fered from pulmonary disease, which
continued to gain gi-ound. After this set-
tlement of the crown, his health visibly
declined every day, and little hopes were
entertained of his recovery. To make
matters worse, his physicians were dis-
missed by Northumberland's advice ; and
he was put into the hands of an ignorant
woman, who undertook speedily to effect
liis recovery. But the use of her medi-
cines aggravated the disease ; and he ex-
pired at Greenwich on the 6th of July,
1553, in the sixteenth year of his age,
and the seventh of his reign.

After the death of Edward, little re-
gard was paid to the new patent by which
lady Jane Grey had been declared heir

208

ENGLAND.

to the crown of England. The legal
right of Mary to the throne, notwithstand-
ing the unnatural behavior of her father
and his servile parliaments, was acknow-
ledged by the whole nation. Northum-
berland, however, was resolved to put the
late king's will into execution. He there-
fore carefully concealed the death of
Edward, in hopes of securing the person
of Mary, who, by an order of council,
had been required to attend her bother
during his illness ; but being informed of
his death, she innnediately prepared to
assert her right to the crown. Northum-
berland, accompanied by the duke of
Suffolk, the earl of Pembroke, and some
other noblemen, saluted lady Jane Grey
as queen of England. Jane was in a
great measure ignorant of these transac-
tions, and it was with the utmost difficulty
she was persuaded to accept the dignity
conferred upon her. At last she com-
plied, and suffered herself to be conveyed
to the Tower, where it was then usual for
the sovereigns of England to pass some
days after their accession. Mary, how-
ever, who had retired to Kenning-hall in
Norfolk, in a few days found herself
at the head of 40,000 men ; and lady
Jane resigned the sovereignty in ten days,
with more pleasure than she had received
it. She retired with her mother to their
castle ; and Northumberland, finding his
affairs quite desperate, attempted to quit
the kingdom. But he was stopped by the
band of pensioner guards, who informed
him that he must stay to justify his con-
duct in taking arms against their lawful
sovereign. He therefore surrendered
himself to Mary ; and was soon after
executed, together with sir John Gates
and sir Thomas Palmer. Sentence was
also pronounced against lady Jane Grey
and her husband, lord Guilford ; but with-
out any intention of putting it in execu-
tion against them at present, as their youth
and innocence pleaded so strongly in their
favor, neither of them having reached
their sevent.^ cnth year.

Mary now entered London, and took
possession of the throne without any ef-
fusion of blood. Though she had at
first solemnly promised to defend the re-
ligion and laws of her predecessor, she
no sooner saw herself firmly established

on the throne than she resolved to restore
the catholic religion, and give back their
former power to the clergy. Gardiner,
Bonner, and the other bishops who had
been imprisoned or suffered loss during
the last reign, were taken from prison,
reinstated in their sees, and now tri-
umphed in their turn. On pretence of
discouraging controversy, the queen, by
her prerogative, silenced all the preach-
ers throughout England, except such as
should obtain a particular license, and
this she was resolved to give only to
those of her own persuasion. The
greater part of the foreign protestants
took the first opportunity of quitting the
kingdom ; and many of the arts and
manufactures, which they had success-
fully introduced, fled with them. In a
short time the queen called a parliament,
which seemed willing to concur in all her
measures. They at once repealed all the
statutes with regard to religion, that had
passed during the reign of Edward VI,
and the national religion was again
placed on the same footing in which it
had been at the death of Henry VIII.

To strengthen the cause of the catho-
lics, and give the queen more pov/er to
establish the religion to which she was
so much "ttached, a proper match was
sought for her. Her affection at first
seemed to be engaged by the earl of De-
vonshire ; but as he was attached to the
princess Elizabeth, he received the over-
tures which were made him from the
queen with neglect. The next person
mentioned as a proper match for her was
cardinal Pole, a man greatly respected
for his virtues ; but as he Avas now in
the decline of life, Mary soon dropped
all thoughts of that alliance. At last she
determined on a marriage with Philip
II, of Spain, son to the emperor Charles
V. He was then in the twenty-seventh
year of his age, and consequently agree-
able in that respect to Mary ; but when
her intentions with regard to this match
became known, the greatest alarm took
place throughout the whole nation. The
commons presented such a strong remon-
strance against a foreign alliance, that
the queen dissolved the parliament in or-
der to get quit of their importunity. To
obviate, however, all clamor, the articles

ENGLAND.

209

of marriage were drawn up as favorably
as possible for the interests of England.
It was agreed, that though Philip should
have the title of king, the administration
should be entirely in the queen ; that no
foreigner should be capable of holding
any office in the kingdom ; nor should
any innovation be made in the laws, cus-
toms, and privileges of the people ; that
Philip should not carry the queen abroad
without her consent, or any of her chil-
dren without the consent of the nobility.

All these concessions, however, were
not sufficient to quell the apprehensions
of the people ; they were considered
merely as words of course, wliich might
be retracted at pleasure ; and the whole
nation murmured loudly against the pro-
posed alliance. An insurrection was
raised by sir Thomas Wyatt, a Roman
Catholic, at the head of 4,000 men, who
set out from Kent to London, publishing
a declaration against the Spanish match
and the queen's evil counsellors. Having
advanced as far as Southwark, he requi-
red that the queen should put the Tower
of London into his hands ; that she should
deliver four counsellors as hostages; and,
in order to ensure the liberty of the na-
tion, should marry an Englishman. But
his force was at present by far too small
to support such magnificent pretensions ;
and he uiduckily wasted so much time
without attempting any thing of import-
ance, that the popular ferment entirely
subsided, his followers abandoned him
gradually, and he was at last obliged to
surrender himself to sir Maurice Berke-
ley, near Temple-bar. His followers
were treated with great cruelty, no fewer
than 400 of them suffered by the hands
of the executioner ; 400 more were par-
doned, whilst Wyatt himself was con-
demned and executed.

This rebellion had almost proved fatal
to the princess Elizabeth, who for some
time past had been treated with great se-
verity by her sister. Mary had never for-
gotten the quarrel between their mothers ;
and when a declaration was made after
her own accession, recognising queen
Catherine's marriage as legal, she was
thus furnished with a pretence for declar-
ing Elizabeth illegitimate. She was like-
wise obnoxious on account of her reli-
27

gion ; but above all, her standing so high
in the afiection of the earl of Devonshire
was a crime never to be forgiven, and
Mary made her sensible of her displeas-
ure by numberless mortifications. She
was ordered to take place at court after
the duchess of Suffolk and the coimtess
of Lennox ; to avoid which, and other
indignities, Elizabeth at last retired from
court altogether into the country.

Wyatt's rebellion proved fatal to many
persons of distinction ; but of all those
who perished on this occasion, none ex-
cited more universal compassion than the
unfortunate lady Jane Grey and her hus-
band lord Guildford Dudley. They had
already received sentence of death as
has been mentioned ; and two days af-
ter the execution of Wyatt, they received
orders to prepare for eternity. Lady
Jane, who had been in expectation of
this blow, was no way intimidated, but
received the news with the most heroic
resolution. The place intended at first
for their execution was Tower-hill ; but
the council, dreading the effects of the
people's compassion for their youth,
beauty, and innocence, gave directions
that they should be beheaded within the
verge of the Tower. The duke of- Suf-
folk was soon after tried, condemned,
and executed ; but would have met with
more compassion, had not his ambition
been the cause of his daughter's unhap-
py fate.

Notwithstanding this unpopularity,
however, the rebellion of Wyatt had so
strengthened the hands of government,
that a parliament was assembled in
hopes of gratifying the queen's wishes
in regard to her marriage with Philip of
Spain. To facilitate this purpose also, the
emperor of Germany sent over to England
400,000 crowns to be distributed among
the members of parliament in bribes and
pensions ; a practice of which there had
previously been no example in England.
Soon after this the marriage with Philip
was solemnized ; but as the latter had es-
poused his queen merely with a view to
become king of England, he no sooner
found himself disappointed in this than he
showed a total want of affection for her
as a wife. He passed most of his time
at a distance from her in the Low Coun-

210

ENGLAND.

tries ; and seldom wrote to her except
when he wanted money.

The enemies of the state being sup-
posed to be suppressed, those of the
Catholic religion were next persecuted.
The old sanguinary laws which had
been rejected by a former parliament
were now revived. The bloody scene
began by the execution of Hooper, bish-
op of Gloucester, and Rogers, prebenda-
ry of St. Paul's. These were quickly
followed by others, of whom the princi-
pal were archbishop Cranmer, Ridley,
bishop of London, and Latimer, bishop
of Worcester. These persecutions soon
became odious to the whole nation, and
the perpetrators of them were all will-
ing to throw the blame from themselves
upon others. A bold step was now taken !
to introduce a court similar to the Spanish
inquisition, that should be empowered to i
try heretics, and condemn them without i
any other law but its own authority. But
even this was thought a method too dila-
tory in the present exigence of aflairs.
A proclamation was issued against books
of heresy, treason, and sedition, and de-
clared, that whosoever had such books in
his possession, and did not burn them
without reading, should sufler as a rebel.
This was attended with the execution of
such numbers, that at last the magistrates
who had been instrumental in these cru-
elties refused to give their assistance
any longer. It was computed, that dur-
ing this persecution, 349 persons sufTer-
ed by fire, besides those punished by
imprisonments, fines, and confiscations. |
Among those who suffered by fire were
5 bishops, 21 clergymen, 8 lay gentle- \
men, 84 tradesmen, 100 husbandmen, 55
women, and 4 children.

The only remarkable political trans-
action which occurred during this reign
was the loss of Calais, which had been '
in possession of the English for upwards '
of 200 years. This circumstance exci-
ted the greatest regret, and the queen was
heard to say in her last illness, that,
when dead, the name of Calais would
be found engraven on her heart. She
did not long survive this loss ; but died
in the year 1558, of a lingering illness, I
after a reign of five years, four months, i
and eleven days. j

On the death of Mary, several noble-
men who had formed her council of state,
immediately repaired to Elizabeth at
Hatfield, with the intelligence ; and on
the 23rd of November, 1558, the new
queen set forward for her capital, atten-
ded by a train of a thousand nobles,
knights, gentlemen, and ladies, and took
up her abode at the dissolved monastery
of the Chartreux, or Charterhouse, then
the residence of Lord North, a splendid
pile, which oflered ample accommoda-
tion for a royal retinue. Her next re-
move, in compliance with ancient cus-
tom, was to the Tower. On this occa-
sion, all the streets from the Charter-
house were spread with fine gravel,
singers and musicians were stationed by
the way, and an immense concourse of
people freely lent their joyful acclama-
tions, as, preceded by her heralds and
great officers of state, she passsd along,
mounted on her palfrey, acknowledging
the salutations of her humblest subjects.

After a fcAv days spent in the Tower,
Elizabeth passed by water to Somerset
Palace ; and thence, about a fortnight af-
ter, when the funeral of her predeces-
sor was over, to the palace of Westmin-
ster, where she kept her Christmas.

Busy preparation was now making in
her "good city of London" against the
solemn day of her passage in state from
the Tower to her coronation at West-
minster. The usages and sentiments
of that age conferred upon these public
ceremonials a character of earnest and
dignified importance now lost ; and on
this meinorable occasion, when the min-
gled sense of delivrance received, and of
future favor to be conciliated, had open-
ed the hearts of all men, it was resolved
to lavish in honor of the new sovereign
every possible demonstration of loyal af-
fection, and to grace the occasion with
every known device of .festal magnifi-
cence.

On the 15th of January, 1558, Eliza-
beth was crowned at Westminster. Great
perplexity was occasioned by the refu-
sal of the whole bench of bishops to
perform the coronation service ; but at
length, to the displeasure of his brethern,
Ogelthorpe, bishop of Carlisle, suffered
himself to be gained over, and the rite

ENGLAND.

211

was duly celebrated. This refractory-
spirit of the episcopal order was wisely
overlooked by the new government ; but
it proceeded no doubt from the principle,
that the marriage of Henry VIII, with
Catherine of Aragon having been decla-
red lawful and valid, the child of Anne
Boleyn must be regarded as illegitimate,
and legally incapable of succeeding to
the throne. The compliance of Ogel-
thorpe could indeed be censured by the
other bishops on no other ground than
their disallowance of the title of the sov-
ereign ; in the office itself, as he per-
formed it, there was nothing to which the
most rigid catholic could object, for the
ancient ritual is said to have been fol-
lowed without the slightest modification.
The circumstance has been adduced,
among others, to show that it was rather
by the political necessities of her situa-
tion, than by her private judgment and
conscience in religious matters, that
Elizabeth was impelled finally to abjure
the Roman catholic system, and to de-
clare herself the general protectress of
the protestant cause.

The accession of Francis II, husband
to the queen of Scots, to the French
throne, in 1559, threatened Elizabeth
with the hostility of both France and
Scotland ; and in the politic resolution
of removing from her own territory to
that of her enemies the seat of a war
which she saw to be inevitable, she le-
vied a strong army, and sent it, under the
command of the duke of Norfolk and
lord Grey de Wilton, to the I'rontiers of
Scotland. She also entered into a close
connection with the protestant party in
that country, who were already in arms
against the queen-regent and her French
auxiliaries. Success attended this well-
planned expedition, and, at the end of a
single campaign, Elizabeth was able to
terminate the war by the treaty of Edin-
burgh ; a convention, the terms of which
were such as effectually to secure her
from all fear of future molestation in
this quarter.

During the period of these hostilities,
however, her situation was an anxious
one. It was greatly to be feared that
the emperor and the king of Spain, for-
getting in their zeal for the Catholic

Church, the habitual enmity of the house
of Austria against that of Bourbon, would
make common cause with France against
a sovereign, Avho now stood forth the
avowed protectress of protestanism. By
skilful negotiation, however, Elizabeth
found means to avert these evils, and by
her selection of diplomatic agents on this
important occasion, gave striking evidence
of her judgment.

While the treaties for peace were in
preparation, Mary, the queen-regent of
Scotland, died. Her death was shortly
after followed by that of the French mon-
arch, Francis II, leaving his queen, Ma-
ry, a widow, at the age of eighteen.
She persuaded herself that all obstacles
were now removed, and that she might
resume the government of her native
kingdom; when the English ministers saw
her design, they determined as much as
possible to prevent her return to Scotland.

Mary effected her voyage to Scotland,
secure from the attempts of Elizabeth,
who following the suggestions of lord
James and others, had sent a fleet to ar-
rest her progress ; but owing to a propi-
tious fog, the Scottish queen reached the
land of her fathers, and entered the capi-
tal amidst the shouts and congratulations
of her subjects.

The marriage of the Scottish queen
was a matter of intrigue in the courts of
England and Scotland. She married
Dandey, whom she had created earl of
Ross and duke of Albany, in the chapel
of Holyrood-house, and issued a procla-
mation, commanding that all writs should
run in the style of Henry and Mary, king
and queen of Scotland.

Mary, whose passion for Darnley had
caused her to overlook the natural defects
of his character, soon found that he was
capricious, violent, and vindictive ; and
that he had, acquired such a habit of in-
ebriety, as sometimes even to forget the
respect due to his consort. But, above
all, he was ambitious, and felt incensed
against his queen, because she refused
to secure to him by act of parliament the
kingdom of Scotland during his natural
life ; and he directed his resentment
against her advisers, particularly against
her secretary, David Rizzio, which end-
ed in the murder of the latter.

212

ENGLAND.

Shortly after this event, Mary gave
birth to a son. All parties now looked
forward to the succession being finally
established in the union of the two crowns
of England and Scotland, in the person
of the new born prince. It is extremely
probable that such might be the intention
of Elizabeth, had not the indiscreet par-
tiality shown by Mary towards James
Hepbiurn, earl of Bothwell, a man of pro-
fligate manners, but the head of an ancient
family, proved detrimental to her cause.

After the death of Rizzio, Bothwell, in
his efforts to assuage the suflerings of
Mary under the brutal conduct of her
husband, had so completely wormed him-
self into her royal favor, that she raised
him to the highest offices of power and
trust, and followed his advice in all mat-
ters of importance. The murder of Riz-
zio, by staying the proceedings of the
conspirators, had cooled the ardor of
Darnley's ambition, and had rendered
him an object of contempt to l^oth parties.
Mary formed a new administration, the
chief ministers of which were Huntley,
Bothwell, Murray, and Argyle ; and, in
direct opposition to the advice of her
husband, she admitted Maitland to be of
her council. He soon suggested to them
the propriety of a divorce between the
queen and Darnley ; and even ventured
to propose it to Mary. At first she listen-
ed willingly, but after more consideration
she refused to adopt the plan, and said,
" I will that ye do nothing through which
any spot may be laid to my honor or
conscience ; and, therefore, I pray you,
rather let the matter be in the state it is,
abiding till God of his goodness put
remedy thereto."

Disappointed in the plan of a divorce,
the lords again consulted on the means
to rid themselves of Darnley, and decided
on assassination. The conspirators took
advantage of the queen's absence at a
ball, to blow up with gunpowder the
house in which Darnley slept. The ex-
plosion shook the city ; the bodies of the
king, and Taylor, his page, were found
in the garden ; and three men, with a
boy, were buried in the ruins. No ques-
tion in history has been more perse-
veringly discussed than this ; and it is
still a matter of doubt, whether the Scot-

tish queen was or was not pri\7- to the
death of her husband.

It is said that when Bothwell under-
took to murder Darnley, he demanded
the hand of Mary as the price of his
services ; to eflect this, twenty-four of
the principal peers subscribed a new
I bond, in which they asserted their be-
lief that Bothwell was innocent, and
obliged themselves to defend him against
all calumniators, with their bodies, heri-
tages, and goods ; and they promised,
upon their consciences, to promote a
marriage between him and the queen, as
soon as she might think convenient. The
next day he seized her person and con-
ducted her to the castle of Dunbar, where
he pressed his suit most earnestly, and
gave for her perusal the bond which the
lords had signed in his favor. From
Dunbar he conducted her to the castle of
Edinburgh. Bothwell there obtained a
divorce from his wife, Janet Gordon ; and
just one month after his trial, he led the
queen to the court of sessions, where, in
the presence of the judges, she forgave
him the forcible abduction of her person ;
the next day she created him duke of
Orkney, and was immediately married to
him at Holyrood.

Scarcely four days, however, had
elapsed, when many of the lords, who
previously had favored Bothwell's cause,
rose in rebellion against him, and con-
spired to take his life, and to depose the
queen. They succeeded in separating
them, and the confederates conducted
Mary to Lochleven Castle, where she
was kept in confinement. When Eliza-
beth became informed of these events,
she sent Throckmorton to Scotland. This
minister was as much the agent of Cecil
as of his sovereign, and beheld in silence
the pi'oceedings of the confederates to
depose the queen ; nay more, he secret-
ly advised her to sign her " resignation of
the crown to her son ; to consent to the
nomination of Murray as regent, and to
the appointment of certain persons to act
for him in his absence." Throckmorton,
under the guise of friendship, wrote his
' opinion to Mary, that as no deed, exe-
cuted under her present circumstances,
could be binding, she had better affect
not to hesitate ; which advice caused her

ENGLAND.

213

to sign the papers, without even knowing
the whole of their contents. The infant
prince, then in his thirteenth month, was
crowned and anointed ; and Murray, who
had been in France, hastened to Edin-
burgh.

With great difficulty, Mary effected
her escape from Lochleven, and being
joined by several thousand of her follow-
ers, encountered the regent, Murray, at
Langside. But her army was entirely
defeated, and being pursued by the vic-
torious troops, she rode sixty miles in one
day, and then formed the fatal resolution
of seeking an asylum in the domains of
the English queen. Her friends strong-
ly objected to this measure, but she re-
lied upon the hollow protestations of
friendship which Elizabeth had freely
made use of through her agents. Although
Elizabeth had declared to her foreign al-
lies her determination to replace Mary
on the throne, had forbidden her ambas-
sador to be present at the coronation of
the prince, and had refused to Murray the
title of regent, yet her ministers were
leagued with the enemies of Mary, and
rejoiced at her arrival in England, be-
cause they thought themselves more sure
of their prey. Cecil suggested the pro-
posal of keeping her in confinement for
life, as the mode most conducive to the
security of Elizabeth, and the interests
of the reformed religion.

Mary proposed a visit to Elizabeth,
that she might acquaint her with the par-
ticular account of her misfortunes, the
wrongs she had endured, and the calum-
nies which had been heaped upon her ;
but Cecil hinted to his sovereign, that she,
being a maiden queen, could not in de-
cency admit to her presence a woman
who was charged with adultery and mur-
der. Mary, on learning this opinion, ex-
postulated with the dignity of a queen,
and with a spirit becoming innocence.

It was principally her dread of the
Spaniards, which influenced Elizabeth in
her deceitful professions and empty ne-
gotiations with the profligate court of
France, which, in the judgment of posteri-
ty, have redounded so little to her honor,
but which appeared to her of so much
importance, that she now thought her-
self peculiarly fortunate in having discov-

ered an agent capable of conducting them
with all the wariness, penetration, and
profound address so peculiarly requisite,
where sincerity and good faith are want-
ing. This agent was sir Francis Wal-
singham, whose rare acquisitions of po-
litical knowledge, made principally du-
ring the period of his voluntary exile for
religion, and still- rarer talents for public
business, had induced lord Burleigh to
recommend him to the service and con-
fidence of his mistress. For several
years from this time he resided as the
queen's ambassador at the court of France,
at first as coadjutor to sir Thomas Smith,
a learned and able man, who afterwards
became a principal secretary of State.
There was not in England a man who
was regarded as a more sincere and ear-
nest protestant than VValsingham ; yet
such was at this time his sense of the
importance to the country of the French
alliance, that he expressed himself strong-
ly in favor of the match between Eliza-
beth and the duke of Anjou, and, as a
minister, spared no pains to promote it.

Similar language was held on this sub-
ject both by Leicester and Burleigh, but
the former was perhaps no more in ear-
nest on the subject than his mistress ; and
finally, all parties, except the French
protestants, who looked ou the conclusion
of these nuptials as their best security,
seem to have been not ill pleased, when,
the marriage treaty being at length laid
aside, a strict league of amity between
the two countries was agreed upon in its
stead.

Elizabeth was enjoying the festivities
prepared by Leicester for her reception
at his castle at Kenilworfh, when the
news arrived of the execrable massacre
of Paris, an atrocity scarcely to be paral-
leled in history. {See France.) Troops
of affrighted Huguenots, who had escaped
through a thousand perils with life, and
life alone, from the hands of their pitiless
assassins, arrived on the English coast,
imploring the commiseration of their
brother protestants, and relating in ac-
cents of despair their tale of horrors.
After such a stroke no one knew what to
expect ; the German protestants flew to
arms ; and even the subjects of Eliza-
beth trembled for their countrymen trav-

214

ENGLAND.

elling on the continent, and for themselves I
in their island-home. The pope is said
to have openly applauded the savage i
deed; the court of Spain showed itself
united hand and heart with that of France, j
to the astonishment of Elizabeth, who had |
been taught to believe them at enmity ;
and it seemed as if the signal had been
given of a general crusade against the re-
formed churches of Europe.

The provinces of Holland and Zealand,
goaded into revolt by the bigotry and bar-
barity of Philip of Spain, had from the
first experienced in the English nation,
a disposition to encourage and shelter
them, sent a solemn deputation to Eliza-
beth, offering her the sovereignty of the
provinces on condition of her defending
them from the Spaniards. Although her
pride was flattered by the proposition, in
a short time she dismissed the envoys
with an absolute refusal.

The religious wars of France, and the
revolt of the Dutch provinces from Spain,
proved in many ways the safeguard of
the peace of England. They furnished
so much domestic occupation to the two
catholic sovereigns of Europe, most for-
midable by their power, their bigotry,
and their unprincipled ambition, as effec-
tually to preclude them from uniting their
forces to put in execution against Eliza-
beth the papel sentence of deprivation.
But circumstances were now tending
with increased velocity towards a rupture
with Spain, which had now clearly be-
come inevitable ; and, in 1577, the queen
of England saw herself compelled to take
steps in the affairs of the Low Countries
equally offensive to that power and to
France.

Great interest was excited 1)y the ar-
rival in Plymouth harbor, in Novemlier,
1580, of the celebrated Francis Drake,
from his circumnavigation of the globe.
National vanity was flattered by the idea
that this Englishman should have been
the first commander by whom this great
and novel enterprise had been success-
fully achieved, and both himself and his
ship became in an eminent degree the
objects of public curiosity and wonder.
The courage, skill, and perseverance of
this great navigator, were deservedly ex-
tolled : the wealth which he had brought

home from the plunder of the Spanish
settlements awakened the cupidity which,
in that age, was a constant attendant on
the daring spirit of maritime adventure,
and half the youth of the country were
anxious to embark in expeditions of pil-
lage and discovery.

In 1582, an attempt was made by the
king of Spain, to incite the catholic in-
habitants of Ireland to a general rebellion,
by throwing on the coast a small body of
troops, seconded by a very considera-
ble Sinn of money. But the vigorous
measures of Arthur lord Grey, the deputy,
by holding the Irish in check, rendered
this effort abortive. The Spaniards, un-
able to penetrate into the country, raised
a fort near the place of their landing,
which they hoped to be able to hold out
till the arrival of re-enforcements. They
obstinately refused the terms of surrender
first offered them by the deputy ; and the
fort being afterwards taken by assault,
the whole garrison, with the exception
of the officers, was put to the sword ; an
act of cruelty which the deputy is said
to have commanded with tears, in obedi-
ence to the decision of a court-martial,
from which he could not venture to de-
part, and which Elizabeth afterwards
publicly reprobated.

At this time the mind of Elizabeth was
a prey to the most uneasy apprehensions,
lest the Scottish queen should effect her
escape. She hardly knew how to intrust
any person to be her keeper ; and while
the royal captive was committed to the
care of the earl of Shrewsbury, his most
trivial actions were under the scrutiny
of all around him. Indeed so strong was
Elizabeth's propensity to jealousy, that
her favorite minister, Burleigh, was an
object of her malevolent suspicions ; and
when he went to Buxton for relief Irom
the gout, she accused him of going there
to intrigue with Mary. These continued
persecutions of Mary and her friends,
were more especially directed against
those who adhered to the faith of the
I church of Rome, and it cannot appear
singular that the catholics of England,
who groaned under the penal statutes en-
forced by Elizabeth, should look forward
to the son of Mary, who, in all probabili-
ty, would in a few years reign over them,

ENGLAND.

215

with a degree of cheering hope. Though j
James was educated by the disciples of |
Knox, yet the kindness with which he ^
had received certain catholic priests at j
Holyrood-house, was construed by Mary
and her friends, into the most favorable
disposition towards her cause ; and it was
resolved, in a consultation held secretly
at Paris, that Mary and James, ought to
reign jointly as king and queen, on the
throne of Scotland : and, as James had
expressed his apprehension lest he might
be compelled, through poverty, to submit
to the pleasure of Elizabeth, persons has- j
tened to Valladolid, and obtained a pre-
sent of 12,000 crowns from Philip, for!
the use of the Scottish king ; while '
Creighton, another missionary, proceeded
on the same errand to Rome, and received
a promise from the pope to pay the body-
guard of James for twelve months' ser-
vice. These proceedings did not escape
the watchful attention of the English ca-
binet. Hitherto Elizabeth and Henry of
France had stood in mutual awe of each
other, but now ambassadors of Henry had I
arrived in the Scottish court, to aid James 1
in recovertng his liberty ; and having es-
caped from those who had presumed to
act as his keepers, he summoned his
partisans to meet him at St. Andrew's.
Without any apparent reason, Walsing-
ham suddenly made his appearance at
James' court. The monarch received
the aged statesman coolly, and replied to
his friendly lectures on government with j
reserve, so that Elizabeth complained of j
the disrespect shown to her ambassador, i
whose real object in taking the journey ,
was to study the disposition and opening i
character of James, to learn his resour- i
ces, and to dispose with advantage of the
money he carried from England, to pur-
chase partisans by pensions and prom-
ises. Mary's hopes were again revived
by the late favorable tiu-n in her son's af-
fairs ; and powerful friends in France
avid Spain were preparing to restore the j
long captive queen to liberty ; but Mary, '
aware that her keepers had orders to '
punish any attempt to escape by depriv- j
ing her of life, acquainted Elizabeth with |
her desire to leave the administration en- }
tirely to her son, and to reside as a pri- '
vate person in England, a proposal which }

was refused ; but another, from Mary, to
conclude a league of perpetual amity
between the two crowns, through the me-
diation of Castelnau, was received with
apparent pleasure, but was afterwards
frustrated by the private intrigue of the
French king, who feared, by freeing
Elizabeth from apprehension on the part
of Scotland, to give her an opportunity
to support the protestants in France.

Mary, by the intrigues of Walsingham
and others, was drawn into a plot, which
finally cost her life. Previous to arrest-
ing the persons of the conspirators, she
was confined in a chamber of the house
of Tixal, where she was prohibited the
use of pen and ink, whilst her drawers
were ransacked by Paulet, and all her
papers seized. From that moment the
proceedings against Mary excite pity for
her untimely fate, and admiration at the
magnanimity with which she met it. The
principal charges against her were two.
To the first, that she had conspired with
foreigners to procure the invasion of Eng-
land, Mary, without denying or admitting
its justice, maintained that she was fully
authorized by law to seek her deliverance
from an illegal captivity. But the sec-
ond charge, of her having conspired the
death of Elizabeth, she denied in the
strongest language and with tears. The
aid which the unfortunate captive might
have looked for from her son, and the
kings of France and Spain, was, from
their several peculiar circumstances,
withheld; withElizabeth alone the last pe-
riod of her fate rested. The sentence of
her judges against her was announced in
London by the ringing of bells for twenty-
four hours ; also by bonfires and other
demonstrations of joy. But of all the pro-
ceedings in the cause of Mary, the dissim-
ulation with which queen Elizabeth acted
during the whole period of the Scottish
queen's imprisonment, — a period com-
prising almost twenty years ! — was the
most extraordinary ; and it seemed to in-
crease after the fatal judgment had been
pronounced. From a feigned miwilling-
ness to shed the blood of her Idnswoman,
the warrant was allowed to remain un-
signed for two months. The persons
employed by James to intercede with
Elizabeth for the life of his mother de-

216

ENGLAND.

Execution of Mary queen of Scuts.

ceived him. While Gray delivered pub-
licly the message with which he was
intrusted by the Scottish monarch to
Elizabeth, he said in her ear privately,
" The dead cannot bite."

The hints thrown out by Elizabeth
respecting the private disposal of Mary,
having proved unavailing, she signed the
warrant, and gave it to her secretary,
Davison, with orders for him to get the
great seal attached to it. Davison, puz-
zled how to act, delivered the warrant
back into the hands of lord Burleigh,
from whom he had received it. Burleigh
called a council, who were unanimous
in opinion that the queen had done all
the law required ; and Leicester intima-
ting to them that the queen wished them
to proceed without further consulting her
feelings, the warrant was despatched to
Fotheringay. When the earl of Shrews-
bury and the earl of Kent arrived in the
presence of Mary, she listened to the
reading of the warrant in silence, and
with an unruffled countenance. After
enumerating the wrongs she had suffered,
she placed her hand on a testament which
lay on the table, and said, " As for the
death of the queen, your sovereign, I call
God to witness, that I never imagined it,
never sought it, nor ever consented to it."

She requested the assistance of Le
Preau, her confessor, whom she knew
to be then in the house, but this was re-
fused. This important night, the last of
Mary's life, she divided into three parts.
The arrangement of her domestic affairs,
the writing of her will, and of three let-
ters, to her confessor, her cousin of Guise,
and the king of France, occupied the first
and larger portion. The second she
gave to exercises of devotion. About
four in the morning she retired to rest,
but it was observed she did not sleep ;
her lips were in constant motion, and her
mind seemed absorbed in prayer.

In the midst of the great hall of the
castle had been reared a scaffold, covered
j with black serge, and surrounded with a
low railing. About seven the doors were
thrown open ; the gentlemen of the coun-
ty entered with their attendants ; and
Paidet's guard augmented the number
from between one hundred and fifty to
two hundred spectators. Before eight a
, message was sent to the queen, who re-
I plied that she would be ready in half an
hour. At that time Andrews, the sheriff,
! entered the oratory. Mary arose, taking
the crucifix from the altar in her right,
I and carrying her prayer-book in her left
I hand. Her servants were forbidden to

ENGLAND.

217

follow : they insisted ; but the queen bade
them to be content, and turning towards
them, gave them her blessing. They
received it on their knees, some kissing
her hands, others her mantle. The door
closed ; and the burst of lamentation
from those within resounded through the
hall.

Her step was firm, and her counte-
nance cheerful. Paulet offered her his
arm, to aid her as she mounted the scaf-
fold. " I thank you, sir," said Mary,
" it is the last trouble I shall give you,
and the most acceptable service you
have ever rendered me." The queen
seated herself on a stool which was pre-
pared for her. On her right stood the
two earls, on the left the sheriff, and
Beal, the clerk of the council ; in front the
executioner from the Tower, in a suit of
black velvet, .with his assistants also clad
in black. The warrant was read ; and
Mary, in an audible voice addressed the
assembly. She stated that she would
have them recollect she was a sovereign
princess, not subject to the parliament of
England, but brought there to suffer by
injustice and violence. She, however,
thanked her God that he had given her
this opportunity of publicly professing
her religion, and of declaring, as she had
often before declared, that she had never
imagined, nor compassed, nor consented
to the death of the English queen, nor
even sought the least harm to her person.
After her death many things, which were
then buried in darkness, would come to
light. But she pardoned from her heart
all her enemies, nor should her tongue
utter that which might turn to their pre-
judice. When her maids, bathed in tears,
began to disrobe their mistress, the exe-
cutioners, fearing to lose their usual per-
quisites, hastily interfered. The queen
remonstrated ; but instantly submitting to
their rudeness, observing to the earls
with a smile, that she was not accustom-
ed to employ such grooms, or to undress
in the presence of so numerous a com-
pany. Her servants, at the sight of their
sovereign in so lamentable a state, could
not suppress their feelings ; but Mary,
putting her finger to her lips, commanded
silence, gave them her blessing, and soli-
cited their prayers. She then seated her-
28

self again ; a kerchief edged with gold
was then pinned over her eyes ; the exe-
cutioners, holding her by the arms, led
her to the block, and the queen kneeling
down, said repeatedly with a firm voice,
" Into thy hands, O God, 1 commend
my spirit." But the sobs and groans of
the spectators disconcerted the heads-
man. He trembled, missed his aim, and
inflicted a deep wound on the lower part
of the skull. The queen remained mo-
tionless, and at the third stroke her head
was severed from the body. It is well
deserving of remark, that the most cruel
and extraordinary act of the whole ad-
ministration of Elizabeth — that which
brought the blood of a sister queen upon
her head, and indelible reproach upon
her memory — appears to have been pro-
ductive of scarcely any assignable effect:
it changed her relations with no foreign
power ; and it altered very little the state
of parties at home.

We are now to call our reader's atten-
tion to one of the most memorable events
in English history : we allude to the pro-
jected invasion of England by Philip of
Spain. The invincible armada, or arma-
ment, by which it was proposed to be ef-
fected, consisted of the most powerful na-
vy which had ever been brought together
since the employment of gunpowder as a
vehicle for the destruction of hostile fleets.
Philip, disappointed in his hopes of mar-
rying Elizabeth, returned the queen her
collar of the garter, and from that time the
most irreconcilable jealousy appears to
have existed between the two sovereigns.
Towards the close of 1587, it became
obvious that both Italy and France would
aid the designs of Spain, and Elizabeth
sent out Admiral Drake with thirty vessels
to watch the movements of the enemy.

The land forces under the control of the
queen in the spring of 1588, were scarce-
ly sufficient to garrison the fortifications
and other military works ; but no sooner
was Philip's intended invasion announced,
than the nobility vied v/ith each other in
their efforts of assistance.

Queen Elizabeth, having fully ascer-
tained the views of the Spanish king, or-
dered 20,000 troops to be cantoned along
the southern coast of the kingdom, in
such a manner, that in forty-eight hours

218

ENGLAND.

the whole might be assembled at any
port where there was a probability of
the enemy's landing their troops. A
large corps, well disciplined, was en-
camped at Tilbury Fort, near the mouth
of the Thames, under the command of the
earl of Leicester, whom she created
general-in-chief of all her troops. These
troops she reviewed, and rode through
the lines with the general. A third army,
amounting to 36,000 men, was command-
ed by lord Hunsdon, appointed to defend
her majesty's person. By the advice
and direction of lord Cobham, beacons
were erected in Kent, by the help of
which, in half an hour after the first sight
of the enemy, the alarm might reach Lon-
don, and be communicated all over the
country. Charles lord Howard of Ef-
fingham was created lord high admiral,
and sir Francis Drake vice-admiral. They
joined their fleets ofTthe coast of France ;
and lord Henry Seymour was stationed
on the Flemish coast with forty sail, to
prevent the duke of Parma's putting to sea.

On the 29th of xMay, 1588, the Span-
ish Armada sailed from Lisbon. It was
commanded by the duke de Medina Si-
donia, a person wholly unacquainted with
maritime affairs, but of a noble family. On
the 30th he met with a violent storm,
Avhich did some mischief. Advice was
brought to the queen of this disaster ; but
the account was so much exaggerated,
that she apprehended the fleet to be to-
tally destroyed, and ordered her secretary,
Walsingham, to write to the lord admiral
to send home four of his largest ships,
and discharge the seamen. But he dis-
obeyed this order, answering the secre-
tary, "that he did not think the danger
was already over, and therefore begged to
retain those four ships till he had more
certain intelligence, though it should be
at his own expense." He was soon con-
firmed in his opinion, and sailed with his
whole fleet to attack the Spaniards ; but
the wind sliifting, he was obliged to re-
turn towards Plymouth.

According to the plans which had been
formed by the king of Spain, the Armada
was to sail to Dunkirk, and, after being
joined there by the duke of Parma's for-
ces, to proceed to the Thames, and when
the whole army had landed, it was to

march directly for London, in order to
make a speedy and entire conquest of the
kingdom. In prosecution of this plan,
Philip gave orders to the duke of Medina,
that when he came to the mouth of the
English Channel he should sail as near
the French coast as possible, to avoid
meeting with the English fleet, and if he
did meet it, to act only on the defensive.
However, notice being given by an Eng-
lish fisherman, whom the Spaniards took
in the Channel, that the English admiral
at Plymouth had laid up his ships, and
discharged most of the seamen, upon the
report of the Armada's being quite dis-
abled by the late storm, the duke of Me-
dina, deceived by this false intelligence,
and persuaded by Diego Flores de Val-
dos, commander of the Andalusia squad-
ron, on whose judgment and experience
he greatly relied, that it was very easy to
destroy the English ships* in their har-
bor, he, contrary to his orders, sailed di-
rectly for Plymouth.

A week after the lord admiral's return
thither, he received intelligence by one
of his advice-boats, that the Armada was
on the 19th of July near the Lizard. This
the Spaniards mistaking for the Ram-
head near Plymouth, bore out to sea, with
an intention of returning next morning to
attack the English ships in that port. The
lord admiral had just time to get to sea
with the greatest part of his fleet, when
he saw the Spanish Armada coming under
full sail towards him, in two divisions, in
the form of a half moon, stretching about
seven miles from the extremity of one di-
vision to that of the other.

On the 21st of July, the lord admiral,
approaching the Armada, sent his pin-
nace, the Disdain, to defy the Spaniards;
and then advancing towards a large ves-
sel, commanded by Alphonso de Levalos,
he attacked her ; and other ships coming
to her assistance, the engagement became
very hot. In the mean time sir Francis
Drake, with Hawkins and Frobisher,
fought the vice-admiral of Portugal in the
rear squadron, commanded by Martin de
Recaldes, and so battered her, that she
was forced to leave the line and fly to
the headmost squadron for shelter ; at
which instant a great galleon, commanded
by the admiral of the Andalusia squadron,

ENGLAND.

219

sprung her foremast, and was taken by sir
Francis Drake in the Revenge, who sent
the Roebuck with her to Dartmouth, to-
gether with 304 soldiers and 118 marin-
ers, prisoners.

The action lasted two hours ; during
which time, a great ship of about 800 tons
was blown up, and most of the crew per-
ished. On board it was the king of
Spain's treasure, but the Spaniards had
secured it before the English made them-
selves masters of the remains of the ship,
which was carried into Weymouth on the
22nd of July. In tlie night the great
galleaces separated from the rest of the
Armada, in order, as it was supposed, to
avoid fighting with the English ships.
As the Armada advanced up the Channel,
the English himg upon its rear, and con-
tinually galled it with skirmishes.

The 23rd of July, early in the morn-
ing, the Spaniards tacked about upon the
English, and each striving for the weath-
er-gage, a sharp conflict ensued between
part of the two fleets, but the English had
the advantage of the enemy. So much
powder was expended in these engage-
ments, that the admiral was often obliged
to send for fresh supplies of it, which he
received from the earl of Sussex, sir
George Gary, lord Buckhurst, and other
governors of forts and castles on the
coast, where magazines were provided
for the service. The alarm having now
spread from one end of the English coast
to the other, the nobility and gentry has-
tened out with their vessels from every
harbor, and re-enforced the English fleet,
which soon amounted to 140 sail. The
earls of Oxford, Northumberland and
Gumberland, sir Thomas Gecil, sir Rob-
ert Cecil, sir Walter Raleigh, sir Thomas
Vavasor, sir Thomas Gerard, sir Charles
Blount, Henry Brook, William Hatton,
Robert Gary, Ambrose Willoughby, Ar-
thur Gorges, and many others, distin-
guished themselves by this generous and
disinterested service of their country.

On the 24th of July, the lord admiral
divided the fleet into four squadrons, the
better to pursue and annoy the enemy ;
the first squadron he kept himself, the
second he assigned to sir Francis Drake,
the third to sir John Hawkins, and the
fourth to sir Martin Frobisher.

The next day there was a very hot en-
gagement ; the lord admiral in the Ark,
and the lord Thomas Howard in the Gol-
den Lion, distinguished themselves by
their bravery ; and the galeaces, in which
the main strength of the Spaniards lay,
had been so roughly handled by the Eng-
lish fleet, that they heavily pursued their
course towards Flanders ; and the Eng-
lish admiral thought it best to spare his
powder, and let the Armada move on till
he came off" Dover, where he expected to
be joined by the lord Seymom and sir
William Winter, after which he proposed
to come to a general and decisive battle.

On the 27th of July, the Spaniards
came to an anchor about a league and a
half oft' Calais, as did the lord admiral,
now joined by lord Seymour, with two
other squadrons, within cannon shot of
them. This alarmed the Spaniards, and
they sent express after express to the
duke of Parma, who was then at Bruges,
desiring him to send them forty fly-boats,
and to put to sea with his army, and
make a descent upon England. But though
that prince, pursuant to the orders he had
received from the Spanish king, had fur-
nished himself both with troops and trans-
ports, he found it impracticable to put to
sea with them while the lord Seymour
and sir William Winter lay ready to in-
tercept them, without throwing both his
fleet and army upon certain destruction.
But as the duke de Medina Sidonia was
now come so near him, he drew 10,000
men towards Dunkirk, with intention to
put them aboard his fleet, which the lord
admiral being informed of, and apprehend-
ing very ill consequences from the ene-
my's receiving such a re-enforcement, it
was resolved in a council of war to make
a bold push for their destruction the fol-
lowing night, viz. the 28th of July.

Accordingly, in the dead of the night,
the admiral sent eight fire-ships among
the Armada, and the Spaniards were
seized with such a panic, that they cut
their cables, slipped their anchors, hoist-
ed their sails, and put to sea with the ut-
most hurry and confusion, in which the
Capitana galeace, commanded by don
Hugh de Aloncada fell foul of another
ship. Next day, making use of her oars,
they brought her nearer the shore of Ca-

220

ENGLAND.

lais, where she broke her nidcler, and ran
upon the sands, on which the lord admi-
ral sent a ship to take possession of her,
but the Spaniards offering some resist-
ance, the English engaged them, and
don Moncada being killed by one of the
first shots, most of the Spaniards leaped
into the water to save themselves by
swimming, but many of them were
drowned. The English boarded her, and
were very busy in plundering her, when
the governor of Calais sent to acquaint
them that the ship, guns, and stores, be-
longed to his port ; but the English
slighting his message, he caused the ar-
tillery of the place to be discharged,
though rather to frighten than hurt them,
upon which the English retired, and
abandoned the battered galeace to him ;
but they took out of her 22,000 ducats of
gold, which were afterwards shared
among the sailors, besides fourteen chests
of rich moveables, and some prisoners of
distinction.

Mean time sir Francis Drake, captain
Fenner, sir John Hawkins, the captains
Fenton, Southwell, Beaston, Cross, Ri-
nian, and captain Richard'Hawkins, with
other ships of Drake's and Hawkins'
squadron, fell upon the Spaniards as they
were assembling at Gravelines, and broke
through them. The lord admiral, the
earl of Cumberland, the lord Thomas
Howard, and the lord Sheffield, had also
a part in this action. Four of the Eng-
lish ships battered a huge galleon with
great fury, yet the Spaniards on board of
her behaved so gallantly that they brought
her off to the rest of the fleet, but she
sank soon after. Some of the ships which
got clear of the shoal water, suftered
great damage however from the English
shot. The day following, July 29, the lord
Henry Seymour, and sir William Win-
ter, engaged the St. Philip and the St.
Matthew, two of the largest galleons in
the whole Armada, and drove them upon
the coast near Ostend, where, being disa-
bled, they were seized by the Zealanders,
and carried into Flushing, and their crews
were made prisoners.

The queen having appointed thirty
sail of Dutch ships to lie at anchor be-
fore Dunkirk, where the duke of Parma
was to have embarked his flat-bottomed

boats, made purposely for the descent
upon England, the duke was so discour-
aged that he gave over all thoughts of it ;
and the Spanish admiral prepared to re-
turn homewards ; but finding the winds
so contrary for his passage through the
Channel, he resolved to sail northward,
and to reach the Spanish harbors by
making the tour of the whole island.
The lord admiral pursued the Spaniards
till they were past Edinburgh Frith, and
then meeting with bad weather, gave
over the chase. This, according to H ume
arose from a want of ammunition, with
which, if the English had been duly
supplied, they might have obliged the
wh)le Armada to surrender at discretion.
Such a conclusion would, indeed, as the
historian adds, have been more glorious
to the English navy; but the event pro-
ved altogether as fatal to the Spaniards ;
for their fleet was driven by tempests be-
yond the Orkney Islands. The ships
had already lost their anchors, and were
obliged to keep the sea. The mariners,
not accustomed to such hardships, nor
able to govern such unwieldy vessels in
stormy weather, suffered their ships to
drive either to the western isles of Scot-
land, or on the coast of Ireland, where
multitudes, both of mariners and soldiers,
as appeared by their bodies cast ashore,
were miserably shipwrecked. So that
what with the destruction made by the
two elements of fire and Avater, not one
half of the boasted invincible Armada
returned to Spain.

In the year 1590, the Earl of Essex
married in a private manner the widow of
sir Philip Sidney, and daughter of Wal-
singham ; a step with which her majesty
did not scruple to show herself highly
offended. The inferiority of the con-
nection in the two articles of birth and
fortune to the just pretensions of the
earl, and the circumstance that the union
had been formed without that previous
consultation of her gracious pleasure,
which from her high nobility and favor-
ite courtiers, and especially from those
who, like Essex and his lady, shared the
honor of her relationship, she expected
as a homage and almost claimed as a
right, were the ostensible grounds of her
displeasure. But that peculiar compound

ENGLAND.

221

of ungenerous feelings, which rendered
her the universal foe of matrimony,
formed, without doubt, the more genuine
sources of her deep chagrin.

Essex had now attained the zenith of
his prosperity, but confident in the affec-
tions of Elizabeth, he suffered himself to
forget that she was still his queen ; he
often neglected the attentions which
would have gratified her ; on any occa-
sional cause of ill humour he would drop
slighting expressions respecting her age
and person, which if they ever reached
her ear could never be forgiven. On
one memorable instance, he treated her
with indignity openly and in her pres-
ence ; a dispute had arisen between them
in the presence of the lord high admiral,
the secretary and the clerk of the signet,
respecting the choice of a commander
for Ireland; the queen resolving to send
sir William KnoUes, the uncle of Es-
sex, while he vehemently supported sir
George Carew, because this person, who
was haughty and boastful, had given him
some offence, and he wanted to remove
him out of the way. Unable, either by
argument or persuasion, to prevail over
the resolute will of her majesty, the fa-
vorite at last forgot himself so far as to
turn his back upon her with a laugh of
contempt ; an indignity which she re-
venged after her own manner, by boxing
his ears, and bidding him " Go and be
hanged." This retort so inflamed the
blood of Essex, that he clapped his hand
upon his sword, and while the lord ad-
miral hastened to throw himself between
them, he swore that not from Henry
VIII himself would he have endured
such an indignity, and foaming with rage
he rushed out of the palace.

This dispute, however, was at last
finally adjusted, and Essex appeared
at court as powerful as ever ; though
some have believed, and with apparent
reason, that from this time the senti-
ments of the queen for her once cherish-
ed favorite, partook more of fear than of
love ; and that confidence was never re-
established between them. Elizabeth,
however, intrusted him with the com-
mand of an army which she sent against
Ireland, which country was now in a
state of rebellion.

It was in the month of March, 1599,
that he embarked, and landing after a
dangerous passage at Dublin, his first act
was the appointment of his friend, the
earl of Southampton, to the office of gen-
eral of the horse ; a step which he after-
wards found abundant cause to repent, as
that nobleman was in disgrace with the
queen, for having married contrary to her
pleasure ; and he spent the summer in
temporizing instead of fighting with the
adverse party, and at length entered into a
truce with O'Neal, by which he disap-
pointed the hopes of the queen, and gave
to his enemies the opportunity of exci-
ting her doubts respecting his loyalty.
Her majesty, in consequence, addressed
an angry letter to Essex. On the re-
ceipt of this epistle, he perceived that
his enemies were busy in poisoning
the ear of Elizabeth ; and imprudently
adopted a step which gave them a fresh
opportunity of exercising their malevo-
lence, by hastening, unbidden, to throw
himself at the feet of his exasperated
sovereign. The sudden appearance of
her favorite just after she had risen from
her bed, imploring her forgiveness on his
knees, disarmed the queen of her anger ;
and he exclaimed exultingly on leaving
the apartment, " that though he had en-
comitered much trouble and many storms
abroad, he thanked God he found a per-
fect calm at home." The calm was,
however, but of short duration, since a
violent tempest burst that night over his
head, and Essex found himself a prisoner
in his own house. A severe illness was
the result of this proceeding ; the life of
Essex was said to be in danger, and
Elizabeth was surprised into some signs
of pity, and ordered that a physician
should be admitted to visit him. Soon
after this, a warrant was madg out for the
earl's committal to the Tower, and al-
though it was not carried into eficct, yet
his chance of liberty grew almost hope-
less ; and Essex, finding that the queen
remained in the same angry disposition
towards him, gave way to his natural vi-
olence, spoke of her in disrespectful
terms, and, among other things, said,
"she was grown an old woman, and was
become as crooked in her mind as in her
body." Shortly after his disgrace, Es-

222

ENGLAND.

sex wrote to James of Scotland, that the
faction, which ruled the court, were in
league to deprive him of his right to the
throne of England, in favor of the Infan-
ta of Spain ; and he oflered his services
to extort from Elizabeth an acknowledg-
ment of his claims. The Scottish mon-
arch had received intimation of the intel-
ligence thus confirmed to him by Essex,
and gladly accepted the ofler made him
by the latter. The conduct of the ex-
favorite soon excited suspicion ; a sur-
mise only would have been enough for
his enemies to act upon ; but here was
an actual attempt to arouse the people to
rebellion, for the earl had formed the des-
perate plan of imprisoning the whole of
his enemies.

But this plan was frustrated by the ac-
tivity of the ministers, who could not see
the crowds assemble at Essex-house,
without thinking that some new turn was
about to take place. Essex, and a num-
ber of friends, were with some ditiiculty
secured : the earl surrendered on a prom-
ise that he should have a fair trial ;
which he fancied was insured to him
through his influence with the queen.
Proceedings were conunenced against
him instanter. The cause was opened
by Coke, the attorney-general. He rep-
resented the errors committed by Essex,
during his administration in Ireland, in
the most odious colors. The solicitor-
general, Fleming, exposed the miserable
situation in which he left Ireland ; and
Francis Bacon closed the charge Avith an
exaggerated statement of the undutiful
expressions used by the earl in his let-
ters. The trial ended with the condem-
nation of Essex ; judgment was pronoun-
ced against him, and against his friend
the earl of Southampton. With many it
became a doubtful question whether the
queen could prevail with herself to sign
the warrant for executing a man for whom
it was known she had harbored a very
strong affection ; she did, however, and
Essex was conducted to the fatal block,
where he met his death with great
fortitude.*

* In the height of his prosperity, Essex had
received a ring from Elizabeth, as a pledge on the
return of which she would pardon any offence he
might commit. This ring he intrusted to the j

The queen seems to have deeply re-
gretted her precipitancy in signing the
death-warrant of Essex, and her godson,
sir John Harrington, describes her ma-
jesty, in October, 1601, as altered in fea-
tures, and reduced to a skeleton ; he
says, " Her food was only manchet bread
and succory pottage. Her taste for dress
was gone. Nothing could please her : she
was the torment of the ladies who waited
on her person. She stamped with her
feet and swore violently at the objects of
her anger. For her protection she had
ordered a sword to be placed by her ta-
ble, which she often took in her hand,
and thrust with violence into the tapestry
of her chamber."

The queen spent her days and nights
in tears, and only spoke to mention
some irritating subject ; and having expe-
rienced some hours of alarming stupor,
she persisted, after her recovery from it,
to remain seated on cushions, from which
she could not be prevailed upon to remove
during ten days, but sat with her finger
generally on her mouth, and her eyes
open and fixed upon the ground, for she
had a notion that if she lay down in bed
she should not rise from it again. Her
secretary, with the other great ministers
of state, having met at Richmond, the
queen was put into bed, and listened to
prayers and exhortations from the arch-
bishop. The next day she lay motion-
less, and nearly insensible ; but on the
following morning she addressed Cecil,
and named the king of Scotland as suc-
cessor to the throne. In the evening the

countess of Nottingham, earnestly requesting her
to deliver it personally to the queen. This lady,
being a concealed enemy of the unfortunate earl,
never delivered it, and thereby the proffered clem-
ency was frustrated. Elizabeth was secretly fired
at the obstinacy of Essex in making no applica-
tion for mercy or forgiveness. Indeed, she ap-
peared herself as much an object of pity as the
unfortunate nobleman she was induced to con-
demn. She signed the warrant for his execution
— she countermanded it — again she resolved on
his death — then relented — then decided again —
and again felt a new return of tenderness. At
last she consented to his execution, and was never
seen to enjoy one happy day more. The count-
ess, to whom was intrusted the ring, on her death-
bed confessed the secret to the queen. Elizabeth
became furious with rage on learning the earl's
request for pardon and mercy. "God may for-
give you," says she, "but I never, never can."

FRANCE.

223

lords who were present requested her to
make a sign, if she continued in the same
mind respecting the succession. The
queen raised her arms in the air, and
closed them over her head. In a few
minutes she began to doze, and at three

the following morning composedly breath-
ed her last. Elizabeth died on the 24th
of March, 1603, in the 70th year of her
age, and 45th of her reign. (For the his-
tory of England after the union with
Scotland, see Great Britain.)

FRANCE.

France was anciently called Gaul, and
was subjected to the Romans by Julius
Caesar, about fifty years previous to the
commencement of the Christian era. It
remained under their sway for the space
of five centuries, troubled, nevertheless,
during the latter half of the period, by the
incursions, conflicts, and finally, by the
settlement of barbarian invaders. Under
the Romans, Gaul made rapid progress
in improvement. It received the advan-
tages of political union — of an enlighten-
ed system of justice — of a long interval of
peace ; and wealth, industry and agricul-
ture followed as necessary consequences.

The commencementof the fifth century
is marked by the great and victorious ir-
ruption of all the barbarian hosts into
Gaul. They poured like a long pent up
and gathering tide, in a thousand destruc-
tive torrents throughout the land, sweep-
ing away and overwhelming in a mass,
life, property, and institutions. Years
elapsed ere the agitations subsided, and
the inebriety of conquest was over. When
calm was restored, the Visigoths were in
possession of Aquitaine and the lands
southward of the Loire, with Toulouse
for their capital. The Burgamdians held
the provinces bordering on the Rhone,
from the lake of Geneva to the Mediter-
ranean. Britany had established a kind
of independence. The Franks who had
looked on themselves as the allies more
than the enemies of Roman power, and
who had at first bravely stood forth in its
defence, had advanced their establish-
ments over the present kingdoms of Hol-
land and Belgium to the limits of modern
France ; while the central provinces,
preserved to the Roman empire by the
victories of ^Etius, were gradually aban-
doned to themselves, and came to obey,

under Roman forms and titles, the wealth-
iest and most powerful of the native pro-
vincials. It was thus that count iEgidius,
and after him his son Syagrius, governed,
and were even said to have reigned at
Soissons.

Of the particular circumstances attend-
ing the extension of the conquests of the
Franks, from whom the country' derives
its name, little is known with any degree
of certainty. Their regular and connected
history begins with Clovis, who was a
man of great talent, and came to the
tlnone A.D. 481. He speedily acquired
possession of the whole country which
lay between the Rhine and the Loire.
The Roman power, which had for some
time been on the decline in that part
of Gaul, received its final overthrow by
the destruction of Syagrius, who was
defeated and taken prisoner by Clovis.
This monarch had been educated in pa-
ganism, and continued to profess that faith
till the thirtieth year of his age ; he, how-
ever, allowed his subjects the full liberty
of conscience. His conversion to Chris-
tianity was eflected by Clotilda, daughter
of the duke of Burgundy, and a zealous
Christian, whom he then married. This
princess used all her influence with her
husband to persuade him to embrace her
religion, but for a time without success.
Happening, however, to gain a victory,
where, being in great danger, he had in-
voked the assistance of the Christian
Deity, he afterwards declared himself a
convert, was baptized in 496, and his
example was immediately followed by
nearly all his subjects.* After the defeat

* This occurred near Cologne. Clovis recall-
ing the example of Constantine, prayed for victory
to the God of Clotilda and the Roman emperor,
won it soon after, and in acknowledgment of the

224

FRANCE

of the Roman power, Clovis turned his
arms against Armorica. The inhabitants
of that country, which comprehended the
maritime part of ancient Gaul, united
for their defence ; and Clovis, finding
tlicnj too powerful to be subdued by force,
proposed a union with his people, which
they readily accepted, and this the more
easily on account of his professing the
Christian religion.

In 509, Clovis received the title of Ro-
man consul, and was now supposed to be
invested with a just title to all his con-
quests, in whatever manner they had been
acquired. He was solemnly invested

divine aid, was baptized as above stated. The
comparison between Clovis and Constantino
might be followed farther. Their embracing
Christianity had a similar effect upon both. In-
stead of tempering their passions, and inspiring
them with the virtues of mildness and mercy, it
seems to have rather given rein to their ferocity
and blood-thirstiness. Of the domestic murders
committed by Constantino, that of his wife, and
of his son, are known. To assassination, Clovis
united perfidy. All the rival monarchs or chief-
tains, whom he could conquer or entrap, were
sacrificed to his jealousy or ambition. The whole
race of a rival family was extirpated, in some in-
stances, by the hand of Clovis himself. Can we
suppose that either he or the Roman emperor,
were influenced by the spirit of that religion,
which each professed to believe !

The following circumstance is related for the
purpose of illustrating the independent habits of
the Franks at that age, and the power exercised
over them by their loaders. At the conquest of
Soissons, a silver vase, reserved for sacred uses,
had been taken, amidst other plunder, from the
church of Rheims. It was at Soissons that the
distribution of booty was to take place. St.
Remy, bishop of Rheims, came there, supplica-
ting for the restoration of the silver vase. Clovis,
anxious to secure the good opinion and influence
of the clergy, addressed his assembled soldiers,
and begged of them, in addition to his share to
grant him the vase in question, that he might
present, or restore it to the bishop. Ere the
assembly could answer, a choleric soldier, jeal-
ous of his rights, struck the vase with his axe,
exclaiming — " The king has no right to more
than falls to his allotment." Despite the rude-
ness of the act, it was still consonant to the
habits and laws of the free barbarians. Clovis
was obliged to dissemble his resentment, and defer
his vengeance. It was not until several months
after, that at a review, he took an opportunity to
find favdt with the breaker of the vase, for the
bad condition of his arms. Clovis fltmg the sol-
dier's axe to the ground, and while the latter stoop-
ed to pick up the weapon, the monarch slew him
with a blow of his own, exclaiming — " Thus
didst thou serve the vase of Soissons."

with his new dignity in the church of St.
Martin, in the city of Tours ; after which
he entered the cathedral, clothed in a
purple tmiic and mantle, the badges of
his office.

Clovis died in the year 511, and Avas
interred in the church of St. Peter and
St. Paul, now Genevieve,* in the city of
Paris. His dominions were divided
among his four sons. Thieri, or Theo-
doric, the eldest, had the eastern part of
the empire ; and, from his making the city
of Metz his capital, is commonly called
theking of Metz. Clodomir, the eldest
son by Clotilda, had the kingdom of Or-
leans ; and ChUdehcrt and Clotaire, who
were both infants, had the kingdoms of
Paris and Soissons, under the tutelage
of their mother.

In 560, Clotaire became sole monarch
of France. He had murdered the sons
of Clodomir, who was killed in Burgimdy.
Thieri and his children were dead, as
was also Childebert ; so that Clotaire was
sole heir to all the dominions of Clovis.
He had five sons ; and the eldest of them,
named Chramnes, had some time before re-
belled against his father in Auvergne. As
long as Childebert lived, he supported the
young prince ; but on his death Chramnes
was obliged to implore his father's cle-
mency. He was at this time pardoned ;
but he soon after engaged the count of
Bretagne to assist him in another rebel-
lion. The Bretons, however, were de-
feated, and Chramnes attempted to make
his escape ; but perceiving that his wife
and children were surrounded by his
father's troops, he attempted to rescue
them. In this attempt he was taken pri-
soner, and with his family was confined
in a thatched cottage near the field of
battle ; of which the king was no sooner
informed, than he commanded the cot-
tage to be set on fire, and all that were
in it perished in the flames.

Clotaire did not long survive this cruel
execution of his son, but died in 562 ; and
after his death the French empire was
divided among his four remaining sons,
Caribert, Gontran, Sigebert, and Chilpe-
ric. The aged monarch made no diid-

* Since the French Revolution, this edifice
has been called the Pantheon, and is used for
the reception of the ashes of great men.

FRANCE.

225

sion of his dominions before he died, and
the young princes divided the kingdom
by lot ; when Caribert, the eldest, had
the kingdom of Paris ; Gontran, the se-
cond, had Orleans ; Sigebert had Metz ;
and Chilperic had Soissons. Provence
and Aquitaine were possessed by the
princes in common. The peace of the
empire was first disturbed in 563 by an
invasion of the Abares, a rude nation,
said to be remains of the Huns. They
entered Thuringia, which belonged to the
dominions of Sigebert; but by him they
were totally defeated, and obliged to re-
pass the Elbe with precipitation. Sige-
bert closely pursued the Abares, but
readily concluded a peace with them on
their first proposals. To this he was in-
duced, by hearing that his brother Chil-
peric had invaded his dominions, and
taken Rheims and some otherplaces in the
neighborhood. Against him, therefore,
Sigebert marched with his victorious ar-
my, made himself master of Soissons his
capital, and of the person of his eldest son
Theodobert. He then defeated Chilpe-
ric in battle ; and not only recovered the
city which he had seized, but conquered
the greatest part of his dominions : never-
theless, on the mediation of the other two
brothers, Sigebert abandoned all his con-
quests, set Theodobert at liberty, and
thus restored peace to the empire.

Soon after this, Sigebert married Brune-
haut, daughter to Athanagilde, king of
the Visigoths in Spain. In 567, Chil-
peric married Galswintha, Brunehaut's
eldest sister. Before her arrival, he dis-
missed his mistress Fredegonde, a wo-
man of great abilities and firmness of
mind, but exceedingly ambitious. The
queen, who brought with her immense
treasures from Spain, and made it her
whole study to please the king, Avas for
some time in high favor with the fickle
monarch. By degrees, however, Chil-
peric suffered Fredegonde to appear
again at court, and was suspected of hav-
ing renewed his intercourse Avith her ;
Avhich gave such offence to the queen,
that she desired leave to return to her
own country, promising to leave behind
her all the wealth she had brought. The
king, knoAving that this would render
him extremely odious, found means to
29

dissipate his wife's suspicions, and soon
after caused her to be privately strangled,
after which he publicly married Frede-
gonde.

In 583, Chilperic himself was mur-
dered by some unknown assassins, when.
his dominions were on the point of being
conquered by Gontran and Childebert,
Avho had entered into a league for that pur-
pose. After his death, Fredegonde sought
the protection of Gontran for herself and
her infant son Clotaire, which he readily
granted, and obliged Childebert to conclude
the Avar. He found, however, gi-eat dif-
ficulty in controlling Fredegonde and
Brunehaut ; for these two princesses,
having been long rivals and implacable
enemies, were continually plotting the
destruction of each other. This, hoAV-
ever, he accomplished, by favoring some-
times Brunehaut, and sometimes Frede-
gonde ; so that, during his life, they Avere
unable to effect any injury against each
other.

Early in 593 Gontran expired, at the
age of sixty years, having reigned thirty-
tAvo years. Childebert succeeded to the
kingdom Avithout opposition, but did not
long enjoy it ; he himself dying in the
year 596, and his queen shortly after.
His dominions were divided between his
two sons, Theodobert and Thierri ; the
first of whom Avas declared king of Aus-
trasia, and the latter king of Burgmidy.
As Theodobert was only in the eleventh
year of his age, and Thierri in his tenth,
Brunehaut governed both kingdoms with
an absolute sway. Fredegonde, hoAv-
ever, did not lose the opportunity offered
her by the death of Childebert, but made
herself mistress of Paris, and several
other important places. Upon this Brune-
haut sent against her the best part of the
forces in Austrasia, Avho were totally de-
feated ; but Fredegonde died before she
had time to improve her victory, leaving
her son Clotaire heir to all her dominions.

For some time Brunehaut preserved
her kingdom in peace ; but her ambition
at lengUj proved her ruin. Instead of
instructing Theodobert in Avhat was ne-
cessary for a prince's education, she took
care to keep him in ignorance, and even
suffered him to marry a slave of his fath-
er's. The new queen Avas possessed of

226

FRANCE,

great beauty and some talents ; and she
had gained such an influence over the
affection of her husband, that he readily-
consented to the banishment of Brune-
haut, who fled to Thierri, king of Bur-
gimdy, in the year 599.

On the death of Thierri, Brunehaut
immediately caused his eldest son, named
Sigisbert, then in the tenth year of his
age, to be proclaimed king. It is proba-
ble that she intended to have governed
in his name ; but Clotaire did not allow
her time to discover her intentions. Hav-
ing ascertained that the nobility in both
Austrasia and Burgundy were disaffected
to Brunehaut, he declared war against
her ; and she being betra5^ed by her gen-
erals, was taken prisoner by Clotaire,
who gave her up to her nobles, by whom
she was generally disliked. After treat-
ing her with the greatest indignity, they
bound her to a wild horse, and she thus
perished by an ignominious and painful
death. After this her body was reduced
to ashes, which were afterwards interred
in the abbey of St. Martin at Autun.

Thus, in the year 613, Clotaire be-
came sole monarch of France, and quiet-
ly enjoyed his kingdom till his death,
which happened in 628. He was suc-
ceeded by Dagobcrt, who proved a great
and powerful prince, and raised the king-
dom of France to its highest point of
splendor. This monarch founded the
abbey of St. Denis, and he appears to
have availed himself of every opportuni-
ty of enricWng the church. Trade had
now began to elevate the commercial
classes, and we find a rich jeweller pre-
senting the monarch with a throne form-
ed of solid gold, and containing more of
that precious metal than had been found
in the treasuries of any of the previous
kings of France.

Dagobert was succeeded by his sons
Sigcbert and Clovis ; the former of whom
had the kingdom of Austrasia, and the
latter that of Burgundy. Both the kings
were minors at the time of their acces-
sion to the throne, and the mayors of the
palace, (the highest ofiicers under the
crown), took advantage of this circum-
stance to appropriate the whole govern-
ment of the kingdom to themselves.
Sigebert diedin 640, after a short reign

of one year, leaving behind him an in-
fant son, named Dagobert, whom he
strongly recommended to the care of
Griraoalde, his mayor of the palace.
The minister caused Dagobert to be im-
mediately proclaimed king, but did not
suffer him long to enjoy that honor. He
had not the cruelty, however, to put him
to death, but sent him to a monastery in
one of the Western Isles of Scotland,
and then reported him dead, and advan-
ced his own son Childebert to the throne.
Childebert was expelled by Clovis, king
of Burgundy, who placed on the throne
Childeric, the second son of Sigebert.
Clovis died soon after the revolution,
and was succeeded in his dominions by
his son Clotaire, who also died in a short
time without issue ; he was succeeded
by his brother Childeric, who was mur-
dered with his queen and his infant son
Dagobert ; though another named Daniel,
fortunately escaped.

The political affairs of France were
now in the most deplorable situation.
The princes of the Merovingian race had
been for some time entirely dej^ived of
their power by their ofiicers, called may-
ors of the palace. In Austrasia the ad-
ministration had been totally engrossed
by Pepin and his son ; while Archam-
band and Ebroin did the same in Neus-
tria and Burgundy. On the re-union of
Neustria and Burgundy to the rest of the
French dominions, this minister ruled
with such a despotic sway, that the no-
bility of Austrasia were provoked to a
revolt, electing for their dukes two chiefs,
named Martin and Pepin. The forces
of the confederates, however, were de-
feated by Ebroin ; and Martin having
surrendered on a promise of safety, was
treacherously put to death. Pepin lost
no time in recruiting his shattered for-
ces ; but before he had occasion to try
his fortune a second time in the field of
battle, the assassination of Ebroin de-
livered him from all apprehensions from
that quarter. After his death, Pepin car-
ried every thing before him, overthrew
the royal army under the command of
the new minister Bertaire ; and, having
got possession of the capital, caused
himself to be declared mayor of the pal-
ace, in which office he continued to

FRANCE.

227

govern the kingdom during the remainder
of his life.

Pepin, (who was surnamed Heristal,
from his palace on the Mense), died in
the year 714, having enjoyed unlimited
power for more than twenty-six years.
He appointed his grandson Thendobalde,
then only six years of age, to succeed
him in his post of mayor of the palace.
This occurred during the reign of Da-
gobert already mentioned ; but this prince
had too much spirit to suffer himself to
be deprived of his authority by an infant.
The adherents of the young mayor were
defeated in battle, and this defeat was
soon followed by his death. Charles,
however, the illegitimate son of Pepin,
was now raised to the dignity of duke by
the Austrasians, and from his great abili-
ties seemed peculiarly well fitted to that
high but perilous rank. The murder of
Dagobert freed him from a powerful op-
ponent ; and the young Chilperic, who,
after Dagobert's death, was brought from
a cloister to a throne, could by no means
cope with so powerful an antagonist.
On the 19th of March, 717, Charles had
the good fortune to surprise the royal
camp as the army passed through the
forest of Arden ; and soon after a battle
ensued, in which the king's forces Avere
entirely defeated.

Charles, although advanced to the pos-
session of great power, treated Chilperic
with kindness ; and on the death of Clo-
taire, caused him to be proclaimed king of
Austrasia; by which, however, his own
power was not at all diminished ; and from
this time the authority of the kings of
France became merely nominal. Charles,
however, had still one competitor to con-
tend with ; this was Rainfroy, who had
been appohited mayor of the palace, and
who made such a determined resistance
that Charles was obliged to allow him |
the possession of the country of Anjou.
No sooner, however, had Charles freed
himself from domestic enemies, than he i
was threatened with destruction from :
foreign nations. The Saracens, having
overrun great part of Asia, now turned j
their victorious arms Avestward, and
threatened Europe with total subjection. I
Spain had already submitted to the yoke ; |
and having passed the Pyrenees, they |

next invaded France, appearing in vast
numbers under the walls of Toulouse.
Here they Avere met by Eudes, and after
an obstinate engagement, defeated ; but
this proved only a partial check. The
Saracens once more passing the Pyre-
nees, entered France Avith such a poAver-
ful army, that Eudes Avas no longer able
to resist them. He met them, indeed,
with his accustomed A'alor ; but being
forced to yield to superior numbers, he
solicited the protection and assistance of
Charles. The latter, on account of his
bravery and great personal strength, had
acquired the name of Martel, in allusion
to the violence of the strokes he be-
stowed upon his enemies. Their united
forces having come up with the Saracens,
many thousands of the infidels, among
Avhom Avas the commander Abderah-
man himself, are said to have perished
in the battle. This brilliant and most
important victory over an enemy Avho,
until that celebrated day, had been deem-
ed invincible, threw a blaze of glory
around the name of Charles Martel Avhich
time can never extinguish. The Sara-
cens Avere soon after entirely expelled
from France, and relinquished all hopes
of subduing that kingdom.

So poAverful had Charles now become,
that his alliance and protection were so-
licited by almost all the neighboring poAV-
ers. Pope Gregory HI chose him for
his protector ; and offered to shake off
the yoke of the Greek emperor, and in-
A'est him Avith the dignity of Roman con-
sul. But Avhile this negotiation was
pending, the pope, the emperor, and
Charles Martel himself, died. After
this event, Avhich occurred in the year
741, his dominions Avere shared by his
three sons, Carloman, Pepin, and Grip-
pon. Carloman, the eldest, obtained Aus-
trasia ; Pepin, the second, Neustria and
Burgundy ; Avhile Grippon had only
some lands assigned to him in France,
with Avhich he was so much displeased,
that the tranquillity of the empire was
soon disturbed. With the assistance of
his mother, Sonnechilde, he seized on
the city of Lahon, Avhere he Avas be-
sieged by his tAvo brothers, Avho com-
pelled him after a protracted resistance,
to submit, and imprisoned him in a cas-

228

FRANCE

tie at Arden ; Sonnechilde was immured
within the walls of a monastery. Hav-
ing thus freed themselves from their do-
mestic enemies, the two brothers for a
time continued to govern the kingdom
with uninterrupted harmony.

By the resignation of Carloman, which
happened in the year 746, Pepin was
left in the undivided possession of the
kingdom ; and his conduct in this exalted
station has received the praises of all
the historians of the period.

Pepin having subdued all his foes, both
foreign and domestic, began to think of
assuming the title of king, after having
so long enjoyed the regal power. His
wishes in this respect were quite in ac-
cordance with those of the nation in
general, 'i'he nobility, however, were
bound by an oath of allegiance to Chil-
deric, the nominal monarch at that time ;
and this oath could not be dispensed with
but by the authority of the pope. Am-
bassadors for this purpose were therefore
despatched, both from Pepin and the no-
bility, to pope Zachary, the reigning pon-
tiff. His holiness replied, that it was
lawful to transfer the regal dignity from
hands incapable of maintaining it to
those who had so successfully preserv-
ed it, and that the nation might unite
in the same person the authority and
title of king.* On this, Childeric was
degraded from his dignity, and con-
fined in a monastery for life ; Pejnn
assumed the title of king of France,
and the line of Clovis was finally set
aside. This revolution took place in the
year 751. The attention of the new
monarch was first claimed by a revolt
of the Saxons ; but they were soon re-
duced to subjection, and obliged to pay
an additional tribute ; and, during his ex-
pedition agahist them, the king had the
satisfaction of ridding himself of his
restless competitor Grippon, whom Pe-
pin had released from prison. This tur-
bulent prince, having become weary of
residing at the court of Aquitaine, deter-
mined to escape from thence, and put
himself under the protection of Astol-
phus, king of the Lombards ; but he was

* It was upon this occasion that the popes first
assumed that right which they afterwards used
of throning and dethroning kings.

killed in attempting to force a pass on
the confines of Italy. Pepin in the mean
time continued to push his good fortune.
The submission of the Saxons was soon
followed by the reduction of Britany,
and that by the recovery of Narbonne
from the infidels. His next exploit was
for the protection of Pope Stephen III
against Astolphus, the king of the Lom-
bards, who had seized on the exarchate
of Ravenna, and insisted on being ac-
knowledged king of Rome. The pope,
unable to contend with such a powerful
rival, hastened to cross the x\lps and im-
plore the protection of Pepin, who re-
ceived him with all the respect due to
his character. He was lodged in the
abbey of St. Denis, and attended by the
king in person during a dangerous sick-
ness with Avhich he was seized. On his
recovery Stephen solemnly placed the
diadem on the head of his benefactor,
bestowed the regal unction on his sons
Charles and Carloman, and conferred on
each of the three princes the title of pa-
trician of Rome. In return for these
honors, Pepin accompanied the pontifl' in-
to Italy at the head of a powerfid army.
Astolphus, unable to withstand such a
powerful antagonist, shut himself up in
Pavia, where he was closely besieged
by the Franks, and obliged to renounce
all pretensions to the sovereignty of
Rome, as well as to restore the city and
exarchate of Ravenna, and swear to the
observance of the treaty. No sooner
was Pepin gone, however, than Astol-
phus broke the treaty he had just ratified
with such solemnity. The pope was
again reduced to distress, and again ap-
plied to Pepin. He now sent him an
epistle in the style and character of St.
Peter himself, which so much inflamed
the zeal of Pepin that he instantly set
out for Italy, and compelled Astolphus a
second time to submit to his terms, which
were now rendered more severe by the
imposition of an annual tribute. Pepin
next made a journey to Rome ; but find-
ing that his presence there gave great
uneasiness both to the Greeks and to the
pope himself, he thought proper to finish
Ids visit in a short time. Soon after
his return Astolphus died, and his domin-
ions were usurped by his general, Didier,

FRANCE.

229

who, however, obtained the papal sanc-
tion for what he had done, and was re-
cognised as lawful sovereign of the
Lombards in the year 756.

Pepin returned to France in triumph ;
but the peace of his dominions was soon
disturbed by the revolt of the Saxons,
who were always impatient under the
French yoke. Their present attempts,
however, proved equally unsuccessful
with those they had formerly made ; be-
ing obliged to submit and purchase their
pardon, not only by a renewal of their
tribute, but by an additional supply of
300 horse. But while the king was ab-
sent on this expedition, Vaisar, duke of
Aquitaine, took the opportunity of ravag-
ing Burgundy, where he carried his de-
vastations as far as Chalons. Pepin soon
returned ; and, entering the dominions of
Vaisar, where he defended himself as
long as possible, but was at last deprived
both of his crown and life by the victor.

Thus the duchy of Aquitaine was
once more annexed to the crown of
France ; but Pepin had scarce time to
indulge himself with a view of his new
conquest when he was seized with a
slow fever, which put an end to his life
in the year 768, the fifty-fourth of his
age, and seventeenth of his reign. On
his tomb was inscribed, " Here lies the
father of Charlemagne."

Pepin was succeeded in his authority
by his two sons, Charles and Carloman,
to whom with his dying breath he be-
queathed his dominions.

The death of Carloman, which hap-
pened in the year 771, left Charles entire
master of France ; but the revolt of the
Saxons involved him in a series of wars,
from which he did not extricate himself
for more than thirty years. These had
long been tributaries to the French, but
frequently revolted ; and now, when freed
from the terror of Pepin's arms, thought
they had a right to shake off the yoke
altogether.

At this period, Didier, the king of Lom-
bardy, having seized and killed pope
Stephen IV, used his utmost endeavors
to reduce his successor, Adrian I, to a
state of entire dependence on himself.
Adrian applied to the French monarch
for assistance, which was willingly ren-

dered. Didier was taken prisoner and
carried into France. His kingdom was
totally dissolved, and Charles was crown-
ed king of Lombardy at Milan, in the
year 774.

In the year 779, he paid a visit to Italy
with his two sons, Carloman and Louis.
Having passed the winter at Pavia, he
entered Rome next spring amidst the ac-
clamations of the inhabitants. Here, in
the 39th year of his age, he divided his
dominions in presence of the pope, be-
twixt his two sons, Carloman and Louis.
The former, who now took the name of
Pepin, had Lombardy ; the latter Aqui-
taine. Having then received the sub-
mission of Tassilon, duke of Bavaria, he
set out for Saxony, where he took a most
signal revenge on the inhabitants of that
country, who had again opposed him in
the field.

Charles having thus brought his affairs
in Saxony to a successful conclusion,
turned his arms against Tassilon, duke of
Bavaria, who had privately supported the
Saxons in their revolt. Having entered
his country with a powerful army, in the
year 787, he made such rapid advances,
that the total destruction of Tassilon seem-
ed inevitable. Charles had advanced as
far as the river Leech, when Tassilon sud-
denly entered liis camp, and threw him-
self at his feet. The king had compas-
sion on his faithless kinsman, and par-
doned him ; but no sooner did he find
himself at liberty, than he stirred up the
Huns, the Greek emperor, and the fugi-
tive Adalgise, against the king. He fo-
mented also the discontents of the fac-
tious nobles of Aquitaine and Lombardy ;
but his subjects, fearing lest these in-
trigues should involve them in destruc-
tion, made a discovery of the whole to
Charles. Tassilon, ignorant of this, en-
tered the diet at Ingelheim, not suspect-
ing any danger, but was instantly arrest-
ed by order of the French monarch.
Being brought to a trial, the proofs of his
guilt were so apparent, that he was con-
demned to lose his head : the punish-
ment, however, was afterwards mitigated
to perpetual confinement in a monastery,
and the duchy of Bavaria was annexed to
the dominions of Charles.

The Huns, and other enemies of the

230

FRANCE.

French monarch, continued to carry on
their enterprises without regarding the
fate of their associate Tassilon. Their
attempts, however, only served to in-
crease the fame of Charles. He defeat-
ed the Huns in Bavaria, and the Greek
emperor in Italy ; obliging the latter to
renounce for ever the fortunes of Adal-
gise. The Huns, not disheartened by their
defeat, continuing to infest the French do-
minions, Charles entered their country at
the head of a formidable army, and having
forced their entrenchments, penetrated as
far as Raal on the Danube, but was com-
pelled by an epidemic distemper to re-
tire before he had finished his conquest.
And no sooner had he returned to his own
dominions, than he had the mortification
to be informed that his eldest son Pepin had
conspired against his sovereignty and life.
The plot was discovered by a priest, who
had accidentally fallen asleep in a church
in which the conspirators were assembled.
Being awakened by their voices, he over-
heard them consulting on the proper
measures for completing their purpose ;
on which he instantly set out for the pal-
ace, and summoned the monarch from his
bed to inform him of the guilt of his son.
Pepin was seized, and condemned to
expiate his offences by spending the re-
mainder of his days in a monastery.

Charles was no sooner freed from this
danger, than he was again called to arms
by a revolt of the Saxons on the one hand,
Avhile a formidable invasion of the Moors
assailed him on the other ; the Huns at
the same time renewing their depreda-
tions on his dominions. The king did
not proceed against the Moors, doubtless
foreseeing that they would speedily be
called off' by their Christian enemies in
Spain ; and this soon occurred, as the
victories of Alonzo the Chaste, obliged
them to quit France entirely. After this,
Charles marched in person to attack the
Saxons and Huns. The former consent-
ed to receive the Christian religion, and
were compelled to deliver up a third part
of their army to be disposed of at the
king's pleasure ; but the Huns defended
themselves with great vigor. Though
often defeated, their love of liberty was
unconquerable ; and the war was only
terminated by the death of the king, and

almost total destruction of the people ;
and even then only one tribe could be
induced to acknowledge the authority of
the French monarch.

These exploits were fmished betwixt
the years 793 and 798 ; after which
Charles invaded and subdued the islands
of Majorca and Minorca, which the dis-
sensions of the Moorish chiefs gave him an
opportunity of doing. The satisfaction he
felt from this new conquest, however, was
soon damped by the troubles which broke
out in Italy. Alter the death of pope Adri-
an, his nephew aspired to the papal digni-
ty ; but a priest named Leo being prefer-
red, the disappointed candidate determin-
ed on taking revenge. He managed to
conceal his designs for four years, and at
last attacked Leo on the eve of a splen-
did procession. The unfortunate pontiff
was left for dead on the ground ; but hav-
ing with difficulty recovered, and made
his escape to the Vatican, he was pro-
tected by the duke of Spoleto, at that
time general of the French forces. His
cause was warmly espoused by Charles,
who invited him to his camp at Pader-
born ; whence he despatched him with a
numerous guard to Rome, promising soon
after to visit that metropolis, and redress
all his grievances. His attention was,
however, called by a descent of the
Normans in one of the principal maritime
provinces of his dominions, so that he
was obliged to defer the promised assis-
tance for some time longer. Having
constructed forts at the mouths of most
of the navigable rivers, and further pro-
vided for the defence of his territories,
by instituting a regular militia, and ap-
pointing proper squadrons to cruise
against the invaders, he set out, for the
fourth and last time, on a journey to
Rome. Here he was received with the
highest possible honors. Leo was al-
lowed to clear himself, by oath, of the
crimes laid to his charge by his enemies,
while his accusers were sent into exile.
On the festival of Christmas, in the year
800, after Charles had made his appear-
ance in the cathedral of St. Peter, and
assisted devoutly at mass, the pope sud-
denly put a crown on his head ; and the
place instantly resounded with acclama-
tions of " Long life to Charles the Au-

FRANCE.

231

Crowning of Charlemagne

gxist, crowned by the hand of God! Long-
life and victory to the great and pacific
emperor of the Romans ! " His body
was then consecrated and anointed with
holy oil ; and after being conducted to a
tlu'one, he was treated with all the res-
pect usually paid to the ancient C?esars.
The holy oil employed in the anointing
of this prince was said to have been
brought down from heaven in the reign
of Clovis ; but it appears, by the testi-
mony of some of the most accurate his-
torians of the period, that it did not in
reality make its appearance till the reign
of this prince.

After this ceremony he was honored
with the title of Charlemagne. Charles
afterwards denied having any previous
knowledge of the pope's intention ; and
that, had he known it, he would have dis-
appointed him by his absence ; but these
protestations were not generally believed ;
and the care he took to have his new
title acknowledged by the eastern empe-
rors evidently showed how much he es-
teemed it.

Charles, now raised to the supreme
dignity in the West, proposed to unite
in himself the whole power of the first
Roman emperors, by marrying Irene, the

But in this he was
marriage of that

empress of the East,
disappointed by the
princess with Nicephorus ; however, the
latter acknowledged his new dignity of
Augustus, and the boundaries of the two
empires were amicably settled. Charles
was further gratified by the respect paid
him by the great Haroun Al-Rashid, ca-
liph of the Saracens, who yielded to him
the city of Jerusalem, and the holy se-
pulchre there.

The decease of the emperor, in 841,
was followed by a civil Avar among his
sons. The united forces of Lothaire and
his nephew Pepin were defeated by those
of Charles and Louis, in an obstinate
engagement in the plains of Fontenoy,
where 100,000 Franks perished; this
occurred in the year 842. This victory,
however, did not decide the fortune of
the war. The conquerors having, through
motives of interest or jealousy, retired
each into his own dominions, Lothaire
found means not only to recruit his shat-
tered forces, but pressed the other two
princes so vigorously, that they were
glad to consent to a new partition of the
empire. By this, Lothaire was allowed
to possess the whole of Italy, with the
whole tract of country between the rivers

232

FRANCE.

Rhone and Rhine, as well as that be-
tween the Meuse and Scheldt. Charles
had Aquitaine, with tlie country lying be-
tween the Loire and the Meuse ; while
Louis had Bavaria, with the rest of Ger-
many, from whence he was distinguished
by the appellation of Louis the German.

By this partition, Germany and France
were so completely separated, that they
were never again united under one head.
That part of France which was allowed
to Lothaire, was from him called Lotha-
ringia ; and now, by a gradual corruption
of the word, Lorrain. The sovereignty,
however, which that prince had purchas-
ed at the expense of every filial duty, and
purchased at so much blood, afibrded him
now but little satisfaction. Disgusted
with the cares and anxieties of his situa-
tion, he sought relief in a monastery, in
the year 855. On his retreat from the
throne, he allowed to his eldest son,
Louis II, the sovereignty of Italy ; to
his second son, Lothaire, the territory of
Lorrain, with the title of king ; and to
his youngest son Charles, surnamed the
Bald, Provence, Dauphiny, and part of
the kingdom of Burgundy. From the
year 845 to 857, the provinces subjected
to his jurisdiction had been infested by
the annual depredations of the Normans,
from whom Charles was at last fain to
purchase peace at a greater expense than
might have carried on a successful war.
The people of Britany had also revolted ;
and though obliged by the appearance of
Charles himself, at the head of a power-
ful army, to return to their allegiance,
they no sooner perceived him again em-
barrassed by the incursions of the Nor-
mans, than they threw oft' the yoke, and
under the conduct of their duke Louis,
subdued the neighboring diocese of Ren-
nes ; after which exploit, Louis assumed
the title of king, which he transmitted to
his son Herispee. By him, Charles was
totally defeated ; and his subjects, per-
ceiving the weakness of their monarch,
put themselves under the protection of
Louis the German. His ambition prompt-
ed him to give a ready ear to the propo-
sal ; and, therefore, taking the opportu-
nity of Charles' absence in repelling the
invasion of the Danes, he marched with
a formidable army into France, and was

solemnly crowned by the archbishop of
Sens, in the year 857. Being too con-
fident of success, and considering him-
self firmly established on the throne, he
was persuaded to dismiss his German
forces ; which he had no sooner done,
than Charles marched against him with
a large army, and Louis abandoned his
new kingdom as easily as he had ob-
tained it.

Notwithstanding this success, the
throne of Charles still remained in a very
tottering condition. The Normans ha-
rassed him in one quarter, and the king
of Britany in another. He marched
against the latter in the year 860 ; but
was defeated in an engagement which
lasted two days. The Adctory was as-
cribed to the prowess of a celebrated
warrior named Robert le Fort, or the
Strong, who commanded the Bretons ;
but Charles found means to gain him
over to his party, by investing him with
the title of duke of France, including the
country which lies between the rivers
Seine and Loire.

For some time the abilities of Robert
continued to support the tottering throne
of Charles ; but his difficulties retmned
on the death of that noble, who was kill-
ed in repelling an invasion of the Danes.
His loss, however, was shortly after
counterbalanced by the death of the king
of Lorrain, in the year 869 ; by which
event the territories of Charles were aug-
mented by the cities of Lyons, Vienne,
Toulouse, Besan^on, Verdun, Cambray,
Viviers, and Urez, together with the ter-
ritories of Hainault, Zealand, and Hol-
land. Cologne, Utrecht, Treves, Mentz,
Strasburg, with the rest of the territories
of Lothaire, were assigned to Louis the
German.

The Normans, however, were the en-
emies of both Britany and France, and
the tAvo kings joined their forces together,
which event proved unfortunate to the
Norman invaders ; for their principal
leaders Avere besieged in Anglers, and
obliged to purchase leave to depart by re-
linquishing all the spoil they had taken.

Charles died in the 38th year of his
reign, being poisoned, it is supposed, by a
Jewish physician. He was succeeded
by his son Louis, surnamed the stam-

FRANCE.

233

merer, from a defect ia his speech. He
died in 879, and was succeeded by Charles
the Gross, emperor of Germany. He was
deposed, and Eudcs, count of Paris, was
chosen Iving by the nobility during the
minority of Charles, the son of Adelaide,
afterwards named Charles the Simple. He
defeated the Normans, and endeavored to
repress the power of the nobility ; on
which account a faction was formed in
favor of Chaifles, who was sent for, with
his mother, from England. On which
Eudes quietly resigned the greatest part
of the kingdom to him, and consented to
do homage for the rest. He died soon
after this agreement, in the year 898.

During the reign of Charles the Sim-
ple, the power of the French government
rapidly declined. By the introduction of
fiefs, those noblemen who had possessed
large property, having had these confirm-
ed to them and their heirs for ever, be-
came, in a manner, independent sover-
eigns ; and as these great lords had others
under them, and they in like manner had
others under them, and even these again
had their vassals ; instead of the easy
and equal government which prevailed
before, a vast number of insupportable
little tyrannies were erected. The Nor-
mans, too, ravaged the country in the most
terrible manner, and desolated some of
the finest provinces in France. At last
Charles ceded to RoUo, their captain, the
duchy of Neustria ; who, thereupon, be-
came a Christian, changed his own name
to Robert, and that of his principality to
Normandy.

During the remainder of the reigni of
Charles the Simple, and the entire reigns
of Louis IV, surnamed the Stranger,
Lothaire, and Louis V, the power of the
Carlovingian race continually declined ;
till at last they were supplanted by Hugh
Capet, who had been created duke of
France by Lothaire. Tliis revolution
happened in the year 987, and was
brought about much in the same manner
as the former one had been by Pepin.
He proved an active and prudent mon-
arch, and possessed such other qualities
as were requisite for keeping his tumul-
tuous subjects in awe. He died on the
24th of October, 997, leaving his domin-
ions to his son Robert.
30

As Robert was of opinion that peace
and tranquillity were preferable to wide-
extended dominions with a precarious
tenure, he refused the kingdom of Italy,
and the imperial crown of Germany, both
which were ofiered him. He died on
the 20th of July, 1030; having reigned
thirty-three years.

Robert was succeeded by his eldest
son, Henry I, who in the beginning of
his reign met with great opposition from
his mother. She had always hated him,
and preferred his younger brother Rob-
ert, in whose favor she now raised an
insurrection. By the assistance of Rob-
ert, duke of Normandy, however, Henry
overcame all his enemies, and establish-
ed himself firmly upon the throne. In
return for this, he warmly supported
William, Robert's natural son, in the pos-
session of the duchy of Normandy. After-
wards, however, growing jealous of his
power, he not only supported the pre-
tenders to the duchy of Normandy se-
cretly, but himself invaded that country
in their favor. This enterprise proved
unsuccessful, and Henry was obliged to
make peace ; but no sincere reconciliation
ever took place, for the king retained a
deep sense of the disgrace he had met
with, and the duke never forgave him for
invading his dominions. The treaty be-
tween them, therefore, was quickly bro-
ken, and Henry once more invaded Nor-
mandy, was again unsuccessful, and was
at last totally defeated ; after which Hen-
ry was compelled to agree to such terms
as the duke thought proper to stipulate ;
but the dislike between them never ceas-
ed, and was in reality the cause of that
strong feeling of aversion, which, for a
series of years, produced perpetual quar-
rels between the kings of France and
those of the Norman race in England.

Henry died in 1059, and not without
a suspicion of being poisoned. He was
succeeded by his eldest son Philip, at
that time in the eighth year of his age.
Baldwin, earl or Flanders, was appointed
his guardian, and died in 1066, the same
year that William of Normandy became
king of England. From that period
Philip began to display a very insincere
and oppressive disposition. He engaged
in a war with William the Conqueror,

234

FRANCE.

and supported his son Robert in his re-
bellion against him.

Louis died in 1137, leaving the king-
dom to his son Louis VII.

The young king was not endowed by
nature with any of those qualities which
constitute a great monarch. From the
superstition common to the age in which
he lived, he undertook an expedition into
the Holy Land, from Avhence he returned
without glory.* In this expedition he
was accompanied by his queen Eleanor ;
but was so much displeased with the im-
propriety of her conduct that he divorced
her, and returned the duchy of Guienne,
which he received Avith her as a portion.
Six weeks after this she married Henry,
duke of Normandy, count of Anjou and
Mahie, and heir-apparent to the crown of
England. This marriage was a source
of great mortification to Louis, and pro-
cured him the surname of the Young, on
account of the folly of his conduct. When
Henry ascended the throne of England,
a war was carried on between hun and
Louis, with little advantage on either
side ; at last, however, a perfect recon-
ciliation took place, and Louis took a voy-
age to England, in order to visit the
shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. On
his return, he was struck with a fit of
apoplexy ; and though he partially re-
covered, yet continued ever after para-
lytic on "the right side. After having
languished for about a year under this
malady, he died on the 1 8th of Sept. 1180,
leaving the kingdom to his son Philip.

This prince, surnamed the Gift of God,
the Magnanimous, and the Conqueror, du-
ring his lifetime, and, as if all these titles

* During a war which Louis had waged against
Thibaud, count of Champagne, an accident occur-
red, which had a marked cfl'ect upon the future
conduct and character of the king. He had ta-
ken by storm tlie castle of Vitry, and set fire to
it. The flames chanced to catch a neighboring
church hito which the population had crowded to
preserve themselves from the fury of the soldiery.
It appears that they had no means of escape ;
and 1300 men, women and children, perished in
the conflagration. Louis was horror-struck on
beholding the mass of half-consumed bodies, —
and the weight of the remorse hmig ever after
upon him, and weighed down his spirit. It was
the chief cause that induced him to assume the
cross, and to lead that expedition to Jerusalem,
which is known in history as the second orusade.

had fallen short of his merit, styled Au-
gustus after his death, is considered one
of the greatest princes that ever sat on
the throne of France. It doth not, how-
ever, appear that these titles were alto-
gether well founded. In the beginning
of his reign he was opposed by a strong
faction excited by his mother. Them,
indeed, he repressed with a vigor and
spirit which did him honor ; but his
taking part with the children of Henry
II, of England, in their unnatural contests
with their father, and his alliance with
John to seize his brother's kingdom when
he was detained in prison by the empe-
ror of Germany, must be indelible stains
in his character.

Whilst Philip Augustus was engaged
in wars with king John of England, and
whilst he adroitly wrested Normandy and
its dependencies from the hands of John,
a series of events took place in Langue-
doc, which had the effect of destroying
its independence, and of bringing that
fine region not only nominally, as it had
hitherto been, but really under the do-
minion of the kings of France. The
countries bordering on the Mediterra-
nean had ever been foremost in the path
of civilization. They were still so. The
inhabitants of that part of France so sit-
uated far surpassed their northern neigh-
bors in refinement, in enlightenment, and
wealth. A thriving commerce Avas the
chief source of these advantages, joined
with the municipal liberty, which they
enjoyed even to a greater degree than
countries around them. The towns were
governed by consuls, like those of Italy ;
and, being freed from either papal or im-
perial pretensions, were far more tranquil
than the republics of that land. The
feudal lords lived in amity with the bour-
geoisie, and shared its wealth ; commu-
nicating at the same time to the middling
ranks no small portion of their own chiv-
alrous spirit. Little agitated, at least
for that age, by the tumults and conten-
tions of war, the Provencals gave them-
selves to the cultivation of those intellec-
tual employments which wealth and
leisure, peace and a fine climate, suggest.
In their valleys the muse of modern times
had taken birth. They were the first
poets of modern tongues. Nor did the

FRANCE.

235

troubadours confine their strains to the
celebration of heroic deeds or the plead-
ings of love ; they were moralists and sa-
tirists, and undertook to lash as well as
to amuse the age. The church was the
chief object of their alternate ridicule and
resentment. Dante and Petrarch, as
well as our own Chaucer, afford samples
of this spirit. They exclaimed against
the licentious lives of the clergy ; rallied
them on their rigid upholding of abstract
dogmas, and their lax observance of mor-
al ones. The troubadours stood forth as
the asserters and avengers of common
sense. And thus the earliest of modern
poets, perhaps, merit the honor of being
esteemed the first reformers.

The speculations of the theologian, and
the scruples of the devout, soon came to
swell a passing disgust into permanent
dissent. A numerous sect sprung up in
Languedoc, which, abjuring much of the
morality and tenets of the Romish church,
was led of course to deny the authority
of the pope and of his priesthood. For a
long time the Holy See seemed not alive
to the importance of this sect. It was
pope Innocent III who first perceived its
dangerous tendency, and who took cer-
tain steps for its destruction. He issued
interdicts against such princes as should
favor them, and ofiered the spoil of the
heretic to whoever should subdue and
slay him. The principal lord of the south
of France was, at that time, Raymond VI,
count of Toulouse ; and he at least tole-
rated the Albigenses, as those primitive
reformers were called, aware of their
moral purity and sincere devotion. Peter
of Castlenau, the pope's legate, reproach-
ed the count of Toulouse with his want
of zeal, and was indignant at his forbear-
ance to extirpa;te the new opinions by
fire and sword. The legate used no
measured language ; he not only excom-
municated Raymond, but insulted him in
his court, and then took his departure.
The count of Toulouse expressed his in-
dignant feelings before his followers, as
Henry II did after the insolence of
Thomas h Becket, and with the same
fatal eftect. On the day after, Peter of
Castlenau fell under the dagger of a gen-
tleman of the count's, in a hostelry on the
Rhone, where he had stopped.

Pope Innocent was driven to trans-
ports of rage on learning the assassina-
tion of his legate. He not only excom-
municated the count of Toulouse, but
promulgated a crusade against him. He
called on all the nobles of France, on its
princes, and its prelates, to join in the
holy war, to assume the cross, as being
engaged against infidels. And the same
privileges and indulgences were granted
to the crusaders of this civil war, that
previously were bestowed on those who
embarked fortune and life in the perilous
attempt to rescue the Holy Land from
the Saracen. Spoil, wealth, and honor
in this world, together with certain sal-
vation in the next, were now ofiered at
too cheap a rate to be refused. Crowds
of adventurers flocked to the standard ;
and a formidable army was assembled at
Lyons, in the spring of 1209, under the
command of the legate commander,
Amalric, abbot of Citeaux. The pope at
the same time created a new ecclesiasti-
cal militia for the destruction of heresy.
The order of St. Dominick, or of the
friars inquisitors, was instituted ; and
these infernal missionaries were let loose
in couples upon the hapless Languedoc,
like bloodhounds, to scent their prey and
then devour it.

Raymond, count of Toulouse, had nei-
ther the force nor the courage to oppose
so formidable an invasion. He repaired
to the crusaders' army, delivered up his
fortresses and cities, and suffered the hu-
miliating penance of a public flogging in
the church of St. Giles. The count's rela-
tive and feudatory, Raymond Roger, vis-
count of Beziers and Carcassonne, re-
gions infected with the heresy of the
Albigenses, came also to make submis-
sion. The abbot of Citeaux, who was
prudent enough to accept that of the
count of Toulouse, feared to lose all his
prey. He refused to admit the exculpa-
tion of the viscount of Beziers, and plainly
told him, that his only chance was to de-
fend himself to the utmost. The young
viscount courageously accepted the ad-
vice. He summoned the most faithful
of his vassals, abandoned the open coun-
try as well as towns of lesser conse-
quence to the enomy, and restricted his
efforts to the defence of Beziers and of

236

FRANCE.

Carcassonne. He shut himself up in the
latter. The fury of the crusaders first
fell upon Beziers : they had scarcely sat
down before the unfortunate town, when
a sally of the garrison was repulsed with
such vigor, that the besiegers entered the
town together Avith the routed host of the
citizens. Word of this unexpected suc-
cess was instantly brought to the abbot
of Citeaux, and his orders were demanded
as to how the innocent were to be dis-
tinguished from the guilty. " Slay them
all," exclaimed the legate of the vicar of
Christ ; " the Lord will know his own."
The entire population was in consequence
put to the sword ; nor woman nor infant
was spared. Upwards of 20,000 human
beings perished in the massacre — the
sanguinary first-fruits of modern persecu-
tion. Carcassoime was next invested,
bravely attacked, and as valiantly defend-
ed ; the young viscount distinguishing
himself in defence of his rights, while
Simon de Montfort, earl of Leicester, was
the most prominent warrior of the crusa-
ders. At length the legate grew weary
of the viscount's obstinacy, and offered
him terms. He gave him a safe conduct,
sanctioned by his own oath and that of
the barons of his army. Raymond Roger
came with 300 of his followers to the
tent of the legate. " Faith," said the latter,
" is not to be kept with those who have
no faith ;" and he ordered the viscount
and his friends to be put in chains. The
inhabitants of Carcassonne found means
to fly. In a general assembly of the cru-
saders, the lordships of Beziers and Car-
cassonne were given to Simon of Mont-
*fort, in reward of his zeal and valor ; and
to make the gift sure, it was accom-
panied with the person of his rival. The
unfortunate viscount, the victim of the
legate's perfidy, soon after perished in
prison.

The victory of the crusaders was of
course followed by executions at the
stake and on the scaflbld. The friars
inquisitors of the order of St. Dominick
did not relax their zeal. A general re-
volt against De Montfort was the ccnse-
quence, in which the people of Toulouse
joined. The Provenqal army was headed
by Peter, king of Aragc^i, the uncle of the
late viscount of Beziers. It was he who

had persuaded the unfortunate viscount to
trust himself to the legate, and to hhn in
consequence fell the duty of taking ven-
geance. The cross, however — the pro-
faned cross — was still successful. The
Provenqals were routed by Simon de
Montfort at the battle of Muret, and the
king of Aragon was slain. This victory
seemed to establish the power of De
Montfort in Languedoc. He took pos-
session of all the provinces of his rival,
even of the town of Toulouse ; and an
assembly of prelates sanctioned the usur-
pation. But the cruel spirit of De Mont-
fort would not allow him to rest quiet in
his new empire. Violence and persecu-
tion marked his rule ; he sought to destroy
the Provencal population by the sword or
the stake, nor could he bring himself to
tolerate the liberties of the citizens of
Toulouse. In 1217, the Toulousans again
revolted, and war once more broke out
betwixt coimt Raymond and Simon de
Montfort. The latter formed the siege
of the capital, and was engaged in repel-
ling a sally, when a stone from one of the
walls struck him and put an end to his
existence. The death of De Montfort
was of course considered a martjTdom by
the clergy, and his fame in their chroni-
cles far outshines that of Godfrey of
Bouillon or of Richard the Lion-hearted.
King Philip was in the mean time pur-
suing his darling object, the himibling the
power of the princes of England. He
had already driven John from the west
of France. That monarch, at variance
with his barons, and at the same time ex-
communicated by the church, seemed an
easy prey to Philip. The French king
meditated the conquest of England. He
leagued with the malcontents of that
country, and fonned a powerful army for
the purposes of invasion. John, to ward
off the blow, not only became reconciled
to the Roman see, but made himself
and his kingdom feudatory to the pope.
A papal legate immediately took John
under his protection ; and the French
monarch, rather than risk a quarrel with
the church, turned his armies towards
Flanders, Avhich he wasted and plundered
impitiably, from hatred to its count. The
emperor Otho, then in alliance Avith king
John against France, came to the relief

FRANCE.

237

of the Flemings ; and thus, for the first
time since the accession of the new dy-
nasty, the armies of France and Germany
found themselves arrayed against each
other in national hostility, each com-
manded by its respective monarch. The
rival hosts met at Bouvines, in the month
O'f August, 1214. Twenty thousand com-
batants on either side, together with the
presence of two monarchs, gave gravity
and importance to the action. It was
sharply contested. Wherever the armed
knight met the comparatively defenceless
burgess, the latter was defeated ; the
militia of the commons had not yet ac-
quired discipline and hardihood sufficient
to compete with the iron-clad warriors of
the aristocracy. It was thus the cavalry
of Otho broke through a band of militia,
and reaching king Philip, threw him from
his hoise, and would have killed him, but
for the excellence of his armor and the
devotion of several brave followers. The
emperor Otho, on his side, encountered
equal peril from the French knights, and
escaped with difficidty from the field.
The rebel counts of Boulogne and Flan-
ders both were made prisoners. The-
army of Philip gained a complete victory.
Bouvines was the first important battle of
the monarchy ; the first in which the king
appeared in his place, at the head of his
barons, leading them on to conquest. It
materially increased the dignity and au-
thority of the French king ; whilst, to
Philip Augustus personally, it brought
not only its just meed to praise, but an
exaggerated portion of renown.

The brilliant success of Bouvines
seems to have contented and allayed the
hitherto restless ambition of Philip. In
a year or two after, the barons of Eng-
land, discontented with Jolm, offered their
crown to Louis, the son of Philip Augus-
tus. The old monarch hesitated ; he
dreaded the anathema with which the
pope threatened him, if he attacked his
vassal, John of England. Prince Louis
was obliged to undertake the expedition
with but scanty aid from his parent. He
was at first successful. Almost all Eng-
land owned his so\ ereignty. The castle
of Dover alone held out. But the death
of John, which took place during the
siege, and the proclaiming of his son,

Henry III, soon obliged the French
prince to abandon his claim and his
conquests in England.

Philip Augustus died early in 1223,
and was succeeded by his son Louis
VIII, who was in his thirty-sixth year.
His short reign was not marked by any
great events ; but he distinguished its
commencement by enfranchising a gTeat
number of serfs or villains, a line of policy
which had been adopted by his prede-
cessors. This prince died much regret-
ted, in 1226, after a short reign of three
years ; in which period, however, he
showed himself a firm friend to popular
liberty. He was succeeded by Louis IX,
in 1226, who is well known in history as
St. Louis. This prince was certainly
possessed of many excellent qualities,
but deeply tinctured with the supersti-
tion of the times. This induced him to
engage in two crusades. The first was
against the Saracens in Egypt; in which
he was taken prisoner by the infidels,
and treated with great cruelty ; but ob-
tained his liberty, on condition of paying
a million of pieces of gold, and surren-
dering the city of Damietta. He no
sooner regained his liberty than he en-
tered Syria, with the intention of per-
forming exploits worthy of his rank and
character. From this expedition he was
obliged to return sooner than he intended,
on account of the decease of his mother,
queen Blanche, whom he had appointed
regent in his absence, and who had
managed the national aflairs with the
greatest prudence. The king, however,
found many disorders in the kingdom
upon his return ; and these he set him-
self to reform with the utmost diligence.
Having succeeded in this, he yielded to
Henry III, of England, several provinces
which he claimed, in consideration of
Henry and his son prince Edward re-
nouncing, in the fullest manner, all pre-
tensions to Normandy and the other pro-
vinces of France, which the English had
formerly possessed.

The reputation of this monarch for
candor and justice was so great, that the
barons of England, as well as Henry III,
consented to make him umpire of the
diflerences Avhich subsisted between
them. But though he decided this mat-

238

FRANCE.

ter very justly, his decision was not pro- 1
ductive of any good effect. At last the
king, having settled every thing relating
to his kingdom in a proper manner, set
out on another crusade for Africa, where
he died of the plague, on the 25th of
August, 1270.

Notwithstanding the misfortunes of
Louis, his successor Philip, surnamed
the Hardy, continued the war against the
infidels with great vigor. Being re-en-
forced by his uncle Charles, king of
Sicily, he brought the war to a more for-
tunate conclusion than his predecessor
had been likely to do. The Saracens
were defeated in two engagements, and
the king of Tunis obliged to sue for
peace ; offering, at the same time, to
double tlie tribute he formerly paid to the
crown of Sicily ; to reimburse the ex-
penses of the war ; and to permit the
Christian religion to be freely propagated
throughout his dominions. Having ac-
complished this, the two princes set sail
for Europe ; but the seeds of the dis-
temper which had infected the army in
Africa, not being eradicated, broke forth
on their arrival in Sicily, and raged for
some time with great violence. Besides
many thousands of the inhabitants of
France, the king's brother John, his
queen Isabella, with his brother and sis-
ter-in-law, the king and queen of Navarre,
and his uncle and aunt, the count and
countess of Poictiers, perished by this
dreadful malady.-

On the death of Philip the Hardy, the
French crown devolved on his second
son, called also Philip, and, from the
beauty of his person, surnamed the Fair ;
who had married the princess of Navarre,
and at the time of his accession was in
his seventeenth year. When the vene-
rable James de Molay, grand-master of
the Templars, was brought to execution,
he is said to have uttered amidst protes-
tations of his innocence, a solemn sum-
mons to his chief accusers, king Philip
and pope Clement, to appear before the
throne of the Almighty, one in forty days,
the other in the space of a year and a
day. They died within these periods
respectively.

The most remarkable transaction of
his reign was the expiUsion and confisca-

tion of the estates of the Templars,* who
at that time enjoyed immense possessions
in France. The confiscations took place
without any form of trial, and more than
fifty of them Avere put to death with cir-
cumstances of great cruelty. The grand-
master, with three of his principal officers,
were burnt by a slow fire in the presence
of the king himself. The whole body of
these unfortunate knights had been ac-
cused of the most abominable crimes.
The particulars were revealed, or pre-
tended to be so, by two criminals, who
received their pardon for the discoveries
they made ; and these discoveries were
confirmed by the confession of the Tem-
plars themselves. But this confession
was afterwards retracted, as being ex-
torted from them by the fear of absolute
destruction ; and those who suffered main-
tained their purity to the last : and, on the
whole, it was believed, that Philip con-
sulted his avarice rather than his justice,
by this cruel execution.

The latter part of Philip's life was em-
bittered by domestic misfortunes. His
three daughters-in-law, Margaret, daugh-
ter of the duke, and Jean and Blanche,
daughters of the count of Burgundy, who
had married his three sons, Louis, PhiHp,
and Charles, were accused of infidelity
to their husbands. After a severe ex-
amination, Margaret and Blanche were
condemned to perpetual imprisonment ;
in which situation Margaret was after-
wards strangled by order of her husband
Louis. Their paramours, Philip and
Walter de Launay, two brothers, were
flayed alive, and afterwards hung upon a
gibbet, with an usher of the chamber,
who had been their confident. The un-
easiness of mind which Philip suffered
on this account is supposed to have im-
paired his health, and he died of a con-
sumption in the year 1314, being the
thirtieth of his reign.

His successors were Louis the Bois'
terous, Philip the Long, Charles the Fair,
and Philip the Fortunate. The war be-
tween this last monarch and Edward of
England is the next prominent event in the

* Templars, a celebrated order of knights,
which like the order of St. John, and the Teutonic
order, had its origin in the Crusades. It was es-
tablished in A. D. 1119.

FRANCE.

239

history of France. After the great naval
battle at Sluys, in 1340, in which 30,000
Frenchmen perished, Edward landed his
forces, and laid siege to Tournay. Philip
marched to its relief with a very nume-
rous army ; but acted with so much cau-
tion, that Edward found himself in a
manner blocked up in his camp : and
the countess dowager of Hainault, sister
to Philip, mother-in-law to Edward, and
sister-in-law to Robert d'Artois^ coming
out of a convent, to which she had re-
tired, interposed with so much address,
that she engaged all parties to agree to a
truce for a year.

In 1341, however, Edward's ambition
was once more excited by the invitation
of the count de Montfort, who had pos-
sessed himself of the province of Britany,
and applied to Edward to second his
claims. An offer of this kind entirely
coincided with Edward's most sanguine
desires ; as Montfort was an active and
valiant prince, closely united to him by
interest, and who thus opened to him an
entrance into the veiy heart of France.
These flattering prospects, however,
were for a while damped by the imprison-
ment of Montfort ; whose treasonable
plans being discovered, he was besieged
in the city of Nantz and taken. But
Jane of Flanders, his wife, courageously
imdertook to support the falling fortunes
of her family. She assembled the in-
habitants of Rennes, where she then
resided ; presenting her infant son to
them, she earnestly implored them to aid
her cause. The inhabitants of Nantz in-
stantly espoused her interests, and all the
other fortresses of Britany embraced the
same resolution. The king of England
was apprised of her efibrts ; and was
entreated to send her troops with all pos-
sible expedition to the town of Henne-
bon, in which place she awaited the at-
tack of the enemy. Charles de Blois,
Philip's general, anxious to make himself
master of so important a fortress as Hcn-
nebon, and still more to take the countess
a prisoner, sat down before the place
with a large army, and conducted the
siege with indefatigable industry. The
defence was no less vigorous ; several
sallies were made by the garrison, in
which the countess herself led on to the

assault. Observing one day that their
whole army had quitted the camp to join
in a general storm, she sallied out by a
postern at the head of 300 horse, set fire
to the enemy's tents and baggage, put
their suttlers and servants to the sword,
and occasioned such an alarm, that the
French desisted from the assault, in order
to cut off her communication with the
town. Thus intercepted, she retired to
Auray, but in a few days she returned,
at the head of 500 horse, and fought her
way through one quarter of the French
camp, and returned to her faithful citizens
in triumph. But the besiegers had at
length made several breaches in the
walls ; and it was apprehended that a
general assault, which was hourly ex-
pected, would be fatal. A capitulation
was therefore proposed, and a conference
was already begun, when the countess,
who had mounted a high tower, and was
looking towards the sea with great impa-
tience, descried a fleet at a distance.
She immediately proclaimed that suc-
cors were arrived, and forbid any further
capitulation. She was not disappointed
in her wishes ; the fleet she discerned
carried a body of English gentlemen,
with 6,000 archers, prepared by Edward
for the relief of Hennebon, but who had
been long detained by contrary winds.
They entered the harbor under the con-
duct of sir Walter Manny, one of the
most valiant commanders of his time.
This relief served to keep up the declin-
ing spirits of the Bretons, until the time
appointed by the late truce with Edward
was expired, on which he was at liberty
to renew the war openly.

The French having gained one success
after another, till at length the entire de-
struction of the English power seemed
certain. In this situation, Edward re-
solved to bring relief in person to his
distressed subjects and allies ; and ac-
cordingly embarked, in 1346, at South-
ampton, on board a fleet of near 1,000
sail. He carried with him, besides all
the chief nobility of England, his eldest
son the prince of Wales, (afterwards sur-
named the Black Prince), a youth of
about fifteen years old, and already re-
markable both for understanding and va-
lor above his age. His army consisted

240

FRANCE,

I£L.-=^

jH jit^j

p^ir^^

The countess of Mont/or t descrying the English fleet.
of 4,000 men at arms, 10,000 archers, ] was discovered by a peasant of the coun-

10,000 Welsh infantry, and 6,000 Irish ;
all which he landed safely at La Hogue,
a port in Normandy, which country he
determined to make the seat of the war.
The intelligence of Edward's landing,
and the devastation caused by his troops,
who dispersed themselves over the whole
face of the country, soon spread universal
consternation through the French court.
The rich city of Caen was taken and
plundered by the English without mercy ;
the villages and towns, even up to Paris,
shared the same fate ; and the French
had no other resource but by breakhig
down their bridges, to place some boun-
dary between them and the English army.
In the meantime, Philip was not idle in
making preparations to repress the ene-
my. He had stationed one of his gene-
rals with an army on the opposite side
of the river Somme, over which Edward
was to pass ; while he himself, at the
head of 120,000 fighting men, advanced
to give the English battle. Edward, thus
unexpectedly exposed to the danger of
being enclosed and starved in an enemy's
country, published a reward to any per-
son that should bring him intelligence of
a passage over the river Somme. This

try named Gobin Agace : and Edward
had just time to get his whole army over
the river, when Philip appeared in his
rear. Of the battle that ensued, in which
the French where entirely overthrown,
see England.

Edward next laid siege to Calais,
which was then defended by John de
Vienne, an experienced commander, and
supplied with every thing necessary for
its defence. It was at length taken, af-
ter a twelvemonth's siege, the besieged
having been reduced to the last extremity
by famine and fatigue.*

* To give a more full and detailed account of
this siege, one of the most remarkable in history,
the following is added :

After the battle of Crecy, Edward laid siege
to Calais, and fortified his camp in so impregna-
ble a manner, that all the efforts of France
proved ineffectual to raise the siege, or throw
succors into the city- The citizens, under count
Vienne, their gallant governor, made an admira-
ble defence. France had now put the sickle in-
to her second harvest, since Edward, with his
victorious army, sat down before the town. The
eyes of all Europe were intent on the issue. At
length famine did more for Edward than arms.
After suffering unheard of calamities, they re-
solved to attack the enemy's camp. They bold-
ly sallied forth ; the English joined battle ; and,

FRANCE.

241

Surrender of Calai

From the very beginning of this un-
fortunate war, Philip had invariably shown
himself desirous of peace, and the victory
of Crecy rendered him still more so.
Edward also, notwithstanding his sue-

after a long and desperate engagement, count
Vienne was taken prisoner, and the citizens who
survived the slaughter, retired within their gates.
The command devolving upon Eustace St.
Pierre, a man of mean birth, but of exalted vir-
tue; he ofTered to capitulate with Edward, pro-
vided he permitted him to depart with life and
liberty. Edward, to avoid the imputation of
cruelty, consented to spare the bulk of the ple-
beians, provided they delivered up to him six of
their principal citizens, with halters about their
necks, as victims of due atonement for that spir-
it of rebellion, with which they had inflamed the
vulgar. When his messenger, sir Walter Mauny,
delivered the terms, consternation and pale dis-
may were impressed on every countenance. To
a long and dead silence, deep sighs and groans
succeeded, till Eustace St. Pierre, getting up to
a little eminence, thus addressed the assembly :
"My friends, we are brought to great straits this
day. We must either yield to the terms of our
cruel and ensnaring conqueror, or give up our
tender infants, our wives and daughters to the
bloody and brutal lusts of the violating soldiers.
Is there any expedient left, whereby we may
avoid the guilt and infamy of delivering up those
who have sutfered every misery with you, on the
one hand ; or the desolation and horror of a sack-
ed city, on the other! There is, my friends;
31

cesses, was unable to support the ex-
penses of the war any longer. The
mediation of the court of Rome was
therefore readily accepted, and a truce
for three years concluded.

there is one expedient left ; a gracious, an excel-
lent, a godlike expedient ! Is there any here to
whom virtue is dearer than life 1 liet him offer
himself an oblation for the safety of his people !
He shall not fail of a blessed approbation from
that Power, who oflfercd up his only Son, for the
salvation of mankind." He spoke — but a uni-
versal silence ensued. Each man looked around
for the example of that virtue and magnanimity,
which all wished to approve in themselves, though
they wanted the resolution. At length St. Pierre
resumed, " I doubt not but there many here as
ready, nay, more zealous of this martyrdom, than
I can be ; though the station to which I am raised,
by the captivity of Lord Vienne, imparts a right
to be the first in giving my life for your sakes.
I give it freely ; I give it cheerfully. Who
comes next"!" "Your son," exclaimed a youth,
not yet come to maturity. " Ah, my child,"
cried St. Pierre, " I am then twice sacrificed.
But no : I have rather begotten thee a second
time. Thy years are few, but full, my son. The
victim of virtue has reached the utmost purpose
and goal of mortality. Who next, my friends !
This is the hour of heroes." " Your kinsman,"
cried John de Aire. "Your kinsman," cried
James Wissant. " Your kinsman," cried Peter
Wissant. " Ah !" exclaimed sir Walter Mauny,
bursting into tears, " Why was not I a citizen of

242

FRANCE.

Superstition had at this period attained
a most extraordinary height in France.
The ceremonies connected with the ab-
juration of a leper will illustrate this fact.
It is thus described by a French histo-
rian. Towards the afternoon of an ap-

Calais !" The sixth victim was still wanting,
but was quickly supplied by lot, from numbers
who were emulous of so ennobling an example.
The keys of the city were then delivered to sir
Walter! He took the six prisoners into his cus-
tody ; then ordered the gates to be opened, and
gave charge to his attendants to conduct the re-
maining cTtizens, with their families, through the
camp of the English. Before they departed,
however, they desired permission to take their
last adieu of their deliverers. What a parting!
What a scene ! They crowded, with their wives
and children, about St. Pierre and his fellow pris-
oners. They embraced — they clung around —
they fell prostrate before them. They groaned —
they wept aloud — and the joint clamor of their
mourning passed the gates of the city, and was
heard throughout the English camp. The Eng-
lish by this time, were apprised of what passed
within Calais. They heard the voice of lamenta-
tion, and their souls were touched with compas-
sion. Each of the soldiers prepared a portion of
his own victuals, to welcome and entertain the
half famished inhabitants ; and they loaded them
with as much as their present weakness was able
to bear, in order to supply them with sustenance
by the way. At length St. Pierre and his fellow
victims appeared \inder the conduct of Sir Walter
and a guard. All the tents of the English were
instantly emptied. The soldiers poured from all
parts, and arranged themselves on each side, to
behold, to contemplate, to admire this little band
of patriots, as they passed. They bowed down
to them on all sides. They murmured their ap-
plause of that virtue, which they could not but
revere, even in enemies ; and they regarded those
ropes which they had voluntarily assumed about
their necks, as ensigns of greater dignity than that
of the British garter.

As soon as they had reached the presence,
" Mauny," says the monarch, " are these the
principal inhabitants of Calaisi" "They are,"
says Mauny : " They are not only the princi-
pal men of Calais — they are the principal men
of France, my lord, if virtue has any share in
the act of ennobling." " Were they delivered
peaceably!" says Edward. " Was there no re-
sistance, no commotion among the people 1"
" Not in the least, my lord ; the peoj)le would
all have perished, rather than have delivered the
least of these to your majesty. They are self-
delivered, self-devoted ; and come to offer up
their inestimable heads, as an ample equivalent
for the ransom of thousands." Edward was
secretly piqued at this reply of sir Walter : but
he knew the privilege of a British subject, and
suppressed his resentment. " Experience," says
he, " has ever shown, that lenity only serves to
invite people to new crimes. Severity, at times, is

pointed day, a numerous assemblage of
people being collected, the ceremony of
separating the leper from his kindred and
from the people was performed. The
leper, clad in a shroud, awaited at the
bottom of the stair. The clergy of his

indispensably necessary to compel suDJects to sub-
mission, by punishment and example. " Go," he
cried to an officer," lead these men to execution."

At this instant a sound of triumph was heard
throughout the camp. The queen had just ar-
rived with a powerful re-enforcement of gallant
troops. Sir Walter Mauny flew to receive her
majesty, and briefly informed her of the particu-
lars respecting the six victims.

As soon as she had been welcomed by Edward
and his court, she desired a private audience.
" My lord," said she, " the question I am to en-
ter upon, is not touching the lives of a few me-
chanics— it respects the honor of the English
nation ; it respects the glory of my Edward, my
husband, my king. You think you have sentenced
six of your enemies to death. No, my lord, they
have sentenced themselves ; and their execution
would be the execution of their own orders, not
the orders of Edward. The stage on which they
would suffer, would be to them a stage of honor,
but a stage of shame to Edward : a reproach on
his conquests ; an indelible disgrace to his nam?.
Let us rather disappoint these haughty burghers,
who wish to invest themselves with glory at our
expense. We cannot wholly deprive them of the
merit of a sacrifice so nobly intended, but we
may cut them short of their desires ; in the place
of that death by which their glory would be con-
summate, let us bury them under gifts; let us
put them to confusion with applauses. We shall
thereby defeat them of that popular opinion, which
never fails to attend those who suffer in the
cause of virtue." " I am convinced ; you have
prevailed. Be it so," replied Edward: " Prevent
the execution ; have them instantly before us." —
They came ; when the queen, with an aspect
and accents diffusing sweetness, thus bespoke
them ; — " Natives of France, and inhabitants of
Calais, you have put us to a vast expense of blood
and treasure in the recovery of our just and natu-
ral inheritance ; but you have acted up to the
best of an erroneous judgment ; and we admire
and honor in you that valor and virtue, by which
we are so long kept out of our rightful posses-
sions. You, noble burghers ! You, excellent
citizens ! Though you were tenfold the enemies
of our person and our throne, we can feel nothing
on our part save respect and affection for you.
You have been sufficiently tested. We loose
your chains ; we snatch you from the scaffold ;
and we thank you for that lesson of humiliation
which you teach us, when you show us that ex-
cellence is not of blood, of title or station ; —
that virtue gives a dignity superior to that of kings ;
and that those to whom the Almighty informs,
with sentiments like yours, are justly and emi-
nently raised above all human distinctions. You
are now free to depart to your kinsfolk, your

FRANCE.

243

parish had come in procession, and had
conducted him to the church. An illu-
minated bier was prepared, in which the
leper was placed in a manner similar to
that in which dead bodies usually lie in
state. Then masses for the departed
were sung, and the wonted besprinklings
and incense offerings were made. He
was then led by the bridge of St. Ladre,
without the town, to the small house
which he was to occupy.

On arriving at the door, over which
was placed a little clock surmounted by
a cross, the leper, before casting off his
garments, threw himself upon his knees.
The curate who attended him, then made
an affecting disccurse, exhorting him to
patience, reminding him of the tribulation
of Jesus Christ, pointing out to him above
his head that heaven which was ready to
receive him, as the future abode of the
afflicted here, where there will be neither
sickness nor leprosy, where all will be
eternally pure and happy. After tliis
address was concluded, the leper threw
off his dress, put on the habiliments of a
leper, and took his rattle (a toy similar
to that which children use) to warn every
one to fly at his approach. Then the
curate, with a loud voice, pronounced in
these terms the prohibitions ordered by
the ritual.

" I forbid thee to take off thy dress of
a leper.

" I forbid thee to walk bare-footed.

" I forbid thee to pass through by-lanes
or narrow streets.

" I forbid thee to speak to any one who
faces thee to the windward.

" I forbid thee to enter into any church,
monastery, fair, market, or into any place
where men shall be assembled.

" I forbid thee to drink, or to wash thy
hands either in a fountain, or in a river.

countrymen, to all those whose lives and liberties j
you have so nobly redeemed, provided you refuse '
not the tokens of our esteem. Yet we would j
rather bind you to ourselves by every endearing j
obligation ; and for this purpose, we offer to you
your choice of the gifts and honors that Edward
has to bestow. Rivals for fame, but always
friends to virtue, we wish that England were en-
titled to call you her sons." " Ah, my country 1"
exclaimed St. Pierre ; " It is now that I tremble
for you. Edvv-ard only wins our cities, but Phil-
lippa conquers hearts."

1 " I forbid thee to handle any article
, of merchandise before thou hast pur-
chased it.

" I forbid thee to touch, or to give any
thing to children.

" I forbid thee to live with any woman
except thy wife."

Then the priest gave him his hand to
kiss, threw a shovel of earth upon his
head, and closing the door, recommended
him to the prayers of the assisting clergy.
The goods accorded to the leper was safe
from robbers ; his vineyard, his cow, his
sheep might remain without a keeper,
for no extremity of hunger could tempt
any one to put forth his hand upon the
property of the individual thus accursed.
His former clothes, his house, his furni-
ture, were burnt to ashes ; and if his
wife chose to follow the footsteps of his
despair, she also was devoted to the le-
per's doom, and when dead, her remains
were refused a resting-place in holy
ground.

The warlike and enterprising monarch
of England, had never lost sight of the
object he had originally embraced ; and
on the expiration of the truce had sent
his son, prince of Wales, and from the
color of his armor, surnamed the Black
Prince, with a fleet towards the coast of
France. Young Edward had with this
fleet entered the mouth of the river Ga-
ronne, burnt the towns and villages of
Languedoc, and retired with the plunder
into the country of Guienne. Edward
himself, who had likewise passed over
to the continent, wasted the country as
far as St. Omer ; but the French king,
notwithstanding all these provocations,
determined to avoid a battle, and there-
fore prohibited his general, the constable
of Bourbon, from coming to an engage-
ment, though his army was much supe-
rior to that of the prince of Wales. With
the flower of his troops, however, he pur-
sued Edward from St. Omer to Hesden,
where he defied him to a pitched battle ;
but the latter continued his march to Ca-
lais, from whence he embarked for Eng-
land. After his departure, John called
an assembly of the states at Paris, where
he explained the distressed situation of
his finances, and showed so fully the ne-
cessity of assisting him in the defence

>44

FRANCE

of the kingdom, that they consented to
maintain an army of 30,000 men during
the war. To supply the other exigen-
cies of government, they revived the du-
ty on salt, and added a variety of other
imposts ; but at the same time appoint-
ed a committee of their own number to
take care that the money was solely ap-
propriated to the public service.

The pleasure which John derived from
these grants, and the suppression of some
disturbances which happened about this
time, was soon destroyed by the news
that the prince of Wales had marched
with an army of 12,000 men from Bor-
deaux ; and, after ravaging Agenois,
Q uercy, and the Limousin, had entered
the province of Berry. The young Avar-
rior had penetrated into the heart of
France with this trifling body of forces,
in hopes of joining the duke of Lancaster
in Guienne. But he found that his scheme
was impracticable ; the country before
him Avas too well guarded to permit his
advancing further ; and all the bridges
behind were broken down, which eflec-
tually barred a retreat. In this embar-
rassing situation, his perplexity was in-
creased, by being informed that the king
of France was actually marching at the
head of 60,000 men to intercept him. He
at first thought of retreating ; but finding
it impossible, he determined calmly to
await the approach of the enemy ; and,
notwithstanding the disparity of forces,
to hazard a battle.

It was at a place called Maupertius,
near Poictiers, that both armies came in
sight of each other. The French king
might with ease have cut off all supplies
from the English ; but such was the im-
patient valor of the French nobility, and
such their certainty of success, that it
might have been fatal to attempt repress-
ing their ardor to engage. In the mean
time, while both armies were drawn out,
and expecting the signal to begin, they
were stopped l)y the appearance of the
cardinal of Perigord, who attempted to
be a mediator between them. However,
John, who made himself sure of victory,
would listen to no other terms than the
restitution of Calais, with which the
Black Prince refusing to comply, the on-
set was deferred till the next morning,

for wliich both sides waited in anxious
suspense.

I During this interval, the young prince
' strengthened his post by new entrench-
I ments ; and placed 300 men in ambush,
with as many archers, who were com-
j manded to attack the enemy in flank du-
ring the heat of the engagement. Hav-
j ing taken these precautions, he ranged
I his army in three divisions ; the van was
commanded by the earl of Warwick, the
rear by the earls of Salisbury and Suffolk,
and the main body by himself. In like
manner, the king of P'rance arranged his
forces in three divisions; the first com-
manded by the duke of Orleans ; the se-
cond by the dauphin, attended by his
younger brothers ; while he himself led up
the main body, seconded by his youngest
and favorite son, then about fourteen years
of age. As the English were to be attack-
ed only by marching up a long narrow
avenue, the French suflered greatly from
their archers, who were posted on each
side, behind the hedges. Nor were they
in a better situation upon emerging from
this diflicult pass, as they were met by
the Black Prince himself at the head of
a chosen body of troops, who made a fu-
rious onset upon their forces, already in
great disorder. A dreadful overthrow
ensued ; those who were as yet in the
lane recoiled upon their own forces ;
while the English troops who had been
placed in ambush took that opportunity
to increase the confusion, and confirm
the victory. The dauphin and the duke
of Orleans were among the first that fled.
The king of France himself made the
utmost efforts to retrieve by his valor
what his rashness had forfeited ; but
his single courage was unable to stop
that consternation which had now become
general through his army ; and his cav-
alry flying, he found himself exposed to
the enemy's fury. At length, spent with
I fatigue, and despairing of success, he
yielded himself a prisoner.

This dreadful defeat, which happened
in the year 1356, almost ruined the gov-
ernment then established in France ; and
the miseries which ensued from this
cause were greatly augmented by intes-
tine commotions. The dauphin, who had
now assumed the government, was alto-

FRANCE.

245

gether unable to control a turbulent and
seditious people at such a crisis.

On the expiration of the truce in 1359,
Edward again set sail for France, and
anchored before Calais, with a fleet of
1,100 sail, assumed the title of king of
France, and augmented his array to
100,000 men. The dauphin, finding him-
self unable to withstand so great a power,
was obliged to act on the defensive ;
choosing the city of Paris for his station,
and allowing the English to ravage all
the open country.

At last, after a long and destructive
march, Edward arrived at the gates of
Paris ; but the prudence of the dauphin
and citizens of that metropolis had ren-
dered it impregnable to the attacks of fam-
ine as well as the assavdts of an army.
The war continued in this state till 1360,
when Edward proposed bringing hostili-
ties to a conclusion ; for the English
king saw that, notwithstanding all the
victories he had gained, the French
showed not the least disposition to favor
his claim of succession ; the king of Na-
varre was a dangerous rival, and the
caution of the dauphin in avoiding an en-
gagement deprived him of the advantages
he might expect from his valor and mili-
tary skill. Thus a conference was
opened at Bretigny in the Chartraine ;
and peace was at last concluded on the
following conditions : That king John
should pay for his ransom, at difTerent
periods, three milUons of crowns of gold ;
Edward should for ever renounce all
claim to the kingdom of France ; and
should remain possessed of the territories
of Poictou, Xaintonge, I'Agenois, Peri-
gord, the Limousin, Quercy, Rouvergne,
I'Angoumois, and other districts in that
quarter, together with Calais, Guisnes,
Montreuil, and the county of Ponthieu on
the other side of France. Some other
stipulations were made in favor of the al-
lies of England, as a security for the ex-
ecution of these conditions.

Charles, surnamed the Wise, succeeded
his father on the throne of France ; and
this monarch, merely by the force of a
finely conducted policy, and even though
suffering some defeats, restored his coun-
try once more to tranquillity and power.
The English, by their frequent levies,

had been quite exhausted, and were una-
ble to continue an army in the field.
Charles, on the other hand, cautiously
forbore coming to any decisive engage-
ment ; but was contented to let his ene-
mies waste their strength in attempts to
plunder a fortified country. When they
were retired, he then was sure to sally
forth and possess himself of such places
as they were not strong enough to defend.
He first fell upon Ponthieu ; the citizens
of Abbeville opened their gates to him ;
those of St. Valois, Rue, and Crotoy,
imitated the example, and ihe whole
country was, in a little time, reduced to
! total submission. The southern prov-
' inces were, in the same manner, invaded
by his generals with equal success ;
while the Black Prince, destitute of sup-
plies from England, and wasted by dis-
ease, was obliged to return to his native
country, leaving his affairs in the south
of France in a state of ruin.

In this exigence, the resentment of the
king of England was excited to the ut-
most pitch ; and he seemed resolved to
take signal vengeance on his enemies of
the continent. But the fortunate occa-
sion was now elapsed, and all his suc-
ceeding designs were marked with ill
success. The earl of Pembroke and his
whole army were intercepted at sea, and
taken prisoners by Henry, king of Castile.

He established once more the house
of Valois on the throne of France, but
did not long live to enjoy his good
fortune. He died in the year 1380, at
the age of 44, of the effects of poison
formerly given him by the king of Na-
varre.

The courtly palace of Charles the
Wise was of the most splendid descrip-
tion. It has been thus vividly pourtrayed
by a late historian : — " Represent to
yourself a spacious hall, the walls cov-
ered with the finest silken tapestries ;
imagine, at certain distances, that there
are sideboards for wine, laden with de-
canters of gold and silver ; also side-
boards for plate, adorned in profusion
with rich jewelry, purchased with the
fines paid by suiters. Suppose also, un-
der a high canopy of velvet, several ta-
bles of different sizes, to which you as-
cend by steps covered with the richest

246

FRANCE.

velvets ; in the midst of these, and under
a festoon of cloth of gold, place a table
for the king. Is the picture complete in
your mind ? Well, then, behold the mon-
arch approach in the centre of his grand
train ; he is clothed in garments shining
with gold and jewels ; he sits, with the
crown on his head, yet placing himself be-
low the archbishops and the bishops, al-
though above all the other persons assem-
bled. By whom think you is he served ?
By the great nobles of the realm ? No.
By digiutaries of the church 1 No ;
those who attend the king are princes —
even his brothers. Observe the im-
mense number of officers, either of the
hall or kitchen, clad in silk vestments,
the colors of their respective functions,
in the midst of the serjeants-at-arms, or
of guards holding maces and lances in
their hands, or surrounded by a crowd of
servants, who carry torches to illumin-
ate the feast ; all these persons come,
go, return, pass, and repass each other
without the slightest disorder or confu-
sion. Meanwhile, the minstrels, accord-
ing to custom, place trumpets to their
lips, and by their flourishes amuse both
the guests and spectators.

" At the last course of the feast, the
hypocras and wine are served ; and the
king, who had washed before the repast,
washes afterwards ; grace appropriated
to royalty is then said, and wine and
spices are handed round. Then the
lung withdraws, preceded by the ushers
and esquires of the body, and followed
by the court. Meanwhile the queen
takes her repast, on solemn occasions,
in a different apartment to that occupied
by the king ; sits in the midst of the prin-
cesses and ladies, whilst a sedate male
personage, at the bottom of the table,
talks to her seriously upon the actions
and manners of celebrated characters in
former times."

Charles V was succeeded by the dau-
phin, who was crowned as Charles VI.
This monarch was at times afflicted with
insanity, and his relatives the dukes of Bur-
gundy, 13ourbon and others, were intrust-
ed with the government. Their conflict-
ing interests, however, brought trouble
and confusion into their public aflairs.
Henry V, of England, taking advantage

of this state of things, assembled a nu-
merous fleet and army at Southampton ;
and having induced all the military men
of the kingdom to attend him, from the
hopes of conquest, he put to sea, and
landed at Harfleur, at the head of an ar-
my of 6,000 men-at-arms, and 24,000
foot, mostly archers.

His first operations were upon Har-
fleur ; which being closely pressed, prom-
ised on a certain day to surrender, unless
relieved before that time. The day ar-
riving, and the garrison, unmindful of
their engagement, still resolving to de-
fend the place, Henry ordered an assault
to be made, took the town by storm, and
put all the garrison to the sword. From
thence the victor advanced farther into
the country. But although the French
made but a feeble resistance, yet the
climate seemed to fight against the in-
vading army, as a contagious dysentery
carried ofi" three-fourths of Henry's troops.
In this situation, he had recourse to a
singular expedient, to inspire his troops
with confidence in their general. He
challenged the dauphin, who commanded
in the French army, to single combat, of-
fering to stake his pretensions on the
event. This challenge as might natural-
ly be expected, was rejected ; and the
French, though disagreeing internally,
at last seemed to unite at the appearance
of common danger. An army of 14,000
men-at-arms, and 40,000 foot, was by
this time assembled under the command
of count Albert, and was so placed as to
intercept Henry's weakened forces on
their return. The English monarch,
when it was too late, repented of his in-
road into a country where disease and a
powerful army every where threatened
destruction ; he therefore thought of
retiring into Calais. In this retreat,
which was at once both painful and dan-
gerous, Henry took every means to in-
spire his troops with patience and per-
severance ; and showed them in his own
person the brightest example of deter-
mined courage. He was continually
harassed on his march by flying parties
of the enemy ; and whenever he attempt-
ed to pass the river Somme, across which
his march lay, he saw troops on the oth-
er side ready to oppose his passage

FRANCE.

247

However, he was so fortunate as to
seize by surprise a passage near St.
Quintin, which had not been sufficiently
guarded ; and there he safely carried
over his army.

But the enemy was still resolved to in-
tercept his retreat ; and after he had pass-
ed the small river of Terlrois at Blangi,
he was surprised to observe from the
heights the whole French army drawn
up in the plains of Agincourt ; and so
posted, that it was impossible for him to
proceed on his march, without coming
to an engagement. A battle accordingly
took place, in which the English obtain-
ed a victory, the most remarkable per-
haps recorded in history. {See England.)

This victory was, however, attended
with no immediate eifects. Henry still
continued to retreat after the battle, and
carried his prisoners to Calais, and
from thence to England. In 1417, he
once more landed an army of 25,000
men in Normandy, and prepared to strike
a decisive blow for the crown of France,
to which the English monarchs had so
long made pretensions. At this period
the whole of France appeared as one
vast theatre of crimes — murders, injus-
tice, and devastation. The duke of Or-
leans was assassinated by the duke of
Burgundy ; and the duke of Burgundy,
in his turn, fell by the treachery of the
dauphin.

Henry having defeated the dauphin,
fixed his residence at Paris ; and while
Charles had a small court, he was at-
tended with a very magnificent one On
Whitsunda)'', 1421, the two kings and;
their two queens, with crowns on their |
heads, dined together in public ; Charles
receiving apparent homage, but Henry
commanding with absolute authority.

The death of Charles VI followed,
and Charles VII succeeded his father
to a nominal throne. Nothing could be
more deplorable than the situation of that
monarch on assuming his title to the j
crown. The English were masters of
almost all France ; and Henry VI, though
yet but an infant, was solemnly invested
with regal power by legates from Paris.
The duke of Bedford was at the head
of a numerous army, in the heart of the
kingdom, ready to oppose every insurrec-

tion ; while the duke of Burgundy, who
had entered into a firm confederacy with
him, still remained steadfast, and second-
ed his claims. Yet, notwithstanding
these favorable appearances, Charles
found means to break the leagues formed
against him, and to bring back his subjects
to their natural interests and their duty.

His first attempts were, however, to-
tally destitute of success. His authority
was disputed even by his own servants ;
advantage after advantage was gained
against him ; and a battle fought near
Verneuil, in which he was totally defeat-
ed by the duke of Bedford, seemed to
render his affairs altogether desperate.
But from the want of new supplies, Bed-
ford was obliged to retire into England ;
and in the meantime, his vigilant enemy
began to recover from his late consterna-
tion. Dunois, one of his generals, at the
head of 1,000 men, compelled the earl
of Warwick to raise the siege of Mon-
targis ; and this advantage, slight as it
was, taught the French that the Eng-
lish were not invincible.

A new circumstance, apparently of the
most trivial kind, tended to entirely
change the fortune of the campaigTi, and
place the French government in its prop-
er position with reference to the Euro-
pean powers. In the village of Domre-
mi, near Vaucouleurs, on the borders of
Lorrain, there resided a countiy girl,
about twenty-seven years of age, called
Joan de Arc. This girl had been a ser-
vant at a small inn ; and in that humble
station had submitted to those hardy em-
ployments wliich fit the body for the fa-
tigues of war. She was of an irre-
proachable life, and contentedly fulfilled
the duties of her situation, and was re-
markable only for her modesty and love of
religion. But the miseries of her country
seemed to have been one of the greatest
objects of her compassion and regard. Her
mind, excited by these objects, began to
feel a new impulse, which she was will-
ing to mistake for the inspirations of
heaven. Convinced of the reality of her
own admonitions, she had recourse to
Baudricourt, governor of Vaucouleurs,
and informed him of her destination by
heaven to free her native country from its
invaders. Baudricourt treated her at first

248

FRANCE.

Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans.

with neglect ; but her iTiiportunities at
length prevailed, and willing to make a
trial of her pretensions, he gave her some
attendants, who conducted her to the court
which at this time resided at Chinon.

The French court were probably sen-
sible of the weakness of her pretensions ;
but they were willing to make use of any
artifice to support their declining fortunes.
It was, therefore, given out that Joan
was actually inspired ; that she had been
able to discover the king among a num-
ber of his courtiers, although he had laid
aside all the distinctions of his authority ;
that she had told him some extraordi-
nary secrets, which were only known
to himself; and that she had demanded,
and minutely described, a sword in the
chnrch of St. Catherine de Fierbois,
which she had never seen. The pop-
ulace being thus prepared for her appear-
ance, she was armed cap-a-pie, and
shown in that dress to the people. She
was then brought before the doctors of
the university ; and they, tinctured with
the credulity of the times, or Avilling to
second the imposture, declared that she
had actually received her commission
from above.

When the preparations for her mission

were completely blazoned, the next ob-
ject was to send her against the enemy.
The English were at that time besieging
the city of Orleans, the last resource of
Charles, and every thing promised them
a speedy surrender. Joan undertook to
raise the siege ; and, to render herself
still more remarkable, girded herself with
the miraculous sword, of which she be-
fore had such extraordinary notices.
Thus equipped, she ordered all the soldiers
to confess themselves before they set
out ; she displayed in her hand a conse-
crated banner, and assured the troops of
certain success. Such confidence on
her side soon raised the spirits of the
French army, and even the English, who
pretended to despise her efforts, felt them-
selves secretly influenced Avith the ter-
rors of her mission. A supply of provi-
sions was to be conveyed into the town ;
, Joan, at the head of some French troops,
I covered the approach, and entered Or-
leans at the head of the convoy which
she had safely protected. While she
Avas leading her troops along, a dead si-
i lence and astonisbment reigned among
tbe English ; and they regarded with re-
I ligious awe that temerity which they
' thought nothing but supernatural assist-

FRANCE.

249

ance could inspire. But tliey were soon
roused from their state of amazement by a
sally from the town ; Joan led on the be-
sieged, bearing the sacred standard in her
hand, encouraging them with her words
and actions, bringing them to the trenches,
and overpowering the besiegers in their
own redoubts. In the attack of one of
the forts, she was wounded in the neck
with an arrow ; but instantly pulling out
the weapon with her own hands, and
getting the wound quickly dressed, she
hastened back to head the troops, and to
plant her victorious banner on the ram-
parts of the enemy. These successes
continuing, the English found that it was
impossible to resist troops animated by
such superior energy ; and Suffolk, who
conducted the attack, thinking that it
might prove extremely dangerous to re-
main any longer in the presence of the
victorious enemy, raised the siege, and
retreated with all imaginable precaution.

From being attacked, the French now
in turn became the aggressors. Charles
armed a body of 6,000 men, and sent
them to besiege Jergeau, whither the earl
of Suffolk had retired with the detach-
ment of the English army. The city
was taken ; Sutlblk yielded himself a
prisoner ; and Joan marched into the
place in triimiph at the head of the army.
A battle was soon after fought near Pa-
tay, where the English Avere worsted as
before, and the generals Scales and Tal-
bot were taken prisoners.

The raising of the siege of Orleans
was one part of the Maid's promise to
the king of France ; the crowning him at
Rheims was the other. She now declared
that it was time to complete that ceremony ;
and Charles, in pursuance of her advice,
set out for Rheims at the head of 12,000
men. The towns through which he passed
opened their gates to receive him ; and
Rheims sent him a deputation, with its
keys, upon his approach. The ceremony
of his coronation was there performed
with the utmost solemnity ; and the Maid
of Orleans, (for so she was now called,)
seeing the completion of her promise,
desired leave to retire, alleging that she
had now accomplished her mission. But
her services had been so great, that the
king could not think of parting with her ;
32

he pressed her to stay so earnestly, that
she at length complied with his request.

A tide of successes followed the per-
formance of this solemnity ; Laon, Sois-
sons, Chateau-Thierri, Provins, and many
other fortresses in that neighborhood,
submitted to him on the first summons.
On the other hand, the English found
themselves deprived of the conquests
they had gained, in the same manner as
the French had formerly submitted to
their power. Their own divisions, both
abroad and at home, unfitted them en-
tirely for carrying on the war ; and the
duke of Bedford, notwithstanding all his
prudence, saw himself divested of his
strong holds in the country, without be-
ing able to stop the enemy's progress.
In order, therefore, to revive the declin-
ing state of his affairs, he resolved to
have Henry crowned king at Paris,
knowing that the natives would be pleas-
ed by the splendor of the ceremony. In
1430, Henry was accordingly crowned,
all the vassals that still continued under
the English power swearing fealty and
homage. But it was now too late for
the ceremonies of a coronation to give
a turn to the affairs of the English ; the
great body of the people had declared
against them, and the remainder only
waited a convenient opportunity to follow
the example.

An accident ensued soon after, which,
though it promised to promote the Eng-
lish cause in France, in the end served
to hasten its fall. The duke of Burgun-
dy, at the head of a powerful army, had
laid seige to Compeigne ; and the Maid
of Orleans had thrown herself into the
place, contrary to the wishes of the gov-
ernor, who did not desire the company
of one whose authority Avould be greater
than his own. The day after her arrival,
the Maid of Orleans headed a sally ; and
having twice driven the enemy from
their entrenchments, she was at last
obliged to retire, placing herself in the
rear to protect the retreat of her forces.
But on attempting to follow her troops
into the city, she found the gates shut,
and the bridge drawn up, by order of the
governor, who had long been plotting to
betray her to the enemy.

Nothing could exceed the joy of the

250

FRANCE

besiegers, in having taken one who had |
been so long a terror to their arms. The i
service of Te Deum was publicly cele- i
brated on this occasion ; and it was
hoped, that the capture of this cxtraordi- 1
nar}' person would restore the English to
their former victories and successes. The
duke of Bedford was no sooner inform-
ed of her being taken than he purchased
her of the count Vendome, who had ,
made her his prisoner, and ordered her I
to be committed to close confinement. '
The credulity of both nations was at '
that time so great, that nothing was too
absurd to gain belief that coincided with '
their passions. As Joan but a little be-
fore, from her successes, was regarded as
a saint, she was now, upon her captivity, '
considered as a sorceress, forsaken by :
the demon who had granted her a falla- '
cious and temporary assistance. Ac-
cordingly it was resolved in council to
send her to Rouen to be tried for witch- I
craft. The university of Paris joined in
the same request. Several prelates,
among whom the cardinal of Winches- 1
ter was the only Englishman, were ap-
pointed as her judges. They held their '
court in Rouen, where Henry then resi-
ded ; and the Maid, clothed in her for-
mer military apparel, but loaded with
irons, was produced before this tribunal.
Her behavior betrayed neither weakness
nor submission, but she appealed to God
and the pope, for the truth of her former
revelations. She was found guilty of|
heresy and witchcraft, and sentenced to I
be burnt alive, the common punishment
for such offences.

But previous to the infliction of this
dreadful sentence upon her, they were !
resolved to make her abjure her former^
errors ; and at length so far prevailed, i
that she publicly declared herself willing
to recant. This was what her enemies
desired ; and, willing to show some ap-
pearance of mercy, they changed her
sentence into perpetual imprisonment.
But the vindictive spirit of her enemies
was not yet satiated. Suspecting that
the female dress, which she had con-
sented to wear, was disagreeable to her,
they purposely placed in her apartment
a suit of men's apparel. Joan struck
with the sight of a dress in which she

had gained so much glory, immediately
threw off her penitent's robes, and put
on the forbidden garment. Her impru-
dence was considered as a relapse into
her former transgressions. She was con-
demned to be burnt alive in the market-
place of Rouen ; and this infamous sen-
tence was executed with brutal severity.

From this period, the English power
in France may be said to have ceased.
The city of Paris returned to a sense of
its duty. Lord Willoughby, who com-
manded it for the English, was contented
to stipulate for the safe retreat of his
troops to Normandy. At length, both
parties began to tire of a war, which,
though carried on but feebly, was yet a
burden greater than either could support.
But the terms of peace insisted upon by
both were so wide of each other, that no
hopes of an accommodation could be ex-
pected. A truce, therefore, for twenty
two months, was concluded in 1443.
No sooner was this agreed upon, than
Charles employed himself with great
judgment in repairing those ills to which
his kingdom, from the continuance of
wars, both foreign and domestic, had so
long been exposed. He established dis-
cipline among his troops, and justice
among his governors. He revived agri-
culture, and repressed faction.

In 1449, the truce was allowed to ex-
pire. The quarrels of York and Lan-
caster had commenced, and England was
unable to defend her foreign possessions.
Normandy was invaded. The gallant
Talbot, commander of the English, could
not preserve Rouen with a disaffected
population, and Charles recovered with-
out loss of blood the second capital of
his dominions. The only blow struck
by the English for the preservation of
Normandy was at Fourmigny near Bay-
eux. They had been successful in driv-
ing back the count of Clermont, when
the constable appeared with a fresh army,
attacked the English in turn, and routed
them. In the result of this action,
Charles saw clearly the advantages of
his reform in the army. Native French
archers here faced their ancient rivals.
Normandy was for ever lost to the English
after this action or skirmish. The fol-
lowing year Guienne was invaded by

FRANCE.

251

the count de Dunois. He met with no
resistance. The great towns at that day
had grown weakhy, and their maxim was
to avoid a siege at all hazards. Thus
Bordeaux, after having summoned the
English by their public crier to come to
their assistance, — a voice as likely to be
heard by the battling Yorkists and Lan-
castrians as if it had been trumpeted in
their isle, surrendered to Charles. The
submission of the Bordelais was, how-
ever, but short. They rebelled ; the
veteran Talbot came to their aid, at the
head of 5,000 English. The French
were engaged in the siege of Castillon,
when Talbot marched against them. His
first approach drove in the franc Arch-
ers. This success emboldened him to
attack the intrenched camp of the French.
Though now eighty years of age, Talbot
on foot led his men-at-arms to the as-
sault. The fight was bravely sustained
on both sides, till the English general
was struck down by the fire of a culver-
in. His son, lord Lisle, flung himself on
the body of his parent. " Fly, my son,"
said the expiring Talbot ; " the day is
lost. It is your first action, and you may
without shame turn your back to the en-
emy." Lord Lisle, nevertheless, togeth-
er with thirty nobles of England, was
slain before the body of Talbot. With
that hero expired the last hopes of his
country in regard to France. Guienne
was lost as well as Normandy ; and
Calais remained to England the only
fruit of so much blood spilt, and so many
victories achieved.

On the death of Charles, his son Louis
XI succeeded to the throne, who, after a
life spent in continual deceit, hypocrisy,
and cruelty, received warning of his ap-
proaching end by a fit of apoplexy with
which he was seized in the year 1480.
He lay speechless and motionless for
two days ; after which he partially re-
covered, but never completely regahied
his health and strength. His illness,
however, neither prevented him from pur-
suing the schemes of his ambition, nor
from using the same methods as before
to attain them. He seized, without any
pretence, the estates of the duke of Bour-
bon, the only nobleman in the kingdom
whose power could give him any cause

of suspicion ; yet, notwithstanding his
assiduity for the interest of the dauphin,
he kept him a kind of prisoner in the
castle of Ambloise, permitting none but
his own servants, or persons of the mean-
est rank, to have access to him. He
banished his own consort, the mother of
the dauphin, to Savoy, and endeavored to
inspire the prince with aversion towards
her. Louis, after a long and sanguinary
reign, died in 1483. His death was oc-
casioned by a second stroke of apoplexy.
Charles VIII, who succeeded his fa-
ther, Louis XI, in 1483, was only four-
teen years of age at the time of his death;
but though he might, even at that age,
have ascended the throne without any
material violation of the laws of France,
yet it was judged necessary to have a
regent on account of the king's delicacy
of constitution and want of education.
Three competitors appeared as candi-
dates for this important trust, viz, John,
duke of Bourbon, a prince of the blood, and
who had, till the age of sixty, maintained
the most unblemished character ; Louis,
duke of Orleans, presumptive heir to the
crown, but who from his being only twen-
ty years old himself, seemed incapaci-
tated on that account from undertaking
such an important office ; the third com-
petitor was Anne, called the lady of
Beaujeu, the eldest daughter of Louis, to
whom the latter had in the last moments
of his life committed the charge of the
j kingdom, with the title of governess. The
I claim of this lady was successful.

The premature death of Charles in 1498,
was supposed to have been owing to his
irregular life, which had for some time
! impaired his health, and brought on evi-
j dent symptoms of his approaching disso-
lution. At last he relinquished his irreg-
I ularities, and retired with the queen to
j the castle of Ambloise. Here, in pass-
' ing through an arched door, he struck
; his head with violence against the top.
No unfavorable symptoms appeared at
the time ; but soon afterwards, as he
conversed with liis confessor, and avowed
' his design of observing the nuptial fidel-
i ity he owed to the queen, he suddenly
fell backward in a fit of apoplexy. He
, recovered his voice three times, and ut-
tered some expressions of devotion ; but

252

FRANCE.

instantly relapsed, and in a short time
expired, notvvilhstanding every assistance
that could be given.

We may now take a brief view of the
state of France at the close of the fom--
teenth century. The whole country was
then emerging from the horrors of feu-
dalism : it had burst the fetters of bon-
dage. A large portion of the people
were enfranchised, and thereby a third
class (of burgesses) was added to the
two already existing bodies of nobles and
clergy. The cities, before deserted by
the monarch, the nobles, and the church
dignitaries, began to increase in opu-
lence and consequence ; their number,
moreover, had gradually risen to 2,000
regular and fortified boroughs. Supported
by their respective charters, the burgess-
es exercised a sovereign power over their
own civic economy, regulated the pay
and number of their garrison troops, ap-
pointed the officers, and even commenced
war with neighboring towns or lordships,
without interference from higher powers.
The nobles, however, still affected a
proud and high-minded independence,
reckless of kingly coercion ; and the in-
stitutions of feudalism, although yield-
ing rapidly to the influences of luxury and
civilization, were, in some respects, main-
tained with the tenacity which habit and
prejudice had imparted. The nobles,
besides, possessed the privilege of refu-
sing, at will, to follow their king to the
field, except in case of a defensive war ;
and the sovereign was prohibited, as yet,
from maintaining a standing army. An
augmentation of wealth and power to the
sovereign was, nevertheless, produced by
the law which gave to the lord para-
moimt all fiefs, of which the natural heirs
had become extinct ; and the practice,
then recently introduced, of fixing the
majority of the king at his fourteenth
instead of his 21st year, assigned into the
hands of the monarch the authority which
would otherwise have been vested in one
or more of the proud nobility during the
period of minority. Influenced by these
and other circumstances, the manners of
the French began, at this period, to lose
the chivalric, or rather barbarous, pecu-
liarities which had formerly character-
ized their civil commotions, their domes-

tic policy, their very literature, and their
diversions.

The manufacture of arms had been
hitherto carried on, independent of the
city mechanic, within the very walls of
the castle ; and even women were em-
ployed in the preparation of arrows and
lances, and several other descriptions of
light weapons. But the recent discovery
of Roger Bacon had begun to humble the
pride of these nobles. Not only was the
very existence of their habitations endan-
gered by the new method of artillery ;
but their capability of infringing upon the
demesnes of others diminished by its
success. The art of fortification would
require from henceforward the sciences
of arithmetic and geometry ; and as the
inhabitants of towns, from their mechani-
cal and commercial occupations, far sur-
passed, in such knowledge, the proud and
ignorant nobility, the importance of the
burgesses began, in respect to warlike
affairs, to gain the superiority.

During the changes which the other
orders of society experienced, the clergy
preserved, or, perhaps, increased their
ascendency. In some cities the bishop
shared the temporal jurisdiction with the
lord paramount : it was by no means un-
usual to see a powerful baron constrained
to hold the bridal of an abbe, and at
meal-time to stand behind his chair, un-
less the proud ecclesiastic chose to utter
the condescending permission to sit down.

Nor was this usurpation of authority
and overweening influence of the clerg}-,
in those days, peculiarly enjoyed in
France. In the councils of other princes ;
in the regulation of finance ; in the ad-
ministration of justice ; in all departments
of pubhc business, the clergy possessed
the predominating influence; for often-
times, even the helmet and sword were
not considered incompatible with the
priestly habit ; and when occasion re-
quired, or self-interest called, the priestly
hand was raised to strike a sturdy blow,
to gain fresh concessions, or defend its
already acquired rights.

By the death of Charles VIII, the
throne of France passed from the direct
line of the house of Valois, and Louis,
duke of Orleans succeeded to the throne.
At the time of his accession he was in

FRANCE.

253

his thirty-sixth year, and had long been
taught prudence in the school of adversity.
During the administration of the lady
Beaujeu, he had been constantly in dis-
grace ; and after his connection with the
duke of Britany had spent a very consid-
erable time in prison.

During his reign, Henry VIII, of Eng-
land, invaded France, and took Terruenne
and Tournay ; and the Swiss invaded
Burgundy with an army of 25,000 men.
In this difficult situation of affairs the
queen died, and Louis put an end to the
opposition of his most dangerous enemies,
by negotiating marriages with different
branches of his family. To Ferdinand
of Spain, he offered his second daughter
for either of his grandsons, Charles or
Ferdinand ; and to renounce in favor of
that marriage, his claims on Milan and
Genoa. This proposal was accepted ;
and Louis himself married the princess
Mary, sister to Henry VIII of England.
He did not long survive this marriage,
but died on the 2nd of January, 1514 ;
and was succeeded by Francis /, coimt
of Angouleme and duke of Bretagne and
Valois.

The new king was no sooner seated
on the throne, than he resolved on an ex-
pedition into Italy. He assembled for
this purpose, at Lyons, an army of 60,000
men, the most formidable in number that
P^'rance had yet equipped. There were
2,500 gentlemen cavaliers, each attended
by his suite of four or five horsemen.
These were the Gensdarmerie. The
lansquenets, or hired German infantry,
amounted to 22,000. Six thousand Gas-
con infantry, as many more French pro-
miscuously levied, and 3,000 pioneers,
completed the army. The rear-guard
advanced under the constable Bourbon to
clear the passage of the Alps, and to force
the Swiss from the post of Susa, which
blocked up the only two known roads
across the mountains. To find or make
another path became necessary, in order
to turn the impregnable position; and
fortunately a guide xmdertook to lead the
French over the Cottian Alps into the
marquisate of Saluces. Even for the army
to pass was a work of difficulty, but their
artillery was what the French captains
chiefly relied on to discomfit the Swiss.

To drag cannons over deep valleys and
precipitous steeps was more than Hanni-
bal had achieved, and was afterwards
one of the principal boasts of the army
that conquered at Marengo. The sol-
diers of France accomplished the task,
however, and penetrated into Italy by the
sources of the Po. The Italians did not
suspect the possibility of so hardy an en-
terprise. Prospero Colonna was travers-
ing Piedmont, at the head of the papal
cavalry to join the Swiss, and was re-
posing at Villefranche, when the town
was surprised, and Colonna himself, and
his troops, taken prisoners by La Palisse
and d'Aubigny. The news of this sur-
prise soon reached the Swiss, and they
abandoned in a rage their now useless po-
sition, retreating to Milan, and pillaging
the towns they were obliged to evacuate.
Their disappointment produced quarrels
between the chiefs. The cardinal of
Sion reproached one of the captains of
Berne, with partiality to the French.
The captain and his soldiers, by way of
retort, demanded their pay ; and the car-
dinal, the sworn enemy of France, was
obliged to fly from their clamors.

This opened the way for negotiation.
The king, with the rest of his army, had
in the mean time crossed the Alps, and
lay encamped at Marignano. The prow-
ess of the Swiss was dreaded, and the
terrific day of Novara was held in remem-
brance. Consequently, when they de-
manded a large sum of money for them-
selves, and a pension for Maximilian
Sforza, in return for evacuating the Mi-
lanese, the terms were granted. Francis
raised the money instantly by borrowing
of his officers ; and envoys M^ere already
despatched with the stipulated sum, when
tidings were brought to the constable,
that the Swiss, in heu of concluding a
treaty, were meditating an attack. The
cardinal of Sion had, in fact, hurried back
to Milan on the first news of the accom-
modation. He called his countrymen
round him, harangued them, and rekindled
that hatred to the French for which his-
tory assigns no sufficient cause.

The Swiss determined to surprise the
French, to carry the artillery in the first
attack, and turn it on their enemies, an
operation so successful at Novara. Bour-

FRANCE.

bon, however, was prepared for them.
The artiller\', consisting of seventy pieces,
were placed behind an intrenchment,
commanding the road ; the lansquenets
were stationed to guard it, Avhile the cav-
iilry, drawn up behind, and on each side,
waited to observe the order of the Swiss.
They came on in silence, without drum
or trumpet ; a cloud of dust, raised by
their speed, announcing, nevertheless,
tlieir approach. It was the middle of
September, several hours after noon. The
Swiss came in one compact column,
rushing on the artillen^"-, and against the
lansquenets, those rivals in their merce-
nary profession of war, whom they hated,
and whom they swore that day to extermi-
nate. Attirstthe lansquenets recoiled from
the furious charge of the Swiss : some of
the cannon were already captured ; when
the cavalry and the black bands, the king
himself amongst them, extended in the
fonii of wings, and took the phalanx of the
Swiss on either side in flank. The lans-
quenets, thus supported, took courage.
The first charge of the Swiss, so univer-
sally victorious, was here not decidedly
successful, and hanng no longer the ad-
vantage of an impulse, their pikes became
less formidable. Obliged to face enemies
that almost surrounded them, their pha-
lanx was split into numerous bodies which
continued the combat, not only till sun-
set, but even till the moonlight failed
them. Some of these bodies succumbed,
however : one yielded to a charge led by
the king himself; the Swiss throwing
down their halberds, and crying,"France!"
in token of submission. Towards mid-
night, utter darkness stopped the com-
bat, and both parties, intermingled, slept
or kept watch in little bands amongst their
enemies. The king himself reposed on
the stock of a cannon.

When day broke, both armies rallied ;
the Swiss to form their original phalanx ;
the French round their cannon, which
were again plied with true aim and fear-
ful alacrity. The Swiss renewed the
attack. The lansquenets still held the
intrenchment ; the rest of the army as-
sailed the enemy in flank. After some
hours' fighting, the Swiss began to des-
pair. They now condescended to ma-
ncEuvre, and despatched a considerable

I body to turn and attack the French camp
in rear ; but it was too late ; the division
was beaten back, and naught was left for
the Swiss but to retreat. This they did
in good order and undaunted ; though
pursued not only by the victorious French,
but by the Venitians, who arrived at the
close of the action. The count de Petig-
liana, the Venitian general, desirous to
share in the combat, charged the retreat-
ing Swiss, and perished.

Thus did the young monarch signalize
the very commencement of his reign by
a splendid victory gained over the most
renowned soldiers in Europe, and those
whom the French had most to fear. The
veteran Trivulzio, who had seen seven-
teen pitched battles, called all of them
" child's play," in comparison with that of
Marignano, which he designated as the
"battle of giants." Yet it is more remark-
able for the glory won, than for the blood
spilled in it. Trivulzio, the king, the
constable of Bourbon, the duke of Lor-
raine, and Bayard, Avere all wounded or
unhorsed, or in imminent peril. He who
most distinguished himself was Claude
count de Guise, brother of the duke of
Lorraine : he commanded the black
bands, and had fallen, pierced by innu-
merable wounds ; from which he never-
theless recovered, and lived to found an
illustrious name. The principal of the
slain were, a prince of the house of Lor-
raine, one of the house of Bourbon, and
the prince of Talmont, elder son of La
Tremouille. One of the first acts of the
king, after the action, was to receive
knighthood from the hand of Bayard,
"the chevalier without fear and without
reproach." Sensible of the honor done
to him by the choice. Bayard vowed that
the sword which had knighted so valiant
a monarch should never be wielded ex-
cept against the infidels. "When he had
uttered tliis vow," quoth his secretar)'-,
who was his historian, "he took two
leaps, and returned the sword to its
scabbard."

The duchy of Milan was conquered
by the victory of Marignano. The Swiss,
who held the fortress of the capital, sur-
rendered it, being hard pressed by the
armies of Peter of Navarre, which were
now in the service of the French king.

FRANCE.

255

Maximilian Sforza abandoned his rights
in return for a pension of 30,000 crowns,
which he was to enjoy in France, "no-
wise discontented," he said, "to be de-
hvered from the tyranny of the Swiss,
the caprices of the emperor, and the bad
faith of the Spaniards."

On the death of the emperor Maximil-
ian in 1581, Francis used every endeav-
or to be appointed his successor ; but the
emperor had exerted himself so much in
favor of Charles V, of Spain, that he
found it quite impossible to succeed; and
from that time an irreconcilable enmity
existed between the two monarchs. In
1521, this ill-will produced a war ; which
was continued with various degrees of
success till 1524, when P>ancis having
invaded Italy, and laid siege to Pavia,
he was utterly defeated before that city,
and taken prisoner 24th of February.

Francis by making many concessions
and promises, which he afterwards viola-
lated, was released from captivity. The
war was renewed with Charles, who in-
vaded France, but without success ; nor
was peace fully established till the death
of Francis, which happened on the 3rd
of March, 1547. He was succeeded by
his son Henry II, then twenty-nine years
of age.* In the beginning of his reign,

* It was the care of the new king to celebrate
the obsequies of his predecessor in the most mag-
nificent style. The bishop, who pronounced the
funeral oration, used a bold metaphor, which
gave occasion to the bigots of the Sorbonne to
show their zeal. King Francis, according to
the worthy prelate, had been of so holy a life,
that his soul had gone straight into paradise without
passing through the flames of purgatory. The
denial of purgatory was a favorite tenet of the re-
formers. The Sorbonne forthwith accused the
preacher of heresy ; they sent a deputation to
St. Germain to make known their complaint to
the king. Mendosa, a chief officer of the court,
first received it ; and by a facetious speech, saved
Henry from an act of injustice. " Calm your-
selves, gentlemen," said he to the deputies of the
Sorbonne ; " if you had known the good king
Francis as well as I did, you would have better
understood the words of the preacher. Francis
was not a man to tarrj' long any where ; and if
he did take a turn in purgatory, believe me, the
devil himself could not persuade him to take any
thing like a sojourn there."

The famous duel between Jamac and Chataig-
neraie, was the first striking event of Henry's
reign. They had both been pages in the court
of Francis I. Chataigneraie was a stout youth,
given to quarrel, skilled at his weapon, and re-

an insurrection occiured in Guienne, ow-
ing to the oppressive conduct of the offi-
cers who levied the salt tax. The king
despatched against the insurgents two
j bodies of troops ; one commanded by
the duke of Aumale, son of the duke of
Guise, the other by the constable. The

nowned for his hardihood ; he excelled in those
rude and martial e.vercises which the dauphin
Henry loved, and was consequently a favorite
! with him. Jarnac, on the contrary, was a beau,
' given to gallantry-, and fond of dress and ele-
' gance ; a taste which he indulged to an extent
I beyond his apparent means. It happened that
' once in the society of Henry, Chataigneraie con-
temning such taste and such a mode of life, asked
Jarnac, where he found resources for such ei-
j pense ! Jarnac replied, " that although his fatlier
I was liberal in his allowances, yet that he obtained
j an increase of funds through his stepmother, with
I whom he had made himself a favorite." This
passed. But Chataigneraie construed the words
of Jarnac into an insinuation that he enjoyed the
favor of his stepmother in a criminal sense. He
mentioned this to Henry, who repeated it to Diana
of Poitiers. The calumny circulated in whis-
pers, and at length reached the ears of Jamac's
j father. The son was summoned. In horror he
disavowed the crime, and succeeded in exculpat-
ing himself. He followed this up by appearing
before Francis in the presence of the court, and
I declaring, that whoever had given birth to such
I a report " lied in his throat." The dauphiin
took this deadly insult to himself; he, howe-
\ ver, could not come forward. The rude Cha-
taigneraie did, and asserted that he had heard
1 Jamac boast of having been too intimate with his
stepmother. A challenge, of course, was the
consequence, and Francis was besought by the
antagonists to appoint the field for a combat, the
j issue of which was to decide the guilt or inno-
cence of Jarnac. Francis, however, forbade the
duel, either averse to the absurd principal of ju-
dicial combat, or aware how much the imprudence
of his son had been the occasion of the quarrel.
I On Henry's accession, Jarnac renewed his chal-
; lenge and demand. The king consented. The
lists were prepared at St. Germain ; Henry and
his court were witnesses. When the antagonists
met in the inclosed field, the slender Jarnac seem-
ed unable to resist the powerful Chataigneraie ; he
! retired before his blows, covering himself with
his buckler, until seizing an opportunity, he
wounded his adversary in the back of the leg,
and completely disabled him. The victor, how-
j ever, spared his adversary. Having in vain asked
; Chataigneraie to recall the calumnies that he had
' uttered, Jarnac advanced towards the monarch,
and, by the usual courtesy of placing it at the
: sovereign's disposal, waived his right to his ene-
my's life. The fierce Chataigneraie scorned to
be thus spared ; he refused chirurgical aid ; even
■ tore his wounds open when they had been dressed,
and died. Such was the judicial combat, in which
I may be said to have originated the modern duel.

256

FRANCE,

first acted with the greatest moderation,
and easily brought back the people to
their duly ; the other behaved with the
greatest haughtiness and cruelty ; and
though the king afterwards remitted ma-
ny of his punishments, yet from that
time the constable became an object of
dislike to the people.

In 1548, the king began to execute
the edicts, which had been made against
the protestants ; and, thinking the clergy
too mild in the prosecution of heresy,
erected for that purpose a chamber com-
posed of members of the parliament of
Paris. At the queen's coronation, which
happened this year, he caused a number
of protestants to be burned, and was
himself present at the spectacle.

The reign of his successor, Francis
II, was remarkable only for the persecu-
tion carried on against the protestants,
which obliged them to take up arms in
their own defence. This occasioned
several civil wars ; the first of which
commenced in the reign of Charles IX,
who succeeded to the throne in 1560.
This first war continued till the year
1562.

In order to understand the events which
occurred during the reign of the latter
monarch, it appears necessary to take a
retrospective view of the origin and pro-
gress of the reformed religion in France,
under Francis II. The new doctrine
had spread greatly at court, as well as
in the capital and provinces. The Chris-
tian Institutes of Calvin were dedicated
to that king. His sister, the queen of
Navarre, protected his disciples, while
they were persecuted by the clergy and
the parliament. The spirit of the new
religion was increased and invigorated,
and the numbers who professed it were
greatly augmented, by the massacre of
Cabrieres and Merindol, and by the ex-
ecutions which were imprudently multi-
plied by Henry II. Thus, at the acces-
sion of Francis II, Calvanism had gained
a firm and wide fooling, and could count
among its professors several men of great
talents and influence. Admiral Coligny,
and his brother d'Andelot, and cardinal
Chatillon, were firm friends to a reforma-
tion ; and the prince of Conde inclined
to the same side. The court, oa the

contrary, seemed resolved to crush the
Calvinists, by the most open and violent
measures. Instead of correcting the er-
rors, which had given offence, even to
conscientious catholics, new observan-
ces, still more superstitious, were en-
joined. Images of the Virgin, and of
the saints, were placed at the corners of
the streets, with tapers lighted up before
them ; round these, the populace assem-
bled, singing hymns, and compelling the
passengers to put money into little box-
es, for the expense of the illumination.
If a man did not bow to these images,
and stop with marks of reverence, while
the people were paying this worship, he
was either knocked down, dragged to
prison, or insulted. These, however,
were trifling evils, to which the protes-
tants were exposed. Courts of ecclesi-
astical judicature, invested with inquisi-
torial powers, were erected, denominated
Chamhrcs Ardentcs, from the severity of
their punishments. To these the cog-
nizance of heresy was entrusted. The
strictest search was made to discover
offenders ; and as the protestants, in or-
der to conceal themselves, were obliged
to meet by night, they were charged
with committing in these assemblies the
most dreadful crimes. Thus goaded on
to resistance, they only waited for a fit
opportunity and season to protect them-
selves by force of arms ; and this was
soon supplied them, by the mixtiure of
folly and wickedness which the court
displayed. The civil wars between the
catholics and protestants commenced in
1650. The duke of Guise and his fami-
ly were the most bitter opponents of the
protestants, whose cause was sustained
by the prince of Conde, admiral Coligny,
and the king of Navarre. Catherine of
Medicis, the mother of Francis II, and
Charles IX, was a woman of great ta-
lents and address ; she was, however,
cruel, rapacious, and deceitful, and for a
long period was the sovereign of France.
Both Catherine and her son, being con-
vinced that the destruction of the pro-
testants could be effected only by intrigue,
resolved to exert all the powers of their
minds to carry it on in such manner as
might most effectually deceive the pro-
posed victims of it. With this view they

FRANCE.

257

pretended to be averse to the measures
of the Guises as unfriendly to the pro-
testants ; and even treated them with
coolness and indifference. The king
proposed to give his sister Margaret in
marriage to Henry of Navarre, as a fur-
ther proof of his change of sentiments,
and further security to the protestants.
This proposal was readily accepted ; and
so deeply laid were the plans of Cathe-
rine and her son, that even the Admiral
Coligny, notwithstanding a letter which
he received, putting him in mind of the
faithless characters of them both, was
deceived by their specious conduct and
professions.

Catherine, having so often been foiled
in her attempts to crush the protestants,
both by open and secret measures, was
resolved that her present plan should not
be frustrated by precipitation : for two
years she permitted France to enjoy the
blessings of tranquillity : and during the
whole of this period, the conduct both of
herself and of the king, continued such,
as effectually lulled the suspicions of the
most timid and apprehensive protestants.
At last having succeeded in persuading
the admiral to come to Paris, along with
the most considerable men of the protes-
tant party, in order to assist at the cele-
bration of the marriage of Margaret and
Henry, Catherine and the king resolved
to hasten the catastrophe.

The marriage was celebrated on the
17th of August, 1572 ; and, on the 22d
of that month, Coligny was wounded by
a shot from a window, as he was going
to his house. Upon learning this, the
king paid him a visit, promised to find
out and punish the assassin, and to all
appearance was filled with indignation
and sorrow for the accident. Two days
after this, on the 24th of August, the mas-
sacre of St. Bartholomew, took place.
When the king gave his directions re-
specting it, he added, with his customary
oaths, " Since it is to be done, take care
that no one escapes to reproach me."
The direction of the massacre was en-
trusted more especially to the Duke of
Guise ; and the signal for its commence-
ment was to be given by striking the
great bell of the palace. Coligny, regu-
lar in his habits, and still weak with his
33

wounds, had retired to rest on the eve of
St. Bartholomew very early ; but he was
roused by the noise of the assassins, who
had surrounded his house. A German,
of the name of Beznie, entered his cham-
ber ; and the admiral, suspicious of his
designs, prepared to meet his fate with
calm and firm resignation. Scarcely had
he uttered the words " Young man, you
ought to have respected my age, and my
infirmity ; but you will only shorten my
life by a few days or hours," when the
German plunged his sword into his bo-
som, and afterwards threw the corpse
into the court. The Duke of Guise be-
held it in silence ; but Henry, Count of
Angouleme, natural brother to the king,
gave it a kick with his foot, exclaiming,
" Courage, my friends ; we have begun
well, let us also finish well."*

* As soon as the events we have related,
which did not occupy much time, had taken
place at the residence of the Admiral and at the
Louvre, the alarm-bell sounded from the Palace
of Justice. This was the signal for all the sub-
ordinate agents of the consjiiracy in the different
parts of the town to commence their operations.
Tavannes and several of his associates immedi-
ately appeared on horseback in the streets ; and,
riding about in all directions, called out to the
people to kill the Hugonots, telling them that
such was the command of the king, who desired
that not a single heretic should be suffered to
escape. From this moment the slaughter was
universal and indiscriminate. Inflamed with the
wildest fury of religious hatred, to which, in
many cases, fear, revenge, and other malignant
passions added double force, (for many doubtless
believed that in thus imbruing their hands in the
blood of their fellow-citizens, they were only de-
stroying those who would otherwise have massa-
cred them,) the multitude set no bounds to their
ferocity and cruelty. Persons of both sexes and
of all ages equally fell victims to their unpitying
rage. Every house supposed to be tenanted by
persons of the obnoxious religion was broken into.
The inmates sometimes attempted to fly or to
hide themselves, but rarely offered any resistance.
It was all headlong fury on the one side, and as-
tonishment and consternation on the other. Nor
were all those who perished, protestants. Many
took advantage of the confusion of this popular
tempest to satiate their private and personal en-
mities, and to wreak on a brother of the same
faith the hoarded hatred of years. All the worst
passions of the human heart were let loose ; but
their one wild cry was Blood ! Blood ! On that
terrible sabbath blood reeked from the principal
streets of Paris as from a field of battle. The
bodies of the slaughtered, we are told by a co-
temporary chronicler, of men, of women, of chil-
dren, and of infants, were heaped together into

258

FRANCE.

For five days did the massacre continue. I tion of the soldiery, and imbued their
The catholic citizens, who had been se- hands, without remorse, in the blood of
cretly prepared, by their leaders, for such their neighbors, their companions, and
a scene, zealously seconded the execu- even their nearest relations. Among the

carts, and so carried down and shot into the river,
in which they might be seen every where floating
and tumWing, while its waters were turned red
by the blood that flowed from them. The gen- 1
eral description which De Thou gives us of the
horrors of the scene is, especially in his own elo- I
quent Latin, exceedingly striking. " The people,"
he says, " incited against their fellow-countrymen
by the captains and lieutenants of the city guard,
who were flying about in all directions, rioted in
the frenzy of a tjoundless license ; and all things
wore an aspect of wo and affright. The streets
resounded with the uproar of the crowds rushing
on to slaughter and plunder, while ever and anon
the lamenting cries of persons dying or in peril
met the ear, or the carcasses of those who had
been murdered were seen tossed forth from the
windows of theirdwellings. The courts, and even
the inner apartments, of many houses were filled
with the slain ; dead bodies were rolled or dragged
along the mire of the highways ; the bloody pud-
dle overflowed the kennels, and ran down at dif-
ferent places in streams to the river ; an innumer-
able multitude perished, not only of men, but
likewise of pregnant women and children."

But a few individual pictures, which we shall
now proceed to select, will convey a clearer idea
of the atrocities of this infamous massacre.

We have already stated that the attendants of
Coligny, and the protestant gentlemen who resi-
ded m his house, fled by a window in the roof,
and that a few of them succeeded by this means
for a time in eluding their pursuers. x\mong
these was the young Teligny, recently married
to the daughter of the Admiral, a gentleman of
distinguished qualiflcations, and universally re-
garded by his party with the warmest attachment.
He had been observed making his way along the
roof of a house by several persons belonging to
the court ; but, although he was one of those
whom they had been particularly charged not to
allow to escape, they could not find it in their
heart to kill him, " of so sweet a nature was he,"
says the old chronicler, " and so much beloved by
all to whom he was known." He was afterwards
discovered by some soldiers in a garret, and even
they, upon learning his name, went away and left
him unharmed. But some other soldiers, belong-
ing to the guard of the Duke of Anjou, coming
shortly after to the place where he was hid, de-
spatched him along with several individuals of the
Admiral's suite, (who were with him.) This they
did, it is related by command of their captain,
L'Archan ; althoug-h that person had heretofore
been Teligny 's familiar friend. But all such con-
nections between those not professing the same
faith were now broken and forgotten.

Among others who perished was the celebrated
Peter Ramus, one of the most intrepid spirits of
modern times, and whose whole life nearly had
been as stormy as its termination was now misera-

ble. He was at this time Professor of Philosophy
and Eloquence in the College of Prcsles (which
stood in the south-eastern quarter of the city, at
the corner of the Rue des Carmes) ; a dignity
which he had held for above twenty years, although
the civil commotions by which the kingdom had so
long been agitated had frequently compelled him
to retire for a season from the performance of its
duties. He had, however, returned to Paris and
to his academic sanctuary on the general pacifica-
tion of 1570. Being a zealous opponent not only
of the ancient religion, but likewise of the philo-
sophy which had long reigned in the schools, he
was regarded with particular enmity by the ad-
herents of the prevailing faith. It is asserted by
the authority we last quoted, that the murderers
were sent to his college, within which he had
concealed himself, by one Jaques Carpentier, his
personal enemy. " Being found by them," con-
tinues the writer, " he gave them a considerable
sum of money to save his life. Nevertheless, he
was massacred, and throvim from the window of a
high chamber to the ground ; so that his entrails
were scattered over the pavement, after which
they wer.e dragged along the streets, the body
being all the while scourged by some scholars,
spurred on by their masters, to the great disgrace
of good letters, of which Ramus made profession."

Another notice supplies us with an instance of
the manner in which individuals took advantage
of the opportunity aff"orded them, by the unbridled
license of the moment to destroy those who were
on any account obnoxious to them, or of whom
they desired to rid themselves. After relating
the heroic conduct of the wife of Anthony Mer-
lanchon (who, while both herself and her husband
were in the hands of the murderers, maintained
the profession of her religion with unshrinking
resolution, and exhorted her husband to follow
her example), the chronicler proceeds ; — " This
example of female constancy is marvellous and
greatly to be praised. On the contrary, the mal-
ice and cruelty of the wife of a joiner living in
the Rue des Prouvelles, a man advanced in life,
was strange and monstrous. For being during
the night thrown into the river he saved himself
by swimming to the bank, and thence having
climbed up by the great beams of the bridge, he
came entirely naked near to the Culture of St.
Catherine, where his wife had taken refuge with a
relation of her own, and where he thought also he
might remain in some security. But, in place of
taking him in, his wife made them send him back,
and chase him away all naked as he was, so that
the poor man knew not where to go ; and, being
found next morning in the street in such a condi-
tion, was speedily retaken and drowned."

Although, as has been already mentioned, the
victims of the St. Bartholomew in general made
scarcely even an attempt to defend themselves,
^ still several instances occurred in which the per-

FRANCE.

25<

most illustrious victims, beside Coligny,
were the Count de Rochefoucalt and Te-
ligni, who had married the daughter of

son attacked did not fall before he had maintained
a severe struggle with his assailants. Among
others may be mentioned the Sicur de Guerchy,
who, wrapping his mantle around his arm, fought
with his sword, the only weapon he had, till he
sunk under the blows that fell upon him from all
sides. Tavervy also, the lieutenant of the Pa-
trole, when the bloodthirsty mob attacked his
house, defended himself by the assistance of one
of his soldiers, with great bravery, so long as his
ammunition lasted. He was at last, however,
overpowered. " Being then killed," it is said.
" and his furniture and most precious jewels car-
ried off, the soldiers laid hold of a lady, his sister,
who was in bed, sick and at the point of death,
and dragged her naked through the streets, till
she breathed her last in their hands."

The next relation which we shall quote is cu-
rious in several other respects, as well as for the
evidence which it affords of the baser motives
which mingled with the religious zeal of many of
the most active among the murderers to urge
them on through their bloody work. The reader
will remark the illustrations of interesting points
of antiquarian research which our extract presents
in its references to " the bell of the window," {la
sonnette de la fencstrc), and the time-piece worth
seven or eight hundred crowns. The gold-wire-
drawer {le tiretir d'or), who figures in this narra-
tive, was a person of the name of Cruce, who
made himself conspicuous above all his fellows
by his enormous butcheries. " Often," says De
Thou, " have I with horror seen and heard that
man, truly worthy of crucifixion {vere criiz dig-
num), boasting with tremendous ferocity as he
extended his bare arm, that with that he had him-
self slaughtered more than four hundred persons
during the massacre."

" Maturin Lussaut, goldsmith to the Queen-
mother, dwelling in the Rue St. Germain, near
the Miroir, hearing the bell of his window ring,
came down stairs, and as he opened his door was
pierced through with a sword by the gold-wire-
drawcr. His son, hearing the noise, came down
in all haste, and received a great blow from a
sword on the back. Nevertheless, he fled to-
wards the house of a tailor, who would not, how-
ever, 0])en the door to him ; and by that means
he was despatched by a ruffian, who on rifling
him found in the pocket of his breeches a very
handsome watch, of the price of from seven to
eight hundred crowns, which the wire-drawer
having perceived, began to throw himself into a
passion, and to vent his rage on this ruffian, and
was going to kill him, alleging that he had come
to poach upon another's manor. But the other
having resisted his violence, this wire-drawer
went off to make report of the matter to the
Duke of Anjou, who kept the watch, paying ten
crowns for it, which he made be given to the
murderer. The servant, a young girl of sixteen,
took refuge in the house of a velvet manufactur-
er, who wished to make her promise to go to |

the admiral. The Count de Montgomery,
and the Vidame of Chartres, with near a
hundred others, who lodged on the south

mass, and while she was disputing with him, the
murderers came upon her and killed her. After
having in this manner slain Lussaut, they shut
the door and went away. Frances Baillet, his
wife, an honorable lady, having learned from a
young man named Rene, what had happened to
her husband and her son, went up to the garret,
and, opening a window to make her escape to the
court of her neighbor, as many others had done,
the fall she received was so violent that she broke
both her legs. The murderers having re-entered
the house, and perceiving this window open and
the house empty, so threatened and terrified the
person next door, (who had concealed the womaa
in his cellar), that he told them where she was.
Then they took her, and dragged her by the hair
for a great way along the streets ; and, perceiv-
ing bracelets of gold on her arms, that they
might not have the trouble of unfastening them,
they hacked off her two hands ; and as she be-
moaned to herself their extreme cruelty, a cook
who was in the crowd thrust a spit through her
body, which remained fixed in it. Some hours
afterwards the body thus mutilated was dragged
into the river. The two hands lay for several
days on the pavement, where they were gnawed
by the dogs."

But we cannot afford space for any more of
these horrid relations. Of the persons massacred
" the great number," says the writer of the Me-
moirs, " were killed by powerful stabs with dag-
gers and poniards. Those were treated with the
least cruelty. For the others were tortured in
all the parts of their bodies, mutilated of their
limbs, mocked and outraged by taunts still sharper
than the points of the swords by which they were
pierced." Several old men, he goes on to state,
being seized and brought down to the river, were
first knocked on the head against the stones of
the quay, and then thrown half dead into the
water. In one of the streets a number 6f boys
of nine or ten years of age, were seen dragging
about an infant yet in swaddling-cloths by a rope
tied round its neck. Another little child, on being
laid hold of, began to laugh and to play with the
beard of the stranger in whose arms it found it-
self; but the man, untouched by its simple inno-
cence, thrust his dagger into its bosom, and then
tossed it into the river. " The paper would weep,"
concludes our author, " if I were to recite the
horrible blasphemies which were uttered by these
monsters and incarnate devils during the fury of
so many slaughters. The uproar, the continual
sound of arquebuses and pistols, the lamerttable
and affrighting cries of those in agony, the vocif-
erations of the murderers, tlie dead bodies thrown
from the windows, or dragged through the mire
with strange hootings and hissings, the smashing
of doors and windows, the stones which were
thrown against them, and the pillaging of more
than six hundred houses — all this, long continu-
ed, could only present to the eyes of the reader a
perpetual image of e.xtreme misery in all its forms,"

260

FRANCE.

Massacre of St. Bartholomews.

of the Seine, escaped on horseback, half
naked ; but they were pursued and over-
taken by the Duke of Guise, who cut in
pieces nearly the whole of them.

The young King of Navarre and the
Prince of Conde, exempted from the
general destruction, were brought before
Charles, and commanded to abjure their
rehgion. The King of Navarre consent-
ed ; but the Prince hesitating, Charles,
in a transport of rage, exclaimed, " Death,
mass, or the bastile !" The violence of
this threat intimidated the Prince ; and
recanting his heresy, he received absolu-
tion from the Cardinal of Bourbon.

During the greater part of the massa-
cre, Charles posted himself at one of the
windows of his palace, from which he not
only saw and encouraged the assassins,
by frequently calling ^ut, " Kill, Kill !"
but even repeatedly fired upon the mise-
rable fugitives.

The same barbarous orders were sent
to all the provinces of the kingdom ; and
they were faithfully obeyed in Lyons,
Orleans, Rouen, Bourges, Angers, and
Toulouse. In Provence, Dauphiue, and
some other parts, the Protestants were
protected. The Viscount Orthes, who
commanded in Bayonne, in reply to the

order which he received, wrote back to
the king, that Bayonne contained loyal
citizens and brave soldiers, but that
among them he was not able to find one
executioner. The Bishop of Liseux, on
this occasion, conducted himself in a
manner becoming the religion of which
he was the minister ; for when the com-
mandant of that place communicated to
him the orders of the court, he answered,
" You must not execute them ; those
whom you are commanded to destroy
are my flock ; it is true they have gone
astray, but I shall use my endeaA'ors to
bring them back to the right fold. The
gospel does not say, that the shepherd
should spill the blood of his flock ; on the
contrary, I read in it, that I ought, if ne-
cessary, to spill my blood for them."
These instances of humanity were, how-
ever, few ; and it is supposed that,
throughout France, 25,000 Protestants
perished, and in Paris alone 10,000.

As a justification of this dreadful and
unparalleled massacre, Charles pretend-
ed, that the Protestants had formed a con-
spiracy to seize his person ; and that, in
his own defence, he had been imder the
necessity of giving orders for its execu-
tion. But the real motive and object

FRANCE.

261

M'ere by no means thus concealed ; nay,
they were even displayed to public no-
tice, by the proceedings of the parliament
and the court. The former ordered an
annual procession to celebrate the deliv-
erance of the kingdom ; and the latter
had a medal struck, with a legend, inti-
mating, in express terms, that piety had
armed justice on this occasion. Still
more unequivocally were the real causes
of the massacre of St. Bartholomew dis-
played, by the feelings with which the
intelligence of it was received at Rome
and in Spain. In both, public rejoicings
were held, and solemn thanks were re-
turned to God for its success, under the
name of the " triumph of the church
militant." Among the protestants, it
excited the most deep and penetrating
horror, and no where to a greater degree
than in England. Fenelon, the French
ambassador at the court of St. James,
gives the following striking picture of his
first audience after the massacre was
known : " A gloomy sorrow sate on
every face ; silence, as in the dead of
night, reigned through all the chambers
of the royal apartments ; the ladies and
the courtiers, clad in deep mourning,
were ranged on every side ; and as I
passed by them, in my approach to the
queen, not one bestowed on me a favora-
ble look, or made the least return to my
salutations."

The effect of the massacre on the pro-
testants was directly the reverse of what
the king expected ; but exactly such as a
knowledge of human nature, and of reli-
gious zeal and enthusiasm, would have
anticipated. Galvanism, instead of being
destroyed, became more formidable by
despair ; and a thirst for revenge, united
to an ardent spirit of civil and religious
liberty. A fourth civil war was kindled.
The protestants assembled in large bo-
dies, and took refuge in the strong places
which belonged to their party. In these,
now fatally convinced that their only al-
ternative was open rebellion — if rebellion
it might be called — or persecution, they
resolved to defend themselves to the last
extremity. At their head appeared the
King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde,
both of whom abjured a religion which
they had been compelled to profess. Ro-

chelle made a desperate defence against
the duke of Anjou, who lost almost all
his army before it. The siege continued
eight months, during which time the citi-
zens repelled nine general, and twenty
particular attacks, and at.length obliged
the duke to grant them an advantageous
peace. The town of Sancerre was de-
fended with equal bravery for upwards
of seven months ; nor did the inhabitants
surrender till they had obtained the pro-
mise of liberty of conscience. About
this time, the duke of Anjou was elected
king of Poland ; and the miseries of
France daily increasing, Gharles em-
braced the pretence afforded by the ele-
vation of his brother to conclude a treaty
with the protestants which he did not
intend to keep, and to which they never
trusted.

During the first years of the reign of
Henry III, who succeeded his brother
Gharles, the war with the protestants was
carried on with indifferent success on
the part of the catholics. In 1575, a
peace was concluded, known by the
name of the Edict of Pacification, the
substance of which was, that liberty of
conscience, and the public exercise of re-
ligion, were granted to the reformed,
without any other restriction than that
they should not preach within two leagues
of Paris, or any other part where the
court was ; party chambers were erected
in every parliament, to consist of equal
numbers of catholics and protestants, be-
fore whom all causes were to be tried ;
the judgments against the admiral, and,
in general, all who had fallen in the war,
were reversed ; and eiglit towns were
given up to the protestants.

This edict caused the Guises to form an
association called the Gatholic League.
In this league, though the king was men-
tioned with respect, he could not but
see that it struck at the very root of his
authority ; for, as the protestants had al-
ready their chiefs, so the catholics were,
for the future, to depend entirely upon
the chief of the league ; and were, by
the very words of it, to execute what-
ever he commanded, for the good of the
cause, against any, without exception
of persons.

As Heary IV was a protestant, or at

262

FRANCE.

least one who greatly favored their cause, |
he was at first acknowledged by very few
except those of the protestant party. As
the king of Spain had laid claim to the ;
crown of France, Henry no sooner found
himself firmly eeated on the throne, than
he formally declared war against Spain ;
and in 1 597 entered upon the quiet pos-
session of his kingdom.

The king's first care was to put an end
to the religious disputes which had so
long distracted the kingdom. For this |
pui'pose he promulgated the celebrated |
edict, dated at Nautes, April 13, 1598.
It re-established, in a most solid and ef-
fectual manner, all the favors that had
ever been granted to the protestants, by
other princes ; adding some which had
not been thought of before, particularly j
the allowing them the free admission to
all employments of trust, profit, and hon- 1
or ; the establishing chambers in which
the members of the two religions were
equal ; and the permitting their children |
to be educated without constraint in any ■
of the universities. Soon after he con-
cluded peace with Spain upon very ad-
vantageous terms.

On the death of Henry IV, the queen-
mother assumed the regency, which,
during the minority of Louis XIII, was
only remarkable for the intrigues of the
courtiers. In 1617, the king assumed
the government himself, banished the
queen-mother to Blois, caused her favor-
ite marshal d'Ancre to be killed, and
chose for his minister the celabrated car-
dinal Richelieu. In 1620, a new war
broke out between the catholics and
protestants, Avhich was carried on with
great fury on both sides ; and we may
judge of the spirit which actuated both
parties, by what happened at Negreplisse,
a town in Quercy. This place was be-
sieged by the king's troops, and it was
resolved to make an example of the in-
habitants. The latter, however, abso-
lutely refused to surrender upon any
terras. They defended themselves brave-
ly ; but the city being at last taken by
storm, they were all massacred, without
respect of rank, sex, or age. Both par-
ties, however, became weary of such a
destructive war ; and a peace was con-
cluded in 1621, by which the edict of

Nantes was confirmed. This treaty,
however, was of short duration. A new
war broke out, which lasted till the year
1628, when the edict of Nantes was
again confirmed. This put an end to
the civil wars on account of religion in
France. Historians say, that in these
wars above a million of men lost their
lives ; that 150,000,000 hvres were
spent in carrying them on ; and that 9
cities, 400 villages, 2,000 churches,
2,000 monasteries, and 10,000 houses,
were burnt or destroyed during iheir
continuance.

The following year the king was at-
tacked with a slow fever, which nothing
could allay. The year after, however,
he recovered, to the great disappointment
of his mother, who had been in hopes of
regaining her power. She was arrested ;
but found means to escape into Flanders,
where she remained till the conclusion
of his reign. Richelieu, by a masterly
train of politics, though himself a violent
catholic, supported the protestants of
Germany and Gustavus Adolphus against
the house of Austria ; and, after quelling
all the rebellions and conspiracies which
had been formed against the government
of France, he died some months before
Louis XIII, in 1643.

Louis XIV, surnamed Le Grand, suc-
ceeded to the throne when he was only
five years of age. During his minority,
the kingdom was placed under the ad-
ministration of his mother, Anne of Aus-
tria. The prince of Conde filled a pro-
minent situation in the early part of this
reign : sometimes a patriot, sometimes
a courtier, and sometimes a rebel. He
was opposed by the celebrated Turenne.
The nation of France was involved at
once in civil and domestic wars ; but the
queen-mother having made choice of car-
dinal Mazarine, for her first minister, he
found means to divide the domestic ene-
mies of the court so effectually among
themselves, that when Louis assumed
the reins of government into his own
hands, he found himself the most abso-
lute monarch that had ever sat upon the
throne of France. He had the good for-
tune, on the death of Mazarine, to put
the domestic administration of his affairs
into the hands of Colbert, who formed,

FRANCE.

263

new systems for the glory, commerce,
and manufactures of France, all which
he carried into effect. The Grand Mo-
7iarque, as he was called, was blind to
every patriotic duty of a king, promoting
the interests of his subjects only that
they might better answer the purposes
of his greatness. By his impolitic and
imjust revocation of the edict of Nantes,
in the year 1685, the protestants were
obliged to take shelter in England, Hol-
land, and different parts of Germany,
where they established the silk manufac-
tories, to the great injury of the commerce
of their own country ; and in the end, he
raised against himself a confederacy of
almost all the other princes of Europe.
He was, however, so fortunate in the se-
lection of his officers, that he was enabled
successfully to oppose this alliance for
many years ; and France seemed to have
attained the highest pitch of military glory,
under the conduct of those renowned gen-
erals Conde and Turenne. At length, the
English, under the duke of Marlborough,
and Austria, under prince Eugene, ren-
dered the latter part of Louis' life as
miserable as the beginning of it was
splendid. His reign, from the year 1702
to 1711, was one continued series of de-
feats and calamities ; a^id he had the
mortification of seeing those places taken
from him which, in the former part of his
reign, were acquired at the expense of
many thousand lives. Just as he was
reduced to the desperate resolution of
collecting his people and dying at their
head, he was saved by the English tory
ministry deserting the cause of liberty,
withdrawing from their allies, and con-
cluding the peace of Utrecht in 1712.

The year before the peace, his only
son, the duke of Burgundy, died, together
with the duchess and their eldest son ;
and his only remaining child was left at
the point of death. The king himself
survived till the month of September,
1715 ; but on the 14th of that month ex-
pired, leaving the kingdom to his great-
grandson Louis, then a minor.

By the last will of Louis, he had de-
volved the regency during the minority
of the young king upon a council, at the
head of which was the duke of Orleans.
That nobleman, however, appealed to

I the parliament of Paris, who set aside
! the will of the late king, and declared
him sole regent. His first acts were
extremely popular, and gave the most
favorable ideas of his government and
character. He restored to the parlia-
ment the rights which had been taken
from them of remonstrating against the
edicts of the crown, and compelled those
who had enriched themselves during the
calamities of the former reign to restore
their wealth to the rightful owners. He
also took every method to efface the ca-
lamities occasioned by the unsuccessful
wars in which his predecessor had en-
gaged ; promoted commerce and agricul-
ture ; and, by a close alliance with Great
Britian and the United provinces, seem-
ed to lay the foundation of a lasting
tranquillity.

The spirit of conquest having now in
a great measure subsided, and that of
commerce taken its place, France be-
came the scene of a remarkable commer-
cial project. This was the famous Mis-
sissippi scheme, began in 1716. John
Law, a Scotchman, was the author of it ;
and the greatness of the idea recom-
mended it to the duke of Orleans. His
project was to pay off the national debt,
by the introduction of paper money. A
bank was accordingly established, which
was soon declared royal, and united with
the Mississippi, or West India company,
from whose commerce the greatest riches
were expected. The opinion that had
long been prevalent, that the neighbor-
hood of the river INIississippi contained
inexhaustible treasiures, was the origin
of this expectation. It would appear,
that Law himself, who at first regarded
the Mississippi scheme as merely subor-
dinate and auxiliary' to his plan of paper
credit, was in a short time beguiled by it
The bubble was soon blown to bursting.
In 1719, the notes which he fabricated,
exceeded in nominal amount fourscore
times the real value of the current coin
of the kingdom. At first, only the debts
of the state had been paid off in this pa-

per

; but afterwards, so extreme was the

I eagerness to obtain a share in the scheme,
that they were circulated very widely
through the kingdom. At length, the
late financiers, in conjunction with the

264

FRANCE.

great bankers, exhausted the royal bank,
by continually drawing upon it for large
sums. The consequence of this was,
that every one wanted to convert his
notes into cash ; and public credit sunk
all at once. Law himself was obliged to
flee. Upwards of 500,000 sufferers pre-
sented their whole fortunes to govern-
ment, in paper, which after liquidating
these debts, charged itself with the enor-
mous sum of 1,631,000,000 of livres, to
be paid in specie.

Scarcely had the kingdom recovered
from this event, when the didve became
minister, but did not long enjoy this post.
His irregularities had brought on a num-
ber of maladies, under which he in a
short time sunk, and was succeeded in
his administration by the duke of Bour-
bon Conde. The king had been married
when very young, to the infanta of Spain,
though the marriage had never been com-
pleted. The princess, however, was
now brought to Paris, and for some time
treated as queen of France ; but as Louis
grew up, it was easy to see that he had
contracted an inveterate hatred against
the intended partner of his bed. The
minister, therefore, at last consented that
the princess should be sent back ; an
affront so much resented by the queen,
her mother, that it had almost produced
a war between the two nations.

The dissolution of the marriage of
Louis was the last act of Conde's ad-
ministration ; and the procuring of a new
match, was the first act of his successor,
cardinal Fleury. The princess selected
was the daughter of Stanislaus Lesczin-
ski, king of Poland, who had been de-
posed by Charles Xll, of Sweden. The
princess was destitute of personal charms,
but of an amiable disposition ; and though
it is probable that she never possessed
the love of her husband, her excellent
qualities commanded his esteem ; and
the birth of a prince soon after their mar-
riage removed all the fears of the people
concerning the succession.

Cardinal Fleury continued the pacific
schemes pursued by his predecessors,
though they were somewhat interrupted
by the war which took place between
Poland and Russia, in which the former
was defeated. The disputes between

Spain and England, in 1737, very little
affected the peace of France ; and it must
be remembered to the credit of the min-
ister Fleury, that, instead of fomenting
the quarrels between the neighboring po-
tentates, he labored incessantly to keep
them at peace. He reconciled the Ge-
noese and Corcisans, who were at war ;
and his mediation was accepted by the
Ottoman Porte, v/ho at that time carried
on a successful war with the emperor of
Germany, but made peace with him at
the intercession of the cardinal.

All his endeavors, however, proved at
last ineffectual. On the death of the
emperor Charles VI, in 1740, the last
prince of the house of Austria, his eldest
daughter, Maria Theresa, claimed the
Austrian succession, which comprehend-
ed the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohe-
mia, the duchy of Silesia, Austrian Sua-
bia, Upper and Lovs^er Austria, StjTia,
Carinthia, Carniola, the four forest towns,
Burgaw, Brisgaw, the Low Countries,
Friuli, Tyrol, the duchy of Milan, and
the duchies of Parma and Placeutia.
Among the many competitors who pre-
tended a right to share, or wholly to in-
herit, these extensive dominions, the king
of France was one. But as he wished
not to awaken the jealousy of the Eu-
ropean princes by preferring directly his
own pretensions, he chose rather to sup-
port those of Frederic III, who laid
claim to the duchy of Silesia. This
brought on the war of 1740. It was ter-
minated in 1748 by the treaty of Aix-la
Chapelle ; but to this Louis, who se-
cretly meditated a severe vengeance
against Britain, only consented that he
might have time to recruit his fleet, and
put himself somewhat more upon an
equality with that country. But while
he meditated great exploits of this kind,
the internal tranquillity of the kingdom
was disturbed by violent disputes be-
tween the clergy and parliaments of
France. In the preceding reign there
had been violent contests between the
Jansenists and Jesuits concerning free-will
and other obscure points of theology ;
and the opinions of the Jansenists had
been declared heretical by the celebrated
papal bull named Unigenitus ; the recep-
tion of which was enforced by the king,

FRANCE,

265

in opposition to the parliaments, the arch-
bishop of Paris, and the body of the
people. The archbishop, with fifteen
other prelates, protested against it as "an
infringement of the rights of the Galli-
can church, of the laws of the realm,
and an insult on the rights of the people
themselves. The duke of Orleans fa-
vored the bull by inducing the bishops to
submit to it ; but at the same time stop-
ped a persecution which was going on
against its opponents. Thus matters
passed over till the conclusion of the
peace ; a short time after which the
jealousy of the clergy was awakened by
an attempt of the minister of state to in-
quire into the wealth of individuals of
their order. To prevent this, they re-
vived the contest about the bull Unigeni-
tus ; and it was resolved, that confes-
sional notes should be obtained of dying
persons ; that these notes should be
signed by priests who maintained the au-
thority of the bull ; and that, without
such notes, no person could obtain a vi-
aticum, or extreme unction. On this oc-
casion the new archbishop of Paris and
the parliament of that city took opposite
sides ; the latter imprisoning such of the
clergy as refused to administer the sacra-
ments excepting in the circumstances
abovementioned. Other parliaments fol-
lowed the example of that of Paris ; and
a war was instantly kindled between the
civil and ecclesiastical departments of
the state. In this dispute the king inter-
fered, forbade the parliaments to take
cognizance of ecclesiastical proceedings,
and commanded them to suspend all pros-
ecutions relative to the refusal of the sa-
craments ; but, instead of acquiescing,
the parliament presented new remon-
strances, refused to attend to any other
business, and resolved that they coiUd
not obey this injunction without violating
their duty as well as their oath. They
cited the bishop of Orleans before their
tribunal, and ordered all writings, in
which its jurisdiction was disputed, to be
burnt by the executioner. By the assist-
ance of the military, they enforced the
administration of the sacraments to the
sick, and ceased to distribute that justice
to the subject for which they had been
originally instituted. The king, enraged
34

at their contumacy, arrested and impris-
oned four of the members who had been
most obstinate, and banished the remain-
der to Bourges, Poictiers, and Auvergne ;
while, to prevent any impediment from
taking place in the administration of
justice by their absence, he issued letters-
patent, by which a royal chamber for the
prosecution of civil and criminal suits
was instituted. The counsellors refused
to plead before these new courts ; and the
king, finding at last that the whole nation
was about to fall into a state of anarchy,
thought proper to recall the parliament.
The banished members entered Paris
amidst the acclamations of the inhabit-
ants ; and the archbishop, who still con-
tinued to encourage the priests in refus-
ing the sacraments, was banished to his
seat at Conflans ; the bishops of Orleans
and Troyes were in like manner banished,
and a calm for the present restored to
the kingdom.

The tranquillity thus established was of
no long duration. In the year 1756, the
parliament again fell under the displeas-
ure of the king by their imprudent per-
secution of those who adhered to the
bull Unigenitus. They proceeded so
far in this opposition, as to refuse to re-
gister certain taxes absolutely necessary
for the carrying on of the war. By this,
Louis was so provoked, that he suppressed
the fourth and fifth chambers of inquests,
the members of which had distinguish-
ed themselves by their opposition to his
will. He commanded the bull Unigenitus
to be respected, and prohibited the sec-
ular judges from ordering the administra-
tion of the sacraments. On this, fifteen
counsellors of the great chamber re-
signed their offices, and one hundred and
twenty-four members of the diflferent par-
liaments followed their example. An
attempt was made by a fanatic, named
Damien, to assassinate him ; and the king
was actually wounded though slightly be-
tween the ribs, in the presence of his
son, and in the midst of his guards. The
assassin was put to the most painful tor-
tures ; in the midst of which he persist-
ed, in the most obstinate manner, to de-
clare that he had no intention to kill the
king, but that his design was only to
wound him, that God might touch his

266

FRANCE.

heart, and incline him to restore peace to '
his dominions. I

The unfortunate resuUs of the war of
1755 had brought the nation to the brink
of ruin, when Louis implored the assist- ,
ance of Spain ; and on this occasion the |
celebrated Family Compact was signed, j
by which, with the single exception of the
American trade, the subjects of France I
and Spain were naturalized in both king- 1
doms, and the enemy of the one sover-
eign was invariably to be looked upon as
the enemy of the other. At that time,
however, the assistance of Spain availed
very little ; both powers were reduced to
the lowest ebb, and the arms of Britain
were triumphant in every quarter of the
globe.

The peace concluded at Paris in the
year 1763, though it freed the nation
from a most destructive and bloody war,
did not restore its internal tranquillity.
The parliament, eager to pursue the vic-
tory they had formerly gained over their
religious enemies, now directed their ef-
forts against the Jesuits, who had obtained
and enforced the bull Unigenitus. That
once-powerful order, however, was now
on the brink of destruction. A conspi-
racy formed by them against the king of
Portugal, and from Avhich he narrowly
escaped, had roused the indignation of
Europe ; and this was still further in-
flamed by some fraudulent practices of
which they had been guilty in France.
Le Velette, the chief of their mission-
aries at Martinico, had, ever since the
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, carried on a
very extensive commerce, insomuch that
he even aspired at monopolising the
whole AVest India trade, when the war
with Britain commenced in 1755. Le-
onay and GoullVc, merchants at Mar-
seilles, in expectation of receiving mer-
chandise to the value of two millions
from him, had accepted of bills drawn
by the Jesuits to the amount of a mil-
lion and a half. They were, however,
disappointed by the vast number of cap-
tures made by the British ; in conse-
quence of which they were obliged to
apply to the society of Jesuits at large ;
but they, either ignorant of their true in-
terest, or too slow in giving assistance,
suffered the merchants to stop payment ;

and thus not only to bring ruin upon
themselves, but to involve others in the
same calamity. Their creditors de-
manded indemnification from the society
at large ; and, on their refusal to satisfy
them, brought their cause before the par-
liament of Paris. In the course of the
I investigations, the volume containing the
I constitution and government of the order
: itself was appealed to, and produced in
open court. It then appeared that the
order of Jesuits formed a distinct body
I in the state, submitting implicitly to
their chief, who alone was absolute over
their lives and fortunes. It was likewise
discovered that they had, after a former
expulsion, been admitted into the king-
dom upon conditions which they had
never fulfilled, and'to which their chief
I had refused to subscribe ; consequently
j that their existence at that time in the
I nation was merely the effect of tolera-
I tion. In this critical moment, however,
' the king interfered, and by his royal man-
date suspended all proceedings against
them for a year; a plan of accommodation
was drawn up, and submitted to the pope,
and general of the order ; but tire latter, by
his ill-timed haughtiness, entirely over-
threw the hope of reconciliation. The
king withdrew his protection, and the
parUament redoubled their efforts against
them. The society itself was dissolved,
and its members declared incapable of
holding any clerical or municipal offices ;
their colleges were seized ; their effects
confiscated, and their order destroyed.

The parliament, having gained this
victory, next made an attempt to set
bounds to the power of the king himself.
But every appearance of opposition was
at last silenced by the absolute authority

of the king. In the midst of this pleni-
I tude of poAver, however, which he had
so ardently desired, his health daily de-
clined, and the period of his days was
CAadently at no great distance. He died
on the 10th of May, 1774, of the small
pox, which he received in a most viru-
j lent form from one of his mistresses.

Louis XVI, grandson to the former,
ascended the throne, in 1774, in the
j twentieth year of his age. When the
I death of the king was announced to him,
he was sitting with Marie Antoinette, his

FRANCE.

267

queen. Both at once knelt and exclaim-
ed, " My God ! guide us, protect us, we
are too young to reign."

His father, the devout dauphin, had
intrusted the prince's education to the
due de la Vauguyon, a noble of rigid
and ascetic piety. This man bred up
the future heir to the throne of France
as if he were destined to be a monk ;
and took care not to render him not only
scrupulously ignorant of all polite learn-
ing, but even of history and the science
of government. The very external ap-
pearance of Louis betrayed this tutelage ;
he was slovenly, melancholy, ungraceful,
bashful, and so diffident, that his eyes
often shrunk from the regaj^d of his
meanest subject ; with all this, he had
been inspired with such a religious hor-
ror of carnal affections, that he remained
for many years on no closer terms than
those of mere politeness with his young
and lovely queen. Such was the char-
acter of the new sovereign, called to
administer the realm at the most critical
period of its history. In order to secure
himself against the disease which had
proved fatal to his predecessor, submit-
ted to inoculation, with several others of
the royal family. Their quick and easy
recovery contributed much to extend that
practice throughout the kingdom, and to
remove the prejudices which had been
entertained against it.

The king had no sooner regained his
health than he applied himself diligently
to extinguish the differences which had
taJien place between his predecessor and
the people. He removed those from
their employments who had given cause
of complaint by their arbitrary and op-
pressive conduct ; and he conciliated
the affection of his subjects by removing
the new parliaments and recalling the
old ones.

Although the French monarch was of
a mild disposition, and not destitute of
generosity of sentiment, yet his own and
the public exultation had been openly
and constantly proportioned to the suc-
cess of the Americans in their contest
with Britain ; the princes of the blood
and chief nobility Avere eager to embark
in support of the cause of freedom ; and
the prudence of the king and his most

confidential ministers alone restrained
their ardor. The fatal events of the former
war were still impressed on the mind of
Louis ; and he would not consent to ex-
pose his infant marine in a contest with a
nation who had so lately broken the uni-
ted strength of the house of Bourbon.
Two agents from the United States, Si-
las Deane and Dr. Benjamin Franklin,
had successively arrived at Paris ; and
though all audience was denied them in
a public capacity, still they were private-
ly encouraged to hope that France only
waited the proper opportunity to vindi-
cate in arms the independence of Ameri-
ca. In the mean time the American
cruisers were hospitably received in the
French ports ; artillery and all kinds of
warlike stores were freely sold or liber-
ally granted to the requisitions of the col-
onists ; and French officers and engi-
neers with the connivance of government,
entered into their service.

Some changes were about this time
introduced into the different departments
of state. The conduct of M. Necker in
the finances had been attended with uni-
versal approbation ; and M. Taboureau
de Reux, his colleague, had resigned his
situation, but still retained the dignity
of counsellor of state. To aftbrd full
scope to the genius of M. Necker,
Louis determined no longer to clog him
with an associate ; but, with the title of
director-general of the finances, submit-
ted to him the entire managc^ient of the
funds and revenue of France. In the
ensuing year, the count de St. Germains,
secretary at war, died ; and the prince
de Montbarey, who had already filled
an inferior situation in that department,
was now appointed to succeed him.

In the mean time, Louis' negotiations
with foreign courts were not neglected.
He concluded a new treaty of alliance
with Switzerland; vigilantly observed
the motions of the different princes of
Germany, on the death of the elector of
Bavaria ; and when closely questioned
by the English ambassador, lord Stor-
mont, respecting the various Avarlike pre-
parations which were continued through
the kingdom, he replied, that at a time
when the seas were covered Avith Eng-
lish fleets and American cruisers, and

268

FRANCE

when such powerful armies were sent!
to the New World, it became prudent
for liim also to arm for the security of
the colonies and the protection of the
commerce of France. The king well
knew that the remonstrances of Great
Britain, and the importunities of the
agents of the United States, would soon
compel him to adopt some decisive line
of conduct. This was hastened by an
event highly unfavorable to England, in
the failure of General Burgoyne's expe-
dition, and the capture of his army. The
news of that event was received at Pa-
ris with unbounded exultation. M. Sar-
tine, the superintendant of marine, was
eager to measure the naval strength of
France with that of Great Britain ; the
queen, who had long seconded the ap-
plications of the American agents, now
espoused their cause with fresh ardor ;
and the pacific inclinations of Louis being
overborne by the suggestions of his min-
isters and the influence of his queen, it
was at length determined openly to ac-
knowledge the independence of the Uni-
ted States of America.

Dr. Franklin and Silas Deane, who
had hitherto acted as private agents,
were now acknowledged as public am-
bassadors from those states to the court
of Versailles ; and a treaty of amity and
commerce was signed between the two
powers in the month of February, 1778.
The duke of Noailles, ambassador to the
court of London, was in the month of
March, instructed to acquaint that court
with the above treaty. At the same
time he declared, that the contracting
parties had paid great attention not to
stipulate any exclusive advantages in
favor of France, and that the United
States had reserved the liberty of treating
with every nation whatever on the same
footing of equality and reciprocity. But
this stipulation was treated by the Bri-
tish with contempt ; and the recall of
lord Stormont, our ambassador at Ver-
sailles, was the signal for the commence-
ment of hostilities.

In the year 1780, new changes in the
French ministry took place. M. Bertin
had resigned the office of secretary of
state ; the prince de Montbareyhad retired
from the post of secretary at war, and

was succeeded by the marquis de Segur.
But the most important removal was that
of M. Sartine, who had for several years
presided over the marine department, and .

whose unwearied application and ability
had raised the naval power of France to
a height that astonished Europe.

This year the king fixed on the anni-
versary of his birth-day to render it mem-
orable by a new instance of humanity ;
and he abolished for ever the inhuman
custom of putting the question, as it was
called, by torture ; a custom which had
been so established by the practice of
ages, that it seemed to be an inseparable
part of the constitution of the courts of
justice in France. ,At the same time,
to defray the charges of war, he con-
tinued to diminish his own expenditure ;
and sacrificing the appearance of regal
magnificence to the ease of his subjects,
dismissed at once above 400 officers
belonging to his court.

Unhappily, however, the popular dis-
contents were excited next year by the
dismissal of their favorite minister M.
Necker. He had conceived the arduous
but popular project of supporting a war
by loans without taxes ; and the rigid
economy which he had introduced into
all the departments of the royal house-
hold, and the various resources that pre-
sented themselves to his fertile genius,
had supported him amidst the difficulties
that attended this system. But his aus-
terity of temper had not rendered him
equally acceptable to the sovereign and
his subjects ; and the repeated reforms
he had recommended were represented
as inconsistent with the dignity of the
crown ; he was, therefore, in 1781, dis-
missed from his office of comptroller-
general ; and M. Joli de Fleuri, coun-
sellor of state, was appointed to that im-
portant department. The year of Neck-
er's dismissal was nevertheless a glo-
I rious one for France and America. The
minister of marine, De Castries, chosen
by him, proved his talents by the suc-
j cesses which his combination and activi-
; ty procured. A French army, wafted
over the Atlantic, united with that of
1 Washington, whilst the French naval
; force, concentrated in the Chesapeake,
, materially aided the operations of the

FRANCE.

269

the land army. Sir Henry Clinton com- j treaty ; and France throughout her ex-
manded in New York, Cornwallis in tensive dominions, beheld peace once
Virginia. Threatening both points, and , more established.

thus preventing them from mutual aid, i But, however exalted her present situ-
Washington and the French suddenly ation might appear, the seeds of future
turned their combined force against the , commotion were already apparent to an
Virginian army. Cornwallis fortified | attentive observer. The applause that
himself in York-Town ; and he was soon j had attended the parliament of Paris in
attacked by the French on one side, and } their struggles with the late king might
by the Americans on the other. The | be considered as the first dawn of free-
two gallant nations, rivalling each other dom ; the language of that assembly had
in zeal, could not fail to be victorious ; boldly inculcated to their countrymen
the English were beaten from their their natural rights, and taught them to
works, and lord Cornwallis was reduced look with a less enraptured eye on the

to the disgrace of capitulation. Many
noble names, soon to be famed in French
annals, here first distinguished them-
selves. In addition to La Fayette and
Rochambeau, were the due de Lauzun,
afterwards de Biron, who perished in
the revolution, Alexander Berthier, Ma-
thieu Dumas, and the vicomte deNoailles.
The defeat of the count de Grasse hap-
pened next year, and impressed the
kingdom with general grief and conster-
nation. Immense preparations were,
however, made for the operations of
1783 ; and, in conjunction with the courts
of Madrid and the Hague, Louis was
determined this year to make the most
powerful efforts to bring the war to a
conclusion. But in the midst of these
preparations, the A^oice of peace was

lustre that surrounded the throne. The
war in America had contributed to en-
large the political ideas of the French ;
they had on that occasion stood forth as
the champions of liberty, in opposition to
regal power ; and the officers on their re-
turn imparted to the provinces of France
the flame of freedom which had been
kindled in the wilds of America. From
that moment the French, instead of si-
lently acquiescing imder the edicts of
their sovereign, canvassed each action
with bold and rigid impartiality ; while
the attachment of the army, which has
ever been considered as the sole founda-
tion of despotism, gave way to the en-
thusiasm of liberty.

We have already noticed the public
dissatisfaction that had attended the dis-

again heard; and Louis Avas induced to mission of M. Necker ; his transient suc-
listen to the proffered mediation of the ' cessor, M. de Fleury, had retired from
two potentates in Europe, the emperor i the management of the finances in 1783,
of Germany and the empress of Russia, i and the more transient administration of
The count de Vergennes, who still oc- M. d'Ormesson had expired in the same
cupied the post of secretary of foreign ! year that gave it birth. On his retreat,
affairs, was appointed to treat with Mr. M. de Calonne, who had successively
Fitzherbert, the British minister at Brus- i filled with acknowledged reputation the
sels, but who had lately proceeded to office of intendant of Mentz, and after-
Paris to conduct this important negotia- wards of the provinces of Flanders and
tion. The way was already smoothed Artois, was nominated to the post of
for the restoration of the public tran- comptroller-general. This gentleman,
quillity, by provisional articles signed at eloquent in conversation and polished in
the conclusion of the previous year be- his manners, fertile in resources, and lib-
tween the United States of America and eral in the disposal of the public money,
Great Britain, and which were to coihsti- soon rendered himself acceptable to the
tute a treaty of peace finally to be con- sovereign. But he did not enter upon his
eluded when that between France and new and arduous station favored by the
Great Britain took place. Preliminary breath of popidarity : he was reported to
articles were accordingly agreed upon ! be more able than consistent, and not to
and signed at Versailles : these were have tempered the ardor of his spirit by
soon after succeeded by a definitive ; the severity of deep research ; and the

270

FRANCE.

people, amidst repeated loans, regretted
that severe simplicity which had charac-
terised the administration of M. Necker.

The treaty of commerce concluded in
the year 1786 with Great Britain was a
new source of discontent. Though re-
garded by the English manufacturers as
far from advantageous, it excited in
France still louder murmurs. It was
represented as likely to extinguish those
infant establishments which were yet
unable to vie with the manufactures of
England that had attained maturity ; but
the market that it held out for the wines
and oils of France was passed over in si-
lence, while the distress of the artisan
M^as painted in the most striking colors.
And when the edict for registering the
loan at the conclusion of the last year,
and which amounted to the sum of three
millions three hundred and thirty thou-
sand pounds, was presented to the par-
liament of Paris, the murmurs of the
people, through the remonstrances of
that assembly, assumed a more legal and
formidable aspect. The king, however,
signified to the select deputation that
were commissioned to convey to him
their remonstrances, that he expected
to be obeyed without farther delay. The
ceremony of the registering accordingly
took place on the next day ; but it was
accompanied with a resolution, import-
ing " that public economy was the only
genuine source of abundant revenue, the
only means of providing for the necessi-
ties of the state, and restoring that credit
which borrowing had reduced to the brink
of ruin."

The king was no sooner informed of
this step, than he commanded the attend-
ance of the grand deputation of parlia-
ment ; when he erased from their records
with his own hand the resolution that had
been adopted ; and observed, that though
it was his pleasure that the parliament
should communicate, by its respectful
representations, whatever might concern
the good of the public, yet he never
would allow them so far to abuse his
clemency as to erect themselves into the
censors of his government. At the same
time, more strongly to mark his displeas-
ure at their expostulations, he superse-
ded one of their officers, who had appear-

ed most active in forwarding the obnox-
ious resolution.

M. de Calonne, however, though grati-
fied by the approbation of his sovereign,
could not but feel himself deeply morti-
fied by the opposition of the parliament.
His attempts to conciliate that assembly
had proved ineffectual ; and he experi-
enced their inflexible aversion at the criti-
cal juncture when their acquiescence
might have proved of the most essential
service. An anxious inquiry into the
state of the public finances had convinced
him that the expenditure by far exceeded
the revenue. In this situation, to impose
new taxes was impracticable ; to con-
tinue the method of borrowing was ruin-
ous ; to have recourse only to economical
reform, Avould be found wholly inade-
quate ; and he hesitated not to declare,
that it would be impossible to place the
finances on a solid basis, but by the re-
formation of whatever was vicious in the
constitution of the state.

To give weight to this reform, M. de
Calonne was sensible that something
more was necessary than the royal au-
thority ; he perceived that the parliament
was neither a fit instrument for introdu-
cing a new order into public affairs, nor
would submit to be a passive machine for
sanctioning the plans of a minister, even
if those plans were the emanations of
perfect wisdom. Though originally a
body of lawyers, indebted for their ap-
pointments to the king, there was not an
attribute of genuine legislative assembly
but what they seemed desirous to engross
to themselves ; and they had been sup-
ported in their pretensions by the plau-
dits of the people, who were sensible
that there was no other body in the na-
tion that could plead their cause against
royal or ministerial oppression. To sup-
press, therefore, the only power of cou-
tj'ol that remained, and to render the gov-
ernment more arbitrary, was deemed too
perilous a measure ; yet to leave the par-
liament in the full possession of their in-
fluence, an influence that the minister
was convinced would be exerted against
him, was at once to render his whole
system abortive.

In this dilemma, the only expedient
that suggested itself was to have recourse

FRANCE.

271

to some other assembly, more dignified that fixed for the opening of the meeting,
in its character, and which should in a j He was succeeded in the department of
greater degree consist of members from • foreign affairs by the count de Montmo-
the various orders of the state and the
different provinces of the kingdom. This
promised to be a popular measure ; it im-
plied a deference to the people at large,
and was expected to prove highly accept-
able. But the true and legitimate as-
sembly of the nation, the states-general,
had not met since the year 1614 ; nor
could the minister flatter himself with
the hope of obtaining the royal assent
to a meeting which a despotic sovereign
could not but regard with secret jealousy.

rm, a nobleman of unblemished charac-
ter. But his loss at this critical juncture
was severely felt by M. de Calonne ; he
alone, of all the ministers, having entered
with warmth and sincerity into the plans
of the comptroller-general. The cheva-
lier de Miromesnil, keeper of the seals,
was avowedly the rival and enemy of
that statesman. The mareschal de Cas-
tries, secretary for the marine depart-
ment, was personally attached to M.
Necker ; and the baron de Bretuil, sec-

Another assembly had occasionally been ' retary for the household, was deeply en-
substituted in the room of the states-gen- 1 gaged in what was called the Austrian
eral : this was distinguished by the title system.

of the Notables ; and consisted of a num-
ber of persons from all parts of the king-
dom, chiefly selected from the higher
orders of the state, and nominated by the

It was under these difllculties that M.
de Calonne, on the 22d of February, first
met the assembly of the Notables, and
opened his long-expected plan. He be-

king himself This assembly had been ' gan by stating, that the public expendi-

convened by Henry IV ; again by Louis ture had for centuries past exceeded the

now once more sum- revenue, and that a very considerable de

XIII ; and was

moned by the authority of the present

monarch.

The writs for calling them together
were dated on the 29th of December,
1786 ; and they were addressed to seven
princes of the blood, nine dukes and peers
of France, eight field mareschals, twenty-
two nobles, eight counsellors of state, four
masters of requests, eleven archbishops
and bishops, thirty-seven of the heads
of the law, twelve deputies of the
pays d'ctats, tlie lieutenant civil, and
twenty-five magistrates of the different
towns of the kingdom. The number of
members was 144 ; and the 29th of Janu-
ary, 1787, was the period appointed for
their meeting.

Upon the arrival of the Notables at
Paris, however, the minister found him-

ficiency had of course existed ; that the
Mississippi scheme of 1720 had by no
means, as might have been expected, re-
stored the balance ; and that under the
economical administration of cardinal
Fleury the deficit still existed ; that the
progress of this derangement under the
last reign had been extreme ; the defi-
ciency amounting to three millions ster-
ling at the appointment of the abbe
Terray ; who, however, reduced it to
1,675,000?. ; it decreased a little under
the short administration that followed,
but rose again, in consequence of the
Avar, under the administration of M. Nec-
ker ; and at his own accession to office,
it was 300,330,000 livres.

In order to remedy this growing evil,
M. Calonne recommended a territorial

self yet unprepared to submit his system ■ impost, from which no rank or order of
to their inspection, and postponed the ; men were to be exempted ; and an in-
opening of the council to the 7th of Feb- quiry into the possessions of the clergy,
ruary. A second delay to the 14th of , which hitherto had been deemed sacred
the same month was occasioned by the from their proportion of the public bur-
indisposition of M. de Calonne himself, dens ; the various branches of internal
and that of the count de Vergennes, pre- taxation were also to undergo a strict ex-
sident of the council of finance and first amination : and a considerable resource
secretary of state ; and a third procrasti- , was presented in mortgaging the demesne
nation was the necessary result of the lands of the crown,
death of the count on the day previous to | The very necessity for these reforms

272

FRANCE,

was combated with a degree of boldness
and force of reasoning that could not fail
of deeply impressing the assembly ; and
instead of meeting with a ready acquies-
cence, the comptroller-general was now
launched into the boundless ocean of po-
litical controversy. M. Necker, previ-
ous to his retirement, had published his
Compte rendu au Roi, in which France
was represented as possessing a clear
surplus of 425,000^. sterling ; this per-
formance had been read with avidity, and
probably contributed to estrange from the
author the royal countenance ; but the
credit of it was ably vindicated by M. de
Briennc, archbishop of Toulouse.

M. de Calonne met with a still more
formidable adversary in the count de Mi-
rabeau. This extraordinary man, rest-
less in his disposition, licentious in his
morals, but bold, penetrating, and enter-
prising, had visited every court in Europe.
He had been admitted at one time to the
confidence of the minister ; and had been
directed, though in no ostensible charac-
ter, to observe at Berlin the disposition
of the successor of the great Frederick :
in this capacity he was frequently expo-
sed to neglect and disappointment ; his
letters were often left unanswered ; dis-
gust succeeded to admiration ; and he
who entered the Prussian court the inti-
mate friend, returned to Paris the avowed
enemy, of M. de Calonne : while the
archbishop arraigned the understanding,
the count impeached the integrity, of the
comptroller-general.

The eloquence of M. de Calonne, how-
ever, might have successfully vindicated
his system and reputation against the cal-
culations of Brienne, and the invectives
of Mirabeau ; but he could not support
himself against the influence of the three
great bodies of the nation. The ancient
nobility and the clergy had ever been
free from all public assessments ; and
had the evil gone no farther, it might
have been still perhaps borne with pa-
tience ; but through the shameful custom
of selling patents of nobility, such crowds
of new noblesse started up, that every
province in the kingdom was filled with
them. The first object with those who
had acquired fortunes rapidly, was to pur-
chase a patent ; which, besides gratify-

ing their vanity, afibrded an exemption to
them and their posterity from contribu-
ting proportionably to the exigencies of
the state ; the magistracies, likewise,
throughout the kingdom enjoyed their
share of these exemptions ; so that the
whole weight of the taxes lell on those
who were least able to bear them.

The minister's design, then, of equal-
ising the public burdens, and by rendering
the taxes general diminishing the load
borne by the lower and most useiul class-
es of people, though undoubtedly great
and patriotic, at once united against him
the nobility, the clergy, and the magis-
tracy : and the event was such as might
be expected ; the intrigues of those three
bodies raised against him so loud a clam-
or, that finding it impossible to stem the
torrent, he not only resigned his place on
the 12th of April, but soon after retired to
England from the storm of persecution.

The dismission of M. de Calonne had
left France without a minister, and al-
most without a system ; and though the
king bore the opposition of the Notables
with admirable temper, yet the disappoint-
ment that he had experienced sunk deep
into his mind. Without obtaining any re-
lief for his most urgent necessities, he per-
ceived too late that he had opened a path
to the restoration of the ancient consti-
tution of France, which had been under-
mined by the crafty Louis XI, and had
been nearly extinguished by the daring
sangiunary councils of Richelieu under
Louis XIII. The Notables had indeed
demeaned themselves with respect and
moderation, but at the same time they
had not been deficient in firmness. The
appointment of the archbishop of Tou-
louse, the vigorous adversary of M. de Ca-
lonne, to the office of comptroller-general,
probably contributed to preserve the ap-
pearance of good humor in that assembly ;
yet the proposed territorial impost, or gen-
eral land tax, which was an object so ar-
dently coveted by the court, was rejected.
Louis, therefore, deprived of any further
hope of rendering the convention subser-
vient to his embarrassments, determined
to dissolve the assembly ; which he ac-
cordingly did, with a very moderate and
conciliatory speech to the members on
their disiTiissioa.

FRANCE.

273

Thus disappointed of the advantage
which he had flattered himself he would
have draw^n from the acquiescence of the
Notables, the king was obliged now to
recur to the usual mode of raising money
by the royal edicts ; among the meas-
ures proposed for which purpose were
the doubling of the poll-tax, the re-estab-
lishment of the third-twentieth, and stamp
duty. But the whole was strongly dis-
approved by the parliament of Paris ; and
that assembly, in the most positive terms,
refused to register the edict. Louis was
obliged to apply, as the last resort, to his
absolute authority ; and by holding what
is called a bed of justice, compelled them
to enrol the impost.

The parliament, though defeated, were
far from subdued ; and on the day after
the king had held his bed of justice, they
entered a formal protest against the edict ;
declaring, "that it had been registered
against their approbation and consent, by
the king's express command ; that it nei-
ther ought nor should have any force ;
and that the first person who should pre-
sume to attempt to carry it into execution,
should be adjudged a traitor, and con-
demned to the gallies." This spirited
declaration left the king no other alter-
native than either proceeding to extremi-
ties in support of his authority, or relin-
quishing for ever after the power of rais-
ing money upon any occasion without the
consent of the parliament. Painful as
every appearance of violence must have
proved to the mild disposition of Louis,
he could not consent to surrender, with-
out a struggle, that authority which had
been so long exercised by his predeces-
sors. Since the commencement of the
present discontents, the capital had been
gradually filled with considerable bodies
of troops ; and about a week after the
parliament had entered the protest, an i
officer of the French guards, with a party
of soldiers, went at break of day to the
house of each individual member, to sig- j
nify to him the king's command, that he
should immediately get into his carriage,
and proceed to Troves, a city of Cham-
pagne, about seventy miles from Paris,
without writing or speaking to any per-
son out of his own house before his de-
parture. These orders were served at
35

the same instant ; and before the citizens
of Paris were acquainted with the trans-
action, their magistrates were already on
the road to their place of banishment.

Pevious to their removal, however,
they had presented a remonstrance on
the late measures of government, and
the alarming state of public affairs. In
stating their opinions on taxes, they de-
clared, that neither the parliaments, nor
any other authority, excepting that of the
three estates of the kingdom, collectively
assembled, could warrant the laying of
any permanent tax upon the people ; and
they strongly enforced the renewal of
those national assemblies, which had
rendered the reign of Charlemagne so
great and illustrious.

The king had endeavored to soothe
the Parisians by new regulations of
economy, and by continual retrenchments
in his household ; but these instances of
attention, which once would have been
received with the loudest acclamations,
were now disregarded under their afflic-
tion for the absence of their parliament.
His majesty, therefore, in order to regain
the affections of his subjects, consented
to restore that assembly ; abandoning at
the same time the stamp duty and the
territorial impost, which had been the
sources of dispute. These measures
were, however, insufficient to establish
harmony between the court and the par-
liament. The necessities of the state
still continued ; nor could the deficiency
of the revenue be supplied but by extra-
ordinary resources, or a long course of
rigid frugality. About the middle of No-
vember, 1787, in a fidl meeting of the
parliament, attended by all the princes of
the blood and the peers of France, the
king entered the assembly, and proposed
two edicts for their approbation ; one was
for a new loan of 450,000,000 livres, near
1 9,000,000/, sterling ; the other Avas for
the re-establishment of the protestants in
all their ancient civil rights ; a measure
which had long been warmly recommend-
ed by the parliament, and which was prob-
ably now introduced to procure a better
reception to the loan.

On this occasion the king delivered
himself in a speech of uncommon length,
filled with professions of regard for the

274

FRANCE.

people, but at the same time strongly ex-
pressive of the obedience he expected to
his edicts. Louis probably imagined that
the dread of that banishment from which
the members had been so lately recalled
would have ensured the acquiescence of
the assembly ; but no sooner Avas per-
mission announced for every member to
deliver his sentiments, than he was con-
vinced that their spirits remained totally
unsubdued. An animated debate took
place, and was continued for nine hours ;
when the king, wearied by perpetual op-
position, and chagrined at some freedoms
used in their debates, suddenly rose and
commanded the edict to be registered
without further delay. This measure was
most unexpectedly opposed by the duke
of Orleans, first prince of the blood; who,
considering it as an infringement of the
rights of parliament, protested against
the whole proceedings of the day as
being thereby null and void. Though
Louis coiild not conceal his astonish-
ment and displeasure at this decisive
step, he contented himself with repeat-
ing his orders ; and immediately after,
quitting the assembly, retired to Ver-
sailles. On the king's departure the par-
liament confirmed the protest of the duke
of Orleans ; and declared, that as their
deliberations had been interrupted, they
considered the whole business of that
day as of no efiect.

It was not to be supposed that Louis
would suffer so bold an attack on his
power with impunity. Accordingly, a
letter was next day delivered to the duke
of Orleans, commanding him to retire to
Villars Cotterel, one of his seats about
fifteen leagues from Paris, and to receive
no company there except his own family ;
at the same time, the abbe Sabatiere,
and M. Frcteau, both members of the
parliament, and who had distinguished
themselves in the debate, were seized
under the authority of letlres de cachet,
and conveyed, the first to the castle of
Mont St. Michel, in Normandy, the last,
to a prison in Picardy. This act of des-
potism did not fail immediately to rouse
the feelings of the parliament. On the
following day they waited on the king,
and expressed their astonishment and
concern that a prince of the blood-royal

had been exiled, and two of their mem-
bers imprisoned, for having declared in
his presence what their duty and con-
sciences dictated, and at a time when
his majesty had announced that he came
to take the sense of the assembly by a
plurality of voices. The answer of the
king was reserved and imsatislactory,
and tended to increase the resentment of
the parliament.

With a view to diminish the influence
of parliament, it was determined again to
convene the Notables. Accordingly,
about the beginning of May, Louis ap-
peared in that assembly ; and after com-
plaining of the excesses in which the
parliament of Paris had indulged them-
selves, and which had drawn down his
reluctant indignation on a few of the
members, he declared his resolution, in-
stead of annihilating them as a body, to
recall them to their duty and obedience,
by a salutary reform. M. de la Moignon,
as keeper of the seals, then explained
his majesty's pleasure to establish a com-
pleniere or supreme assembly, to be com-
posed of princes of the blood, peers of
the realm, great officers of the crown, the
clergy, mareschals of France, governors
of provinces, knights of different-orders,
a deputation of one member from every
parliament, and two members from the
chambers of council, and to be summon-
ed as often as the public emergency, in the
royal opinion, should render it requisite.
If the assembly of the Notables listen-
ed in silent deference to the project of
their sovereign, the parliament of Paris
received it with every symptom of aver-
sion. That body strongly protested
against the establishment of any other
tribunal ; and declared their final resolu-
tion not to assist at any deliberations in
the supreme assembly which his majes-
ty prepared to institute. A more unex-
pected mortification occurred to the king
in the oppo-sition of several peers of the
realm ; these expressed their regret at
beholding the fundamental principles of
the constitution violated ; and while they
were lavish in their professions of at-
tachment to the person of their sovereign,
concluded with apologizing for not enter-
ing on those functions assigned them in
the plenary court, as being inconsistent

FRANCE.

275

witli the true interests of his majesty,
which were inseparable from those of
the nation.

Rebellion now quickly spread through-
out the more distant provinces ; at Ren-
nes in Britany, and Grenoble in Dau-
phine, the people broke out into acts of
the most daring outrage. In the latter
city several hundreds of the inhabitants
perished in a conflict with the military ;
they yet maintained their ground against
the soldiery ; and the commanding ofB-
cer ; at the entreaties of the first presi-
dent, readily withdrew his troops from a
contest into which he had entered with
reluctance. The different parliaments
of the kingdom at the same time express-
ed their feelings in the most glowing lan-
guage ; and strongly urged the necessity
of calling together the states-general, the
lawful council of the kingdom, as the only
means of restoring the public tranquillity.

Louis now plainly saw that a compli-
ance with the public wishes for the re-
establishment of the states-general was
absolutely necessary, in order to avoid
the calamities of a civil war which im-
pended upon his refusal.

It was not, however, till after many a
painful struggle that Louis could resolve
to restore an assembly, whose influence
must naturally overshadow that of the
crown, and whose jurisdiction would
confine within narrow limits the bound-
less power he had inherited from his
fathers. An arret was issued in August,
fixing the meeting of the states-general
to the first of May, in the ensuing year ;
and every step was taken to secure the
favorable opinion of the public during the
interval. New arrangements took place
in the administration ; and M. Necker,
whom the confidence of the people had
long followed, was again introduced into
the management of the finances ; the
torture, which by a former edict had been
restricted in part, was now entirely abol-
ished; every person accused was allowed
the assistance of counsel, and permitted
to avail himself of any point of law ; and
it was decreed, that in future sentence
of death should not be passed on any
person, unless the party accused should
be pronounced guilty by a majority at
least of three judges.

The time appointed for the convention
of the states-general was now approach-
ing ; and the means of assembling them
formed a matter of difficult deliberation
in the cabinet. The last meeting, in
1614, had been convened by appHcation
to the bailiwicks. But this mode was
liable to several strong objections ; the
bailiwicks had been increased in number
and jurisdiction, several provinces having
since that period been united to France ;
and the numbers and quality of the mem-
bers were no less an object of serious
attention : it was not till the the close of
the year, therefore, that the proposal of
M. Necker was adopted, which fixed the
number of deputies at one thousand, and
ordained that the representatives oi' the
third estate or commons, should equal
in number those of the nobility and
clergy united.

The eyes of all Europe was now turn-
ed on the states-general ; but the moment
of that assembly's meeting was far from
auspicious. The minds of the French
had long been agitated by various rumors ;
the unanimity that had been expected
from the different orders of the states,
was extinguished by the jarring preten-
sions of each ; and their mutual jealous-
ies were attributed by the suspicions of
the people, to the intrigues of the court,
who were supposed already to repent of
the hasty assent which had been extorted.
A dearth that prevaded the kingdom in-
creased the general discontent ; and the
people, pressed by hunger, and inflamed
by resentment, were ripe for revolt. The
sovereign also, equally impatient of the
obstacles he continually encountered,
could not conceal his chagrin ; while the
influence of the queen in the cabinet was
again established, and was attended by
the immediate removal of M. Necker.
The dismission of that minister, so long
the favorite of the public, was the signal
for open insurrection ; the Parisians as-
sembled in vast numbers ; the guards
refused to oppose and stain their arms
with the blood of their fellow citizens ;
the count d'Artois and the most obnox-
ious of the nobility thought themselves
happy, in eluding by flight, the fury of
the insurgents ; and in a moment a revo-
lution was accomplished, the most re-

276

FRANCE.

markable, perhaps, of any recorded in [
history, and one which may be said to
form an important epoch in the history
of society*

* There is no scene, no portion of history, that
can be regarded under so many different views,
as the REVOLUTION upon which we now enter.
To some, it is all crime, — to others, all glory.
With many, the prevailing sentiment has been to
regard the French nation as if it were an indivi-
dual actuated by one perverse will, and flinging
itself from pure' love of mischief, into the agonies
of suffering and the depths of crime. Such per-
sons have had hitherto but a wide anathema to
bestow upon that hapless people. In this, they
have treated them with similar humanity to that
with which men used to treat the leprous, — ex-
cluded them at once from society, sympathy,
charity and good-will ; regarding their malady as
a crime and a sin, and looking with eyes of hate
on what had better merited our pity.

Revolution is one of the maladies of kingdoms,
or rather the crisis of a malady. It may proceed
from some latent vice in the constitution, from
dissipation, from mismanagement. To avert
such, is often no more in the power of the nation
or of the individual, than it is to be all-sound and
all-wise. From early times there was something
wrong in the framework of French society.
These defects have been noted ; above all, that
marked division of classes, which refused amalga-
mation. Their mutual and oft-renewed struggles
have been seen. The people, the great mass,
not of the poor and ignorant, but often of the
wealthy and enlightened, were conquered and
borne down in the combat. Their defeat, they
could have forgiven ; but the extravagant use
which the upper classes had made of their vic-
tory, revolted the fallen. The clergy grasped
one third of the lands of the kingdom, the no-
blesse another ; yet the remaining third was bur-
dened with all the expense of government. This
was reversing the social pyramid, and placed it
upon its ape.x.

To reform this state of things was necessary.
Flesh and blood could not bear it. Intellect,
more powerful still, rebelled against it. Owing to
the great exertions of the latter, in print and orally,
all men were agreed as to the necessity of this
change. Louis XVI, however uneducated, felt and
owned the need ; but he was at first young, weak
because ignorant, and dared not to break through
the trammels of a court. The monarch, never-
theless, made every effort to bring about the de-
sired reform peaceably. He intrusted the task
first to Turgot, whose schemes were repulsed by
the magistracy, Necker made no political attempt.
Calonne next tried. He was defeated and over-
thrown by the clergy and noblesse. Brienne
then was driven to repeat the attempt, and the
magistracy tri])ped up him. What resource was
left ! To recur to the people. But this was re-
volution. True! but who rendered it indispen-
sable 1 Not the people, who were all the time
tranquil; not the monarch, who did his utmost;
not the queen — no. It was the resistance, the

At this period the secidar peerage
consisted of forty-four members, of whom
the duke de Uzes was the oldest, and the
dukes of Choiseul and of Coigny were
the most recently created. The six ec-
clesiastical peers, however, had held the
peerage from the earliest times. They
were, the archbishop of Rheims, and the
five bishops of the family duchy of Hugh
Capet. The secular peers (among whom
the archbishop of Paris had a place, from
1690, as duke of St. Cloud) merely form-
ed the highest class of the lower nobility ;
but there were six families (branches of
the houses of Lorraine and Savoy, Gri-
maldi, Rohan, Tremouille, and Latour
d'Auvergne, residing in France) who
preserved the rank of sovereign princes.
The first estate of the realm was the
clergy, which, if it did not enjoy the
rank, enjoyed all the exemptions of the
nobility from taxes and most of the pub-
lic burdens, and had the first voice in the
states-general.

But the privileges attached to every
class of nobility, even to the new and
ofiicial nobility, were important. They
consisted in an exemption from the prin-
cipal burdens of the state, particularly
the common land-tax^ military service,
the corvees, the quartering of soldiers, &c.
The nobles were indeed subject to a tax
on personal property, but this was alto-
gether disproportionate to that on real
estate, and was very unequally assessed.
The nobility, with the clergy and some
orders (the Maltese knights, the order of
St. Lazarus, &c,) held by far, the great-
er portion of the soil, and exercised over
the peasants, attached to their estates,
the usual seigneurial rights of jurisdiction,
and enjoyed exclusively the right of hunt-
ing, &c. These exclusive rights, extend-
ing even to very small things, as the
keeping of pigeons, owning of rabbit-war-
rens, &c, had become intolerably oppres-
sive to the peasants. In some parts of
the country, villenage, which was abol-
ished on all the crown lands in 1779,
still existed.

It is very difficult to determine the re-
false, the blind resistance, of the privileged or-
ders,— noblesse, clergy, magistracy, against the
lower, — that precipitated the revolution, and flimg
all power at last into the bands of the commons.

FRANCE.

277

venue of the nobility before the revolution.
Necker estimated the whole income from
the landed property (with the exception
of the crown lands, and the possessions
of the knights of Malta, and the clergy)
at about 400,000,000, to which is to be
added the tithe of the clergy. The pro-
portion of the nobility to the rest of the
population, if we may believe the old es-
timate of Moheau, was as 1 to 250 ; this
proportion, however, varied in different
provinces. But although the nobility, as
owners of the soil, and as members of
the clergy, or officers of the government,
absorbed the greatest part of the national
income, and hardly left the peasant and
the artisan, the common necessaries of
life, still they refused to bear their pro-
portion of the expenses of the state, and
opposed all the plans of reform, not only
those of Necker, whom they hated, but
also those of Calonne, a minister entirely
devoted to the court and the aristocracy.
Besides this, the embarrassments of gov-
ernment were chiefly occasioned by the
never-ending claims of the nobility, to-
gether with the prodigality of the court
of Louis XV, and the disorders in the
administration, which were themselves,
effects of the aristocratic spirit that had
infected every department of the state.
The third estate, consisted of the rest of
the natioTi, after deducting the clergy and
the nobility, and comprised more than
twenty-nine thirtieths of the nation. To
this class also belonged, as far as their
social connections were concerned, the
new nohlcsse, who had acquired titles
from the possession of office, but were
despised by the old nobility as upstarts
and intruders. This circumstance was
a double source of complaint to the na-
tion. The whole weight of the taxes
fell upon the lower classes with such an
inconceivable severity, increased by the
insolence, and frequently by the cruelty
of the lords of the soil and their officers,
by the abuses of a corrupt and arbitrary
administration of justice, and, on the part
of the government, by a system of taxa-
tion equally corrupt, arbitrary, and pre-
posterous,— that general impoverishment ,
and suffering were the necessary conse- |
quences ; thence came the bitterness and
fury, with which the peasants in manyj

places, and the lower classes in the
cities, fell upon their nobles and those in
power, when the signal of opposition was
raised.

The court assembled the states at
Versailles, thinking more easily to influ-
ence their proceedings.

Neither the clergy nor the nobility at-
tended at the hall of the sittings for the ve-
rifying of the powers. The urgent repre-
sentations of the states to avoid a schism
having been rejected, they constituted
themselves a National Assembly, and de-
clared every other kind of representation
illegal. This vigorous measure overaw-
ed the court, which prepared several im-
portant concessions, and brought troops
into the hall, in order to support them.
When the king, at his sitting, ordered
the states to separate into three cham-
bers, the states remained, declaring the
inviolability of the representatives ; and
Mirabeau intimated that they would yield
only to the force of bayonets. From
this period the people assumed a real
sovereignty, and though a part only of
the nobility and the majority of the cler-
g}^ united themselves to the great body
at first, the rest severally joined it, in
deference to the king, and to the neces-
sity of the case. Still were the privi-
leged orders strong enough to disturb, if
not to resist, the stream of events ; they
conspired, and 20,000 soldiers surround-
ed Paris. At this juncture, M. Necker
was once more dismissed. This took
place on Saturday, the 11th of July, 1789.
On Sunday the 12th, the idle crowd of
the Palais Royal learned the tidings of
his dismissal. It was the spark upon
the train, the desired pretext found.
Camille Desmoulins, a low demagogue,
took the lead ; harangued the mob ;
showed himself armed ; and, plucking a
branch, put a leaf in his hat by way of
cockade. His example was applauded
and imitated. Waxen busts of Necker
and Orleans were then seized in a neigh-
boring shop, crowned with laurel, and
carried in procession through the streets.
Near the Place Vendome the procession
came in contact with a German regiment.
Blows and shots were exchanged. A
soldier of the royal guards was said to
have been killed in the ranks of the poo-

278

FRANCE.

pie. For this cause, and from previous
jealousy, some hundreds of the guards
issued from their barracks near the spot,
drew up, and fired upon the Germans.
'J'he prince de Lambesch, commandhig
them, ordered a retreat, to avoid blood-
shed ; whilst effecting this through the
gate of the garden of the Tuilleries, an
aged person was slain. Cries of ven-
geance followed. The populace has-
tened in search of arms. The Hotel
de Ville, where the electors, self-consti-
tuted as a municipality, were in the ha-
bit of daily assembling, delivered up all
preserved in that establishment. They
ordered the establishment of a civic
guard ; a vain and late attempt to separate
the armed citizen from the armed ruffian.
Thus passed the 12th; the 13th saw
the fermentation increase, though un-
marked by events. On the morning of
the 14th of July, an army of 40,000 men,
armed with offensive weapons of every
description, aided by a few hundred sol-
diers, commenced their march through
Paris with the full determination of de-
stroying the Bastile. They first attack-
ed the Hopital des Invalides, where a
large magazine of arms was kept. Scarce-
ly any resistance was made by the
guards, which consisted merely of a few
disabled pensioners ; the magazine was
taken, and 20,000 muskets placed at
their disposal. They then went quickly
towards the Bastile, and demanded of
the governor, that the prisoners should
be set at liberty, and the fortress surren-
dered to the people. The governor seem-
ed disposed to comply, and ordered the
outer gate to be opened. But no sooner
had they entered than the gate was shut
upon them, and the soldiers of the garri-
son fired on the people through the loop
holes and turrets. The multitude with-
out, hearing the firing and learning the
treachery of the governor, instantly as-
saulted the place on all sides ; they
brought the cannon from the king's garde
meuhle, in the Place I^ouis XV, one of
which was inlaid with silver, and planted
them against the Bastile until a breach
was made, when it was taken by storm.
The enraged multitude then seized the
governor and other officers ; took pos-
session of the guard room, armory and

magazine ; broke the windows, set fire
to the furniture, and threw open the
doors of the prisons ; their inhabitants
were brought out and carried in triumph
through the streets, of Paris.

The people now, with the concurrence
of the committee, set about the entire
destruction of the Bastile. The city ar-
chitects were employed to conduct the
ork, and that immense pile of buildings
hich had stood for 489 years, was in

few days destroyed so that not one
stone was left upon another.

The court was overcome with aston-
ishment, and, willing to gratify the people,
now ordered the dismissal of the troops,
and the recall of Necker. Paris nom-
inated Bailly, who presided at the Ten-
nis Court, its mayor ; and La Fayette be-
came commander of the national guards.
The king came to Paris from Versailles,
and received from Bailly the tri-colored
cockade, the mark of his union with the
people, who saluted him with every mark
of pleasure. But these feelings were
but of short duration ; the nobility emi-
grated, and the public agitation con-
tinued daily to increase. Robbery suc-
ceeded to confusion. The clergy and
nobility consented to give up their privi-
leges for the public peace ; and in one
memorable night, (August 4,) every ves-
tige of feudalism was annihilated by the
voice of the deputed nobles and prelates.
Their constituents were far from sub-
scribing to this act of disinterestedness,
wrested from them in a moment of fear
and enthusiasm, and the discontent of
these orders united with the menaces of
foreig-n troops, tended to increase the
exasperation of the people ; every where
they were ready to take up arms. The
king and queen vacillated towards each
party by turns. Now they seemed by their
presence to approve of the counter-revo-
lutionary vows ; again they would hold
interviews (especially the queen) with
known aristocrats, and evidently acted
on the mere intimidation of the moment.

On the 2nd of October, a banquet was
given by the body-guards to the officers
of the newly arrived regiment ; those of
the national guard of Versailles were also
invited. It took place in the palace-the-
atre. Wine circulated ; entliusiasm was

FRANCE.

279

excited. The soldiers of the regiments
were admitted into the building; cups
being handed to them, they drank to the
health of the queen, and of the king.
With drawn swords the banqueters pledg-
ed them. The queen, hearing of the
fete, presented herself with the dauphin.
A fresh effusion of loyalty ensued.
Swords again flashed with vows to sup-
port the royal cause, whilst the military
band played the air of CcEur de Lion,
" 0 Richard, Omon Roi, Vunivers t'uban-
donne .'"

Accounts of the fete soon came to
exasperate the Parisians, and to offer the
agitators a pretext to excite tumult. Or-
leans, who might pretend to the regency,
if the king was frightened away to Metz,
had his interest in producing insurrec-
tion at this moment. A crowed of women
was adroitly employed to besiege the
guard, and the Hotel de Ville. They
could only be diverted from setting fire
to the edifice by an invitation to proceed
to Versailles. The tocsin, in the mean
time, was sounded. The rabble, armed
with pikes, forks, and sticks, crowded to
the square, and soon marched off to Ver-
sailles, to ask bread of the assembly.
La Fayette soon after arrived at the Ho-
tel de Ville. The assembled companies
of the national guard awaited him.
Though bearing this title, these troops
were not citizens, but mere mercenary
troops. They, too, demanded to march
upon Versailles, La Fayette in vain dis-
suaded them ; he was constrained to lead
them. All Paris followed in their wake.

This movement took place on the 5th
of October. On the very same day, in
the assembly, the popular party first
showed itself fully: Petion, Robespierre,
Gregorie, started up with denunciations,
giving vent to the extreme of revolution-
ary langTiage. Already they began to
accuse and threaten Mirabeau, the repre-
sentative of the bourgeoise. The only
hope for the monarch, at this time, was
to have rallied to the latter party ; and
his adhesion would have completed its
separation from the ultra-revolutionists,
who at this time were but in the feeble-
ness of birth. It was this day, however,
that the monarch was advised to set him-
self at variance with the vote of the as-

sembly, and to disapprove of their con-
stitution.

The horde of women and rabble
reached Versailles in the afternoon ;
they penetrated into the assembly, de-
manding bread, and saying that the aris-
tocrats and the archbishop of Paris had
bribed the millers not to grind corn.
Mounier was despatched to the palace ;
the women accompanied him thither, but
the crowd was stopped at the iron railing
in front of the chateau ; twelve were,
however, admitted, to lay their complaints
before the king. At his aspect and that
of the queen, their fury was dumb ; they
returned to their comrades, satisfied and
charmed with their benign reception ;
these, amazed and angered at such a
change, threatened to hang their unfor-
tunate envoys.

The troops were drawn up in front of
the chateau, consisting of the body guard,
the regiment of Flanders, and the na-
tional guard of Versailles. Although
the two latter had joined in the famous
banquet, the grenadiers of Flanders be-
ing the first to propose the health of the
queen, yet now both were ill-affected,
and openly vowed their opinions. Three
hundred of the body guard formed thus
the entire force upon which the king had
to depend. Yet causes of exasperation
had been given both to the people and
the assembly, and even now Louis refu-
sed to fly. Some of the people in the
mean time mingled with the soldiers ;
M. de Savonniers, of the body guard,
came to drive them away with his drawn
sabre, though striking merely Avith the
flat of the weapon ; he was wounded
instantly by a shot. The national guard
of Versailles took part with the popu-
lace, and fired upon the body-guards,
which, too weak to contend with such
a force, were compelled to retire.

Towards midnight La Fayette arrived,
at the head of the Parisian guard and a
fresh host of rabble ; having made them
take, during their march, a vain oath to
be well conducted and loyal. He made
his appearance at the palace, promised
tranquillity, and demanded that, as a mark
of confidence, the external guard of the
chateau should be committed to his
I troops. No doubt the general made this

280

FRANCE.

arrangement with the best intentions ;
but he was not sufficiently suspicious of
the sanguinary and anarchic party that
was now raising its head, supported by
tlie money and the confidence of Orleans.
That prince was seen amongst the mid-
night groups, and on the road ; his agen-
cy must be allowed, though history can-
not as yet assign the measure of his in-
fluence. All remained quiet through the
night ; the soldiers, the rabble, the wo-
men, round their fires. La Fayette had
retired to rest, but in a lodging far from
the chateau. A friend, an ofllcer in
whom he had confidence, should have
watched. The person and guards of his
sovereign were intrusted to his care, and
their safety was neglected. No upright-
ness of character can here shelter him
from censure. About half an hour after
five, some of the boldest of the mob,
bribed, there can be little doubt, to an act
that no popular object could prompt, roam-
ed along the vast extent of the palace,
trying the possibility of entrance at one
of its many gates. They found an ave-
nue unguarded, summoned their chosen
comrades, and rushed up the staircase.
A garde du corps, perceiving the move-
ment, had already fired from the win-
dow ; and now this faithful troop, though
not numbering more than a dozen, de-
fended each door and apartment against
the mo.b, under whose blows they fell
one by one. The shouts and horrid im-
precatiojis of the ruflians indicated plain-
ly that the queen was the object of their
fury. " We will cut off her head ! Tear
out her heart !" Mismandre, the survi-
vor of the gardes du corps, had time to
gain the apartments occupied by the
queen, opening and crying to her attend-
ants, "I am alone against 2,000 tigers:
we are conquered ; save the queen !"
As the unfortunate princess fled, he who
had just spoke the generous word of
warning fell under the blows of his pur-
suers. They mangled Ids remains with
disappointment and rage, on perceiving
that their prey was flown. A more numer-
ous troop of the body-guard occupied the
doors through which Marie Antoinette
had retreated ; the assassins had but the
satisfaction of making villanous jibes
upon her yet warm couch. La Fayette

at this moment arrived, and by his exer-
tions prevented a renewal of their at-
tempt, or of the slaughter. The rest of
the gardes du corps were spared ; the
ruffians contenting themselves with de-
capitating the dead, and fixing their gory
heads on pikes to adorn their triumph.

The mob and Parisian army outside
now exulted in the achievement of this
barbarous feat. " The king to Paris !"
was the universal cry ; denial was vain.
The monarch assented, and showed him-
self in the balcony in token of obse-
quiousness. The queen was then called
for, with the same shout that the Romans
were wont to hail a gladiator into their
circus ; Marie Antoinette appeared, the
dauphin in her arms. " No child ! no
child !" cried the barbarians. The
meaning Avas evident ; they wanted a
victim. With unshaken courage, the
queen appeared alone : a musket was
pointed at her ; but the heart of the as-
sassin failed through awe, not through
mercy. La Fayette knelt, and kissed
her hand ; he, indeed, did his utmost to
repair the fatal negligence of the morn-
ing. At midday took place the removal
of the royal family to the Tuilleries.
The journey was dreadful, not only in
its actual circumstances, but as a dread-
ful foreboding of what was to come.
Before, around and behind the royal fam-
ily, were a mob of frantic women, de-
bauched and drunken, attended and
cheered by men, if possible, more diabol-
ical than themselves. The procession
was headed by two men, who with their
arms naked and bloody, displayed aloft
on their pikes, the heads of two of the
garde du corps, whom they had massa-
cred. Thus the authority of the king was
first destroyed, then his power, now all
respect for him. The imprudence of the
courtiers had served both as cause and
pretext to this disaster, which the popu-
lar force effected, stirred in part by the
gold of Orleans and the intrigues of agi-
tators. La Fayette and the national as-
sembly were mere spectators : the tide
was too strong for this middle party ; its
leaders kept themselves indeed afloat,
but the wind and tide of circumstances
wafted them on a headlong course.

There was but one man at that epoch

PRANCE.

281

who truly understood the crisis, and saw
whither things tended ; this was Mira-
beau, a profligate, but not altogether a
politically dishonest man. He received
afterwards pecuniary aid from the court,
but not until his conviction led him to unite
with it. As for the constitutionalists,
their ideas were excellent, and their rea-
soning plausible ; but struggling against
the spirit of the nation, they neutralized
efl^orts which more wisely directed, might
still have supported the middle class and
the friends of order against the conspir-
ators and ultra-revolutionists. Aristocra-
cy, not such as conquest or feudality
might found, but such as great and illus-
trious qualities give birth to, and time
fosters into dignity — is indeed a natural
element of every society. It is wise to
uphold its existence ; but if a feudal aris-
tocracy, like that of France, abuse its
superiority, and grind, by its oppression,
deep hate of its name into the feelings
and prejudices of the people, it is vain
to hope for the continuance or re-estab-
lishment of that noblesse. The dire
necessity of circumstances must be sub-
mitted to. This Mirabeau saw ; this
Mounier, Necker, Lally, did not see.
They were theorists, — doctrinaires, to use
a modern expression, — pursuing their one
idea athwart the opposed and bristling
prejudices of the nation. This is neces-
sary to explain their ill success, as well
as the irritation and hostility excited by
efforts which, to Englishmen, appear at
first sight honest, bold, and wise. They
were all, except the last.

Twenty months now elapsed of com-
parative tranquillity. There is no strik-
ing event ; much intrigue, indeed, fiery
debating, the training, dividing, and
forming of parties. The revolutionary
monster slumbered, stirring at times, and
showing life by starts, but not awaken-
ing fully. La Fayette possessed most
power out of the assembly ; and he ex-
ercised it with a firmness, a disinterest-
edness and courage, that did him immor-
tal honor. His first act was to drive the
duke of Orleans to exile. It is not well
known whether his departure was procur-
ed by menace or inducement. His ab-
sence had certainly the effect of allowing
agitation to subside.
36

The assembly pursued its legislative
labors. They appropriated to the state
all ecclesiastical property. As it was
impossible to bring such a prodigious
portion at once to sale, the church-lands
were made over to each commune or par-
ish, which was allowed time to sell and
pay into the treasury the price. The
Avant of a supply of specie soon after
obliged the assembly to represent this
debt due to the government by the dif-
ferent municipalities in bonds, called
assignats. These they passed to a pro-
digious amount, forming a paper money
not without advantage, had not the facili-
ties of its supply been grossly abused.
The constituent assembly divided France
into departments, breaking up the old
distinction and frontiers betwixt provin-
ces. It abolished parliaments, and re-
modelled the judicature. Tithes and
feudal services had been previously done
away with. Titles of honor were now
abolished, Matthieu de Montmorency
being foremost to make the sacrifice.

This career of legislation was, one
would think, sufficiently democratic. It
fully satisfied the middle classes. La
Fayette, and those who rallied round
him, as well as the majority of the as-
sembly. Within its precincts, the dem-
agogues, who designed to form and head
a popular party, with diflicidty found an
opportunity to develope their sentiments
or forward their plans. They succeed-
ed, however, in becoming masters of a
club, first established by the moderate
friends of liberty. This, on the removal
of the king and assembly to Paris, had
installed itself in the Convent of the
Jacobins. Here, as violence gained
ground, the moderates, such as La Fay-
ette, seceded and formed a separate club.
Barnave, a young protestant barrister,
and the Lameths, assumed the lead in
the Jacobins at their departure. This
trio envied and detested equally Mira-
beau and La Fayette, and seemed actua-
ted more by the ambition of pre-emi-
nence than by any profound conviction or
principle, to separate and form a schism.
They coquetted with the genuine party
of the lower orders rather than embraced
it. Talents alone gave them support.

Mirabeau was actuated by more inde-

282 FRANCE.

pendent opinions. Towards the end of
1789 he began to rein in the zeal which
hitherto had borne him headlong in the
path of revolution. His ardor cooled, and
he could not but disapprove of that con-
stitution which he had contributed to form.
" He thought it too democratic for a mon-
archy ; for a democracy there was a king
too much." His sagacity saw the im-
practicability of the existing system. He,
consequently, leagued secretly with the
court to support the crown, and recover
for it a portion of strength requisite for its
existence. La Fayette, on the contrary,
held firm to the constitution now estab-
lished. It was not in the power of the
king to unite in his behalf two such pow-
erfid men, who in fact represented the
same cause, — that of the middle orders.

Ijouis XVI is accused of irresolution
by some writers, of insincerity by others.
Never was a man more deserving of com-
miseration and excuse. In February,
1790, we find him embarked frankly with
the nation, coming down spontaneously
to the assembly, and giving an uncalled-
for adhesion to its acts, that excited uni-
versal enthusiasm. In July of the same
year he presided over the famous Federa-
tion, or union of the Parisians with depu-
tations from the provinces, to swear to
the constitution on the altar of the coun-
try. Talleyrand was the ofticiating bishop
in this ceremony, so minutely detailed and
honored by French historians, though in
itself a pomp of little importance, a fete
at once to celebrate the anniversary of
the destruction of the Bastile, and to
honor the birth of a constitution destined
to be ephemeral. Many weeks of the
same summer were passed by the royal
family at St. Cloud ; escape from thence
would have been most practicable, but
was not once contemplated.

Hence we may infer, that Louis had
resigned himself to his humbled position,
and resolved to look for no other than le-
gislative support. The emigrant noblesse,
collecting first at Turin, and afterwards at
Coblentz, endeavored with their wonted
imbecility and ill success to stir up re-
bellion in the provinces, for which the
discontent of the clerg}'-, and consequently
of the devout, gave them ample facilities.
They solicited Louis to sanction their

plans and join their meditated armaments.
He had already suffered too much by their
counsels, to listen to thern again. The
marquis de Bouille at that time fixed the
attention and hopes of the royalists within
the kingdom. He still commanded at
Metz, restraining the froward spirit of the
soldiers, and even mastering a sedition
amongst them, by his firmness. A simi-
lar mutiny broke out at Nancy. Bouille
marched against it at the head of troops,
of which he had so little reason to be con-
fident. Nevertheless, when remonstrance
failed to bring the mutineers to a sense of
duty, Bouille charged them, beat them,
and sent the ringleaders captive to Paris.

This was alone sufficient to raise the
monarch's hopes. But how could he re-
sist the opinions and counsel of Mirabeau,
when this leader of the redoubtable as-
sembly owned as his opinion, that roy-
alty, in order to exist, must b« raised
from its present prostrate condition ; that
this must be effected by a force foreign
to the assembly ; and that the only means
to bring about this end was, that the king
should retire to Metz, beyond the power
of the Parisians, and there, at the head of
an independent force, treat with the na-
tion, if he could not with its present rep-
resentatives, and conclude some more
equitable adjustment between the rights
of the crown and those of the people.

Such was the plan of Mirabeau, and it
gained at once the monarch's approbation.
But a fatal event came to retard it, and
deprived Louis of what he most wanted, —
a man of capacity to conduct him. Mira-
beau kept his ascendency in the assem-
bly to the last. Barnave and the Lameths
in vain endeavored to shake his supre-
macy. On the great question, whether
the power of deciding on war or peace
should rest with the monarch or the na-
tion, Mirabeau took the monarchic side.
His enemies saw the opportunity, and
attacked him with a virulence and truth
that would have overborne any other
man. The Jacobins made use of their
arm, and the " great treason of count
Mirabeau" was cried through the streets.
" I had no need of this example," cried
the orator, " to learn, that there is but
one step from the capitol to the Tarpeian
rock." Mirabeau's eloquence conquered

FRANCE.

283

in the assembly, and even partially ex-
culpated him with the multitude. The
28th of February, 1791, was the day of
his most memorable triumph. The emi-
grants, collected at Coblentz, were me-
nacing France with their own force, and
with that of the sovereigns of Europe.
It was proposed to stop the tide of emi-
gration, by intrusting the power of grant-
ing passports to a committee of three
persons. Mirabeau exclaimed against
such an inquisition. " As for me," cried
he, " I should feel myself absolved from
my oath of allegiance to any govern-
ment, that had the infamy to propose this
dictatorial commission. I swear it — "
(loud cries interrupted him). "The pop-
ularity that I have so ambitioned, and
that I have enjoyed like many others, is
not a feeble reed. I will fix it deep in
the earth. I will make it vegetate and
live in the soil of justice and reason."
This bold allusion, more to his purposes
than to the question, was received with a
blind applause, that maddened the popu-
lar leaders. They cried out against Mi-
rabeau as a dictator. " Silence, ye
thirty voices !" was his rejoinder. His
last triumph was his greatest. The ora-
tor died, like a general, in his crowning
victory. He returned thence to a bed of
sickness, from which he never arose.
That organic disease of the heart, sup-
posed principally to affect men of strong
passions and eloquence, carried him off.
" After my death," said he, " the factions
will soon tear the last shreds of the
monarchy."

Though deranged in his plans by this
loss, Louis still persevered in them, and
meditated escape. The severity of the
assembly towards the priesthood who
refused to take the oaths wounded the
king's conscience ; and even the most
meek, when touched in that point, be-
come stubborn and determined. In the
month of April the royal carriages were
ordered to the palace ; Louis and his
queen descended for the purpose of vis-
iting St. Cloud. At the sight the popu-
lace collected, surrounded the carriage,
and forbade it to advance. La Fayette
came in time to preserve his sovereigns
from insult, but not to procure their lib-
erty. They were obliged to return to

their apartments. A more secret mode
of escape was then planned. The em-
peror Joseph at this time promised to
march an army to the relief of his unfor-
tunate brother. The emigrants, on their
side, proffered their aid and counsels.
But Louis preferred depending upon
Bouille, who, under his direction, form-
ed a camp of some faithful regiments on
the frontier near Montmedy. The king
hoped, by reaching it in safety, to avoid
the reproach, at least, of emigration ; and
without foreign aid, as he afterwards as-
serted, to raise up Liberty upon a firmer
basis.

The time of flight was fixed for the
night of the 19th of June. Bouille gave
orders, in consequence, for troops and
detatchments to meet the king at the
bridge of Sommeville and at St. Mene-
hould, to escort and protect his progress,
should he succeed in reaching those
towns. Unfortunately, owing to some
difficulty excited by the female attend-
ants on the royal family, the departure
was put off" to the following night, by
which means, although word was sent to
Bouille, the detatchments were no long-
er in waiting for the king when he arri-
ved. A private door in her apartment
had been prepared by the queen ; issuing
by this in three parties, the royal family
gained the courts, and crossed them, the
king with his children reaching the rue
de I'Echelle without impediment. Here
a fiacre awaited them. But the queen
had in the mean time lost her way, the
garde du corps who conducted her, being
ignorant of Paris. She chanced to meet
La Fayette, but passed unrecognized by
him, and joined the rest at length after
much wandering and trouble. The hack-
ney-coach, driven by M. de Fersen in
disguise, then bore them to a distant part
of the city. At the gate St. Martin they
quitted it for a berlin drawn by post-
horses, and were soon on the road to
Chalons. The king's brother, afterwards
Louis XVII I, took, on the same night,
the road to Flanders, and succeeded in
reaching the frontier.

The carriage bearing the royal family
reached Chalons in safety, and subse-
quently St. Menehould. The detachments
of Bouille, weary of waiting, had al-

284

FRANCE.

ready taken their departure. At St.
Mcnehould Louis was recognized by
Drouet, son of the postmaster ; but the
carriage was tlien setting off. Drouet
set off also by a cross road, and reached
Varennes, the next place of haU, and
within but two stages of Bouille's camp,
before the fugitives. There were no
post-horses in Varennes, but an officer
of Bouille was appointed to have a relay
in waiting. There were no symptoms
of horses or guards about the hour of
eleven at night when the royal family
entered the town. They were obliged
to alight, to question, to parley with the
postillions ; whilst Drouet had aroused
the munici])al officer, and called together
the national guards of the Canton.
Whilst the carriage was slowly proceed-
ing under an arch that crossed the road,
Drouet, with the well-known Billaud,
and one or two others, stopped it, de-
manding their passports. The gardes
du corps on the box wished to resist.
The king forbade them. Here the pres-
ence of a man of resolution was wanted,
Bouille had designed the marquis d'Ag-
oult to accompany the monarch, but his
place had been usurped by an obstinate
old woman, governess of the prince and
princess. They were now conducted
before the procureur of the town; and,
the national guards crowding in, Louis
Av-as arrested. The troops of Bouille's
army arrived also, but refused to rescue
him. An aid-de-camp of general La
Fayette soon after made his appearance,
bearing a decree of the national assem-
bly for the re-conveyance of the fugi-
tives to Paris.

Thus within an hour, a league, of
safety, the unfortunate Louis and his
family found themselves captive, and on
their return to a capital, which, if it had
before loaded them with contumely,
Avould now, most likely, observe no mod-
eration in cruelty. The assembly al-
ready showed that its opinions had taken
a deeper dye of republicanism since the
flight. Petion, a rude and rigid demo-
crat, with Barnave, the rival of Mirabeau,
were the commissaries who re-conducted
the king. Seated in the royal carriage,
Barnave, with the sensibility ever at-
tendant upon talent, felt his sympathy

awakened for the sufferings of the fallen
family.

During the eight days of their painful
journey, he continually conversed with
the monarch, and felt each moment
deeper respect for a character so amiable
and so just. Petion, on the contrary, a
man of few ideas, held rigid in those
which he professed, and piqued by being
obliged to play an inferior part, merely
murmured that he cared for naught save
a republic. Previous to the return of
the king to Paris, it was placarded, that
whoever insulted him should be beaten ;
whoever applauded him should be hang-
ed. He was received, then, with that
silence which Mirabeau called " the les-
son of kings."*

The national assembly suspended the
king from Iris functions, less as a pun-
ishment than to satisfy the popular out-
cry. The leaders of the mere rabble,
the anarchists, now showed their heads
openly under the guise of republicans.
The Jacobins, whom Barnave and the
Lameths deserted, started into full activ-
ity under the guidance of the most furi-
ous demagogues. In the assembly ihey
argued, that the king's flight was abdica-

* A group in the Palais Royal were discussing
in great alarm the consequences of the King's
flight, when a man dressed in a thread-bare great-
coat leaped upon a chair and addressed them
thus : — " Citizens, listen to a tale, which shall
not be a long one. A certain well-meaning Nea-
politan was once on a time startled in his even-
ing walk, by the astounding intelligence that the
Pope was dead. He had not recovered his aston-
ishment, when behold, he is informed of a new
disaster, — the King of Naples was also no more.
' Surely,' said the worthy Neapolitan, ' the sun
must vanish from heaven at such a combination
of fatalities.' But they did not cease here. The
Archbishop of Palermo, he is informed, has also
died suddenly. Overcome by this last shock, he
retired to bed, but not to sleep. In the morning
he was disturbed in his melancholy reverie by a
rumbling noise, which he recognized at once to
be the motion of the wooden instrument which
makes macaroni. 'Aha!' says the good man,
starting up, 'Can I trust my ears 1— The Pope is
dead — the King of Naples is dead — the Bishop
of Palermo is dead — yet my neighbor the baker
makes macaroni !' Come ! The lives of these
great folks are not then so indispensable to the
world after all." The man in the great-coat
jumped dowm and disappeared. "I have ca\ight
his meaning," said a woman amongst the listen-
ers. " He has told us a tale, and it begins like
all tales — There was once a King anda Qiieen.'^

FRANCE.

285

tion, and that nothing remained but to
proclaim the republic. The majority-
were, however, still attached to their
constitution, and pleaded that the mon-
arch was irresponsible. Enraged at their
want of predominance in the assembly,
the Jacobins endeavored to agitate the
people, and caused a petition to be pre-
pared for dethi-oning Louis. This was
to be laid on the altar of the country in
the Champ de Mars for universal signa-
ture, an apt organization of sedition. Im-
mediately La Fayette and Bailly, by the
orders of the municipality, marched at
the head of troops to the scene of tu-
mult, carrying a red flag, as a token that
martial law was in force. They in vain
endeavored to disperse the mob. Two
invalids were torn in pieces by them, out
of hatred to military uniform ; and the
troops were threatened with attack. La
Fayette first ordered them to fire in the
air to intimidate the rioters. It had no
eftect. And at last, beneath a serious
and well-directed discharge, several hun-
dreds fell, slain or wounded, and the rest
dispersed. The leading Jacobins slunk
in terror to their hiding-places. Robes-
pierre did not show himself for many
days. This triumph, however, or the
necessity of having recourse to it, served
but to render the assembly unpopular.
The public was weary of them, and long-
ed for its successor, as it was wont to
hail a new reign. The assembly deter-
mined to show itself disinterested. It
proceeded to complete and give the last
touches to the constitution, the immor-
tality of which it fondly argued. Bar-
nave, in the excess of his late loyalty,
had hoped to have modified its democrat-
ic principles : and the right side, or par-
tisans of the English constitution, are
accused of having marred his efforts by
their hostility or neglect.

According to the terms of this consti-
tution, the constituent assembly gave
place to a new meeting of representa-
tives, and committed the fault of exclud-
ing from it its own most valuable members.
The legislative assembly was elected ac-
cording to the opinions of the moment,
and republicanism prevailed. A consul-
tation was shortly after held concerning
the abolition of the monarchical power.

In the mean time, the allies were sta-
tioned at Coblentz, waiting for an oppor-
tunity of introducing, by force of arms,
the original state of affairs into France.

Whatever opinion may be entertained
of the constituent assembly, the mere
enumeration of its labors will astonish
posterity. It organized the national
guard, and constituted the army of the
line according to the strictest principles
of liberty ; it practically applied the
principle of the separation of the author-
ities ; instituted a real jury and justices
of the peace ; made rural, municipal,
and penal laws ; freed industry from
monopoly ; restored the property of the
church to the circulation, to agriculture,
and to the exchequer ; suppressed taxes,
entries, and exemptions ; and, above all,
regulated public instruction, and placed
it on a basis which subsequent changes
have not been able to destroy.

In the constituent assembly the aristo-
cratic party visibly declined. The roy-
alists, Mounier, Clermont, Tonnere, and
Lally Tolendal, could scarcely find any
support ; neither could the republicans,
Petion, Buzot, and Robespierre. That
imposing majority, in which were Ra-
baut St. Etienne, Chapelier, Montmor-
ency, Noailles, Volney, Sieyes, the ori-
ginator of projects, the profound Duport,
the Jansenist Camus, the judicious Bar-
nave, the lawyer Thouret, the skilful
Lameth, and so many other celebrated
men, among whom was the great Mira-
beau, stood steadfast. The legislative
assembly was divided into three parts :
the moderate republicans, of whom may
be mentioned the eloquent Verginaud,
the virtuous Condorcet, Brissot, and
Guadet, the logician Gensonne ; and
those who were called the Girondists,
(because the deputation from the Gironde
were the most distinguished of them,)
the Cordeliers, who suffered Danton to
direct their club, Camille Desmoulines,
Fabre d'Eglantine ; and the constitutional
loyalists, who offered but a feeble resist-
ance to enemies supported by popular
opinion. At first the majority assumed
the attitude of hostility to the royal pow-
er, both by restraining it, and by failing
in the respect due to its functions. The
king made some resistance, by opposing

286

FRANCE.

to some decrees that were offered to him
for his sanction, his veto, the right of
wliich the constitution gave him. But
this right was ilhisory, and without suffi-
cient strength to secure respect

The Girondist Petion was now elected
mayor of Paris, and procured a decree
for the closing of the club of royalists
called Fueillans. The property of the
emigrants was sequestrated, and a new
oath was required of the priests. Un-
fortunateIy,-some unpopular ministers in-
creased the peoples' distrust of the royal
power, and at the moment when the as-
signats were depreciated at home, infor-
mation was received from St. Domingo
that the disturbances which had taken
place between the whites and the men
of color, in the time of the constituent
assembly, had become much more se-
rious, since the blacks had taken part
in them. News also arrived of massa-
cres in different cities of the kingdom,
especially at Avignon, where one party
desired union with France, according to
the decree of the constituent assembly ;
while the other wished to remain under
the government of the pope. Terrible
reprisals were made upon this party in
the "massacre of the Glacier," (1792,)
but the assassins were pardoned. The
emigrant princes were now denounced
at the bar of the assembly, and war was
evidently coming on. In the midst of
this universal agitation, the king was
without any adequate support. He ap-
peared to turn to the side of the Giron-
dists, and took a ministry of their choice ;
among whom were Roland, whose wife
is so celebrated for her republican vir-
tues, her writings and her death, and
Dumouriez, afterwards so successful as
a general. It was the latter who per-
suaded the king to enter the assembly
and declare war against Austria.

But the assembly was disposed to un-
dertake a still more important contest at
home ; it continued to contend with the
king, who at once thwarted the measures
of his new ministers, and corresponded
with the princes. They began by de-
priving him of the means of defence and
attack, by disbanding his constitutional
guard, and decreed the formation of a
camp of 20,000 men near Paris. It was

evident they wished either to dethrone
the king, or to induce him, by dint of
mortifications, to abdicate. The unfortu-
nate Louis adopted several hasty and un-
seasonable measures, amongst which was
the act of dismissing his ministry. Im-
mediately after this was known, the in-
habitants of Paris rose, and, passing the
assembly with symbols grotesquely hide-
ous, went to the Tuilleries to insist upon
placing the red bonnet upon the head of
the king. The Girondists and Petion
were accused of aiding this seditious
conduct ; they, at least, had suffered it ;
but, when the latter was suspended from
his authority by the king, he was restored
by the assembly.

Suddenly, La Fayette appeared at the
bar of the assembly, at the head of an
armed force, to demand the punishment
of the guilty and the closing of the Jaco-
bin club, a step which, though it aston-
ished the demagogues of the day by its
boldness, effected nothing ; it was sup-
ported by no authority present, and*ven
the terrified court yielded it no sanction.
The king had an insurmountable dislike
to receiving any constitutional assistance.
He was now evidently and naturally
looking for protection from without.
Three places that had been taken by gen-
eral Luckner, had been just retaken by
the enemy ; on this, the animosity against
the king seemed redoubled, and the Jaco-
bins demanded his deposition, when a
scene of a singular description occurred
in the assembly ; a woman had made an
appeal to concord from the gallery, and
painted, in a very lively manner, the evils
of anarchy ; on which a deputy seized
the opportunity of proposing to his col-
leagues to rally round the constitution ;
that the one party should renounce every
after-thought of a republic, and the other
should give up the project of an aristo-
cratic chamber ; at once all present ap-
peared inspired with the spirit of recon-
ciliation ; they mingled with each other ;
they ran to embrace those on the oppo-
site benches. But in a moment these
feelings died away, and they resumed
their resentment and their opposition.

The winding up of this catastrophe was
now fast approaching ; it was decided by a
declaration that the country was in danger ;

FRANCE.

287

and, when the annual confederation of
the 14th of July was held, the cry was
"Petion or death !" for the parties always
attached themselves to some man in vogue.
The leaders of the Jacobin club * resolved

* Three men of terror, whose names will long
remain, we trust, unmatched in history by those
of any similar miscreants, had now the unrivalled
leading of the Jacobins, and were called the Tri-
umvirate.

Danton deservesto be named first, as unrival-
led by his colleagues in talent and audacity. He
was a man of gigantic size, and possessed a voice
of thunder. His countenance was that of an
Ogre on the shoulders of a Hercules. He was
as fond of the pleasures of vice as of the practice
of cruelty ; and it was said there were times
when he became humanized amidst his debauch-
ery, laughed at the terror which his furious de-
clamations excited, and might be approached
with safety, like the Maelstrom at the turn of
tide. His profusion was indulged to an extent
hazardous to his popularity, for the populace are
jealous of a lavish expenditure, as raising their
favorites too much above their own degree ; and
the charge of speculation finds always ready cred-
it with them, when brought against public men.

Robespierre possessed this advantage over
Danton, that he did not seem to seek for wealth,
either for hoarding or expending, but lived in
strict and economical retirement, to justify the
name of the Incorruptible, with which he was
honored by his partisans. He appears to have
possessed little talent, saving a deep fund of hy-
pocrisy, considerable powers of sophistry, and a
cold exaggerated strain of oratory, as foreign to
good taste, as the measures he recommended
were to ordinary humanity. It seemed wonder-
ful, that even the seething and boiling of the rev-
olutionary cauldron should have sent up from the
bottom, and long supported on the surface, a
thing so miserably void of claims to public dis-
tinction ; but Robes{)ierre had to impose on the
minds of the vulgar, and he knew how to beguile
them, by accommodating his flattery to their pas-
sions and scale of understanding, and by acts of
cunning and hypocrisy, which weigh more with
the multitude than the words of eloquence, or
the arguments of wisdom. The people listened
as to their Cicero, when he twanged out his apos-
trophes of Pauvre Peiiple, Pcuple vertueux ! and
hastened to execute whatever came recommend-
ed by such honied phrases, though devised by
the worst of men for the worst and most inhu-
man of purposes.

Vanity was Robespierre's ruling passion, and
though his countenance was the image of his
mind, he was vain feven of his personal appear-
ance, and never adopted the external habits of a
sans culotte. Amongst his fellow Jacobins, he
was distinguished by the nicety with which his
hair was arranged and powdered ; and the neat-
ness of his dress was carefully attended to, so as
to counterbalance, if possible, the vulgarity of his
person. His apartments, though small, were ele-

on an open attack upon the authorities ;
the refusal of the assembly to encourage
their animosities against La Fayette, still
further exasperated them. At length the
enemy invaded the frontiers ; the mani-

gant, and vanity had filled them with representa-
tions of the occupant. Robespierre's picture at
length hung in one place, his miniature in anoth-
er, his bust occupied a niche, and on the table
were disposed a few medallions exhibiting his
head in profile. The vanity which all this indi-
cated was of the coldest and most selfish charac-
ter, being such as considers neglect an insult,
and receives homage merely as a tribute ; so
that, while praise is received without gratitude, it
is withheld at the risk of mortal hate. Self-love
of this dangerous character is closely allied with
envy, and Robespierre was one of the most en-
vious and vindictive men that ever lived. He
never was known to pardon any opposition, af-
front, or even rivalry ; and to be marked in his
tablets on such an account was a sure, though
perhaps not an immediate, sentence of death.
Danton was a hero, compared with this cold, cal-
culating, creeping miscreant ; for his passions,
though exaggerated, had at least some touch of
humanity, and his brutal ferocity was supported
by brutal courage. Robespierre was a coward,
who signed death-warrants with a hand that
shook, though his heart was relentless. He pos-
sessed no passions on which to charge his crimes ;
they were perpetrated in cold blood, and upon
mature deliberation.

Marat, the third of this infernal triumvirate,
had attracted the attention of the lower orders,
by the violence of his sentiments in the journal
which he conducted from the commencement of
the Revolution, upon such principles that it took
the lead in forwarding its successive changes.
His political exhortations began and ended like
the howl of a blood-hound for murder ; or, if a
wolf could have written a journal, the gaunt and
famished wretch could not have ravined more
eagerly for slaughter. It was blood which was
Marat's constant demand, not in drops from the
breast of an individual, not in puny streams from
the slaughter of families, but blood in the profu-
sion of an ocean. His usual calculation of the
heads which he demanded amounted to two hun-
dred and sixty thousand ; and though he some-
times raised it as high as three hundred thousand,
it never fell beneath the smaller number. It
may be hoped, and, for the honor of human na-
ture, we are inclined to believe, there was a
touch of insanity in this unnatural strain of fero-
city ; and the wild and squalid features of the
wretch appear to have intimated a degree of
alienation of mind. Marat was, like Robespierre,
a coward. Repeatedly denounced in the Assem-
bly, he skulked instead of defending himself, and
lay concealed in some obscure garret or cellar
among his cut-throats, until a storm appeared,
when, like a bird of ill omen, his death-screech
was again heard. Such was the strange and fa-
tal triumvirate, in which the same degree of can-

288

FRANCE.

festo of the duke of Brunswick irritated
and distressed the people ; and Petion
instituted in the sections a deliberation
as to the expediency of deposing the king.
On the 9th of August, the insurrection
that was in preparation was denounced
to the assembly, which was composed of
constitutional nobles. A frightful tumult
took place in the hall, where poniards
were brandished ; as the night advanced,
the tocsin sounded, when the Swiss
guards, some ex-nobles, and volunteers
of national or disbanded guard, repaired
to the palace to defend the king. He
now accepted the proposition made to
him by Rcederer, the chief attorney of
the department, to seek an asylum in the
midst of the assembly, after enlarging Pe-
tion, who had been detained a prisoner
in the palace. The insurrection, how-
ever, proceeded. The Jacobin club had
installed in the commune a municipality
devoted to Danton ; confusion reigned in
the palace, until the Marseillais, who
formed the advanced guard of tho mob,
though at first repulsed by the brave
Swiss, returned with fury to the charge ;
and their cannon, aided by a multitude
armed in haste, entirely overthrew the
ancient throne of France.

The assembly, in confusion, pronounced
the deposition of the king, and removed
him to the Temple with his family ; while
the statues of all the kings, even that of
Henry IV, and the insignia of royalty,
were trampled under foot by the mob.
An extraordinary tribunal, over which
Danton, the minister of justice, presided,
shed torrents of blood. The first days of
September were signalized by the mas-
sacre of several thousand citizens, with
whom the prisons were crowded ; and
those detained by the high court insti-
tuted at Orleans for crimes against the
state were assassinated.

Soon after midday, on the 2nd of Sept.
as the mob gathered in the Place before
the Hotel de Ville, a number of priests

nibal cruelty existed under different aspects.
Danton murdered to glut his rage ; Robespierre,
to avenge his injured vanity, or to remove a rival
whom he envied ; Mavat, from the same instinc-
tive love of blood, which induces a wolf to con-
tinue his ravage of the flocks long after his hunger

under accusation, amounting to twenty-
four, were brought forth and placed in
coaches to be transferred to the prison of
the Abbaye. They set forth escorted by
the Marseillais and by the mob, who pur-
sued them with execrations and menaces.
They reached at length the court of the
prison, where Maillard and his band await-
ed the first victims of the day. As each
ecclesiastic descended from the carriage,
he was stricken dowm by a hundred blows.
Of the twenty-four, the abbe Sicard, the
philanthropic instructor of the deaf and
dumb, alone escaped, and that almost by
miracle. Billaud-Varcennes, officer of
the municipality, arrived just as the last
victim fell, and exclaimed, " People, you
do your duty! Immolate your enemies!"
"There is nothing more to do here,"
cried Maillard ; " to the Carmes !" This
was a convent, in which two hundred of
the principal ecclesiastics of the kingdom
were confined. One by one they were
led forth and massacred. Some of the
assassins had particular victims, to des-
patch, and were obliged to wipe the
faces of the dead in order to ascertain
whether the task was surely fulfilled.

Thence the assassins returned to the
Abbaye, and proceeded in form. They
prepared a table. Maillard constituted
himself judge, with a dozen aids or as-
sessors. He called for a hst of the pris-
oners, which was delivered, the very
jailer fainting with horror at the scene
which must follow. Maillard then ad-
dressed his comrades with the mockery
of reason and calmness ; and passed a
panegyric upon justice. " Do you," said
he to the band of assassins, "place your- .
selves outside the gate. When I pro-
nounce that the culprit should be trans-
ferred to La Force, strike him down and
slay him as he goes out." The artifice
was applauded, as preventing struggles
and difiiculties ; and the prisoners sum-
moned. The first were Swiss. They
met with no favor ; were ordered out of
the gate and massacred. Next Mont-
morin was brought forth, he whose mock
acquittal served as a pretext for these
crimes ; and underwent his fate. This
scene was continued till late in the
night ; the assassins pausing at times to
refresh themselves with wine. The wo-

FRANCE.

289

Murder of Princess dc Lamballe.

men, however, were spared. The daugh-
ter of the singular Cazotte saved her
aged parent. Mademoiselle de Sombreuil
made the same eflbrts in behalf of her
father, when a ruffian presented her with
a goblet of blood, saying, " Drink, drink
the blood of the aristocrats !" To have
some claim to pity, she actually swallow-
ed the horrid draught, and M. de Som-
breuil was spared. Others were pre-
served by the display of courage, and ex-
torted pardon by exciting admiration ;
such is the caprice of crime. One thou-
sand livi-es are registered in the books of
the municipality as payment for these
deeds. Each prison presented a similar
scene. The number massacred is calcu-
lated at 13,000.

Amongst those confined at La Force was
the unfortunate and lovely princess de
Lamballe, the friend of Marie Antoinette.
She met no mercy. The pen refuses to
trace the horrors committed on her re-
mains. Her head, borne on a pike, was
brought in procession to the Temple,
where the commune had confined Louis
and his queen. They were startled bj^
the unusual tumult, and demanded the
cause. Rushing to look at a window,
Marie Antoinette was prevented by her
37

guards. She pressed for explanation ;
and it was given ; "they sought to pre-
vent herbeholdingthe head of the princess
Lamballe !" She fainted at the word in
the arms of the no less wretched monarch.

Whilst the municipality, under the or-
ders of the minister of justice, thus perpe-
trated the disgrace of the nation, the le-
gislative assembly, ashamed, indignant,
but powerless, sat witnessing the crimes
which its conduct had hiduced, and
which it could not prevent. Its legal
authority was expiring; the elections
had already commenced for returning tlie
members of the future convention ; not,
however, ere it had abdicated all real
power and influence in favor of the san-
guinary commune. Thus the first nation-
al assembly expired in an act of folly,
the last in blood and crime.

While the French were thus destroying
each other, they resisted invasion with
astonishing devotion and firmness ; the
king of Prussia, who had penetrated as far
as the plains of Champagne, was checked
in his march by Dumouriez, and beaten
by Kellerman ; 300,000 men hastened, at
the call of their country, to the frontiers,
with an enthusiasm that only belonged to
the period of the revolution.

290

FRANCE

The legislative assembly had summon-
ed a convention, vv'hich, on the 21st of
September, began its operations by abol-
ishing royalty, and proclaiming the re-
public. It immediately assumed to itself
the whole power, even the judiciary ; for
it proceeded to judge Louis XVI, whom
oidy part of its members had accused.
The enemy was at the gates, and an-
archy and treason existed in the interior ;
to proceed, a species of dictatorship, the
French say a despotism, was neces-
sary.

This monstrous despotism had a thou-
sand heads, and three principal directing
powers ; the convention, the Jacobin club,
and the commune of Paris ; the two last
were the most real, and certainly the
most illegal. The assembly was shared
between the Girondists and the Jacobins,
when the struggle finally commenced.
The former pos essed fine talents ; the
latter derived their strength from the club
and the commune. The execrable Ma-
rat and the horrible Hebert assisted
these, by rousing the passions of the
people with the bait of an impossible
equality, until they drew the Marseillais
into their party ; and a man who, under
the calm external show of moderation
and patriotism, concealed a cruel fanati-
cism, a man, whose wickedness can only
be accounted for from his envy, Robes-
pierre, conceived the design of elevating
himself on the ruins of the state. In vain
did the courageous Louvet attack him ;
the hypocrite of citizenship meditated a
terrible vengeance, in which all France
was doomed to suffer.

The Mountain, or the Jacobins, (so
called from their sitting on the high seats
of the amphitheatre of the hall of the
convention,) formed the first thought of
sacrificing Louis as a victim to the con-
solidation of the republic. It is said that
the Girondists wished to save him ; but
several of them condemned him. Males-
herbes in vain exerted the eloquence of
friendship in favor of the king. Vergni-
aud also made some ineffectual efforts ;
but the hall of the convention was sur-
rounded by a ferocious mob, who threat-
ened the judges ; while the mountain
dictated the sentence. The guilt of the
unfortunate monarch was almost unani-

mously voted ; one-third of the assembly,
however, wished for an appeal to the
sanction of the people ; 387 voted for his
death ; 334 demanded either imprison-
ment, banishment, or death, with a formal
reprieve.

The sentence of death was pronoun-
ced early on the morning of the 17th of
January, (1793,) after a sitting which
had been continued throughout the night
from the preceding day. M. Males-
herbes, his counsel, was the first person
who communicated this decision to the
unfortunate monarch. Having been ad-
mitted into the tower of the Temple
about nine o'clock in the morning, M.
Malesherbes found his majesty, he tells
us, seated in the shade, his back being
turned to a lamp which was placed on
the mantel-piece, his legs supported on
the table, and his face covered with his
hands. He had been fully prepared for
the tidings which M. Malesherbes came
to announce to him, and was much less
moved than the good old man who had
to make the distressing communication,
and who had not till the last ceased to
hope for a different result. His faithful
valet, Clery, has given us a minute and
interesting detail of the conduct of his
royal master during the few remaining
days he was permitted to live. In con-
versing with Clery after M. Malesherbes
had retired, he expressed himself satis-
fied that little was to be expected from
the demand for a delay in the execution
of the sentence, which it had been de-
termined shoidd be addressed to the Con-
vention. It afflicted him patricularly,
he said, that the duke of Orleans, his
relation, had voted for his death. What
occasioned him most grief and anxiety
in regard to his own fate was the deso-
late state in which he must leave his wi-
dow and family. He expected to have
seen M. Malesherbes again that even-
ing ; but he did not make his appear-
ance, not having, it appears, been admit-
ted when he applied at the gate of the
prison. The continued absence during
the next and the following days of this,
the only friend whom he had been per-
mitted to see, gave the king much unea-
siness. During the 18th, he employed
himself principally in reading ; the vol-

FRANCE.

291

ume wluch he chose being that of
Hume's History of England, which
contained an account of the death of
Charles I.

On the 19th, at nine in the morning,
Gobeau, an officer of the municipality,
presented himself, accompanied by Ma-
they, the jailor ; for the purpose, as he
stated, of taking an inventory of the
king's effects. While Gobeau, assisted
by Clery, was employed at this work,
Mathey stood before the fire, with his
back to it and his coat tucked up ; nor
did he show any inclination to shift his
position when his majesty, who had
been sitting for some time in a small ad-
joining closet without a chimney, ap-
proached to warm himself. This rude-
ness and inhumanity provoked Louis to
forget for a moment his usual meekness ;
and, in a somewhat sharp tone, he de-
sired the man to stand a little aside.
Mathey said nothing, but retired.

On the 20th, which was Sunday, he
was occupied during the earlier part of
the day in reading and writing, as was
his custom. At two o'clock the min-
isters of justice and of foreign affairs,
and some ten or twelve other persons,
composing what was called the Execu-
tive Council, made their appearance,
conducted by Santerre. As soon as they
had entered the apartment, Garat, the
minister of justice, without taking off his
hat, addressed his majesty as follows :
"Louis, the National Convention has
charged the Provisionary Executive Coun-
cil to communicate to you its decrees of
the 15th, 16th, 17th, 19th, and 20th of
January; the secretary of the Council
will read them to you." Grouvelle, the
secretary, then, unfolding a paper which
he held in his hand, proceeded to read
the decrees in a weak and tremulous
voice. They consisted of four articles,
and declared, in substance, that Louis
Capet, the last king of the French, hav-
ing been guilty of conspiring against the
liberty of the nation, should undergo the
punishment of death ; that the appeal to
the nation, which he had claimed, should
not be allowed; but that the Executive
Council should see to the execution of
the sentence within twenty-four hours.
Louis listened to these intimations with-

out emotion ; and receiving the paper
from Grouvelle, deliberately folded it up
and deposited it in his pocket-book. Then
taking out another paper, he presented it
to Garat, requesting him to lay it imme-
diately before the Convention ; but when
the minister appeared to hesitate about
accepting it, Louis said that he wdVjld
read it to him before putting it into his
hands, which he did immediately in his
usual tone of voice. It contained a de-
mand, first, for a delay of three days to
enable him to prepare himself for death,
and permission to see, for that purpose,
a priest whom he should name, and whose
safety should be perfectly secured ; sec-
ondly, for some relaxation of the constant
surveillance to which he had recently
been subjected, two guards having been
stationed in his apartments, whose orders
were never to allow him to be a moment
out of their view, either during the day or
the night ; and thirdly, for the privilege,
during the time he was to live, of seeing his
family when he chose, and without any
one being present. He also requested
that the Convention would, after his death,
permit his family to retire without moles-
tation to whatever country they might
wish to go to ; and he recommended
those who had adhered to liim in his ad-
versity, and whose services he had not
the means of recompensing, as well as
many aged persons, females and children,
to whom he had been in the habit of dis-
pensing charity, to the benevolence of
the nation. When he heard it read, Ga-
rat took the paper, and promised that he
would forward it immediately to the Con-
vention. The Council then retired.

On dinner being brought in immediately
after this, it was found that the mimici-
pality had given orders that the use of a
laiife should no longer be allowed to
their prisoner. "Do they believe me
such a fool," said the king, " that I would
attempt my life ? I am innocent of the
crimes which they impute to me, and I
shall die without fear." No one else
spoke. The king ate little, cutting the
meat with his spoon ; and the dinner was
over in a few minutes.

About six o'clock in the evening Garat
and Santerre returned, when the former
informed his majesty that his letter had

>92

FRANCE.

been laid before the Convention, and that
they had decreed that he should be per-
mitted to call in what minister of religion
he might think proper, and to see his fam-
ily freely, and without any one being
present. The nation, it was added, al-
ways great, and always just, would see
to ftie condition of his family, and pay
his creditors whatever might be due to
them ; but as to his demand for a delay
of three days, upon that the Convention
had passed to the order of the day.

Nothing more, therefore, now remain-
ed to the unfortunate king, except to avail
himself, as the time permitted, of the
scanty privileges which had been ac-
corded to him. He prepared, in the first
place, to see his wife and children ; but
it was some time before every thing coidd
be arranged for the interview. Although
the decree of the Convention seemed to
have given him permission to meet them
alone, it was determined, in order to sat-
isfy the letter of the previous instructions
which had been issued by the municipali-
ty, that his guard should observe what
took place through some panes of glass
which were in the door of the dining-
room, the door itself being shut ; and that
consequently the interview should take
place in that apartment. At last, soon
after eight o'clock, every thing being in
readiness, his majesty sent to desire the
presence of the objects of his affection.
The messenger was absent on his er-
rand about a quarter of an hour. " Du-
ring this interval," says Clery, the king
re-entered his closet, coming from time
to time to the door, with symptoms of the
liveliest emotion. At half-past eight the
door opened ; the queen appeared first,
holding her son by the hand ; then the
princess royal and madame Elizabeth :
all threw themselves into the arms of
the king. A deep silence reigned for
some minutes, interrupted only by sobs.
The queen made a movement, with the
object of leading his majesty towards his
chamber. " No," said the king, " let us
pass into this room — I can only see you
there." They entered, and I shut the
door, which was a glazed one. The
king sat down, the queen placing herself
on his left, madame Elizabeth on his
right, the princess royal almost opposite

to him, while the young prince remained
standing between liis legs ; all were bent
towards him, and often clasped him in
in their arms. This scene of grief lasted
for an hour and three quarters, during
which it was impossible to hear any thing
that was said ; we could only perceive
that after every expression of the king,
the sobs of the princesses redoubled,
lasting for some minutes, and that then
the king re-commenced speaking. At a
quarter past ten the king rose first, and
all followed him ; I opened the door ;
the queen held the king by the right arm ;
their majesties gave each one hand to
the dauphin ; the princess royal, on the
left, clung to the king with her arm around
his waist ; madame Elizabeth on the
same side, but not quite so far in advance,
had seized the left arm of her august
brother ; they moved some steps towards
the door, uttering the most agonizing
groans. "I assure you," said the king,
"that I will see you to-morrow morning
at eight." "You promise us," repeated
they all together. " Yes I promise you."
" Why not at seven ?" said the queen.
" Well then," answered the king, " at
seven — adieu !" He pronounced this
adieu in so impressive a manner that their
distress and sobbing were redoubled.
The princess royal fell down in a swoon
at the feet of the king, to whom she
clung ; I lifted her up, and assisted mad-
ame Elizabeth in supporting her ; the
king, wishing to put an end to this lacer-
ating scene, bestowed upon them once
more the most tender embraces, and then
had the strength to tear himself from their
arms. " Adieu — adieu !" he said, and re-
entered his chamber.

Before this the abbe Edgeworth de
Firmont, the priest whom the king had
desired to be sent for, had been brought
to the tower ; and during this distressing
interview he was in an adjoining closet,
where his majesty joined him immediate-
ly after his family had retired. When
supper was over, at wdiich the king eat
sparingly, but with appetite, the necessa-
ry articles for the celebration of mass the
following morning were sent for to the
neighboring church of the Capuchins in
Marais. The remainder of the night, till j
half past twelve, Louis passed with his ' I

FRANCE.

293

confessor. He then retired to bed ; and
having desired his valet to awaken him
at five, fell immediately into a profound
slumber.

The noise made by Clery in lighting
the fire awoke him at the hour at which
he had desired to be called ; when he
rose and proceeded to dress, remarking
that he had slept well, a refreshment of
which he had had ,much need from the
fatigues of the preceding day. At six
o'clock the performance of mass com-
menced ; after which his majesty took
the sacrament. He then took Clery
aside, and putting into his hands a seal
which he had taken from his watch, and
a ring he used to wear, he ordered him
to give the one to his son, and the other
to the queen ; " Tell her ," said he, "that
I quit it with pain." " This little packet,"
he continued, " contains the hair of all
my family ; give it also to the queen.
Say to her, to my dear children, to my
sister, that I had promised to see them
this morning, but that I wished to spare
them the distress of so cruel a separation.
Alas, how much it costs mc to leave them
without receiving their last embraces !
I charge you to carry them my farewell."
He uttered these last words in a voice of
the deepest sorrow, and with the tears
rolling down his cheeks.

The following is the conclusion of Cla-
ry's narrative : " Paris had been under
arms since five o'clock ; we heard the
beating of the generale, the clashing of
arms, the trampling of horses, the wheel-
ing about of cannons, which they were
placing and displacing every instant ; all
these noises resounded through the tow-
er. At nine the noise augmented, the [
doors were thrown open with obstrepe- 1
rous jar, and Santerre, accompanied by I
seven or eight members of the municipali- !
ty, entered at the head of ten gendarmes, '.
whom he ranged in two lines. At this
commotion the king came forth from his \
closet. " You are come for me ?" said j
he to Santerre. "Yes." "I beg one
minute," he replied, and re-entered the
closet. He returned immediately, his j
confessor following him. The king held
his testament in his hand, and, address-
ing himself to one of the members of the
mimicipality, a priest who had taken the

oaths, named Jacques Roux, who hap-
pened to stand foremost, "I request," he
said, that you will give this paper to the
queen — to my wife." " That is no busi-
ness of mine," answered the priest, while
he refused to receive the manuscript ; " I
am here to conduct you to the scaffold."
His majesty then addressing himself to
Gobeau, another member of the munici-
pality, requested him to take charge of
the paper and deliver it ; adding, " You
may read it ; it contains some dispositions
with which I am desirous that the Com-
mune should be acquainted." I stood
behind the king, near the fire-place, when
he turned round, and I presented to him
his great coat {redingote.) "I do not re-
quire it," said he, "give me only my hat."
As I gave it to him, his hand met mine,
which he clasped for the last time. " Gen-
tlemen," said he, addressing himself to
the members of the municipality, " I
should wish Clery to remain with my
son, who is accustomed to his attentions ;
I hope that the Commune will entertain
this request." Then looking to Santerre,
he added, " Let us go." These were the
last words which he pronouncd in his
apartment. At the top of the stairs he
met Mathey the jailor, and said to him,
" I spoke a little sharply the day before
yesterday to you — do not bear me a
grudge for it." Mathey made no reply,
and aflected even to retire when the
king spoke to him. I remained alone in
the chamber, struck down with grief, and
almost deprived of feeling. The drums
and trumpets announced that his majesty
had quitted the tower. An hour after,
voUies of artillery and cries of Vive la
Nation ! Vive la Republique ! were
heard. The best of kings was no more.
The Abbe Edgeworth, who accompa-
nied Louis to the scaffold, has given us
an account of the progress of the king
from his prison to the place of execution,
as well as of his last moments. In
crossing the court of the Temple he
twice turned round and looked up to the
apartments in which his family were con-
fined, as if to bid them his last farewell.
At the entry of the second court a car-
riage stood waiting with two gendarmes
standing at the door, one of whom en-
tered, and took his place in front on the

294

FRANCE.

approach of the King. The King him- 1
self, his confessor, and the other gen-
darme then successively followed ; the
door was shut by the last, and they drove j
off at a slow pace. From the first Louis
avoided all conversation, but continued j
to peruse a breviary which M. Edgeworth
had given him, occasionally reciting along
with that gentleman certain psalms ap-
plicable to his situation. Their progress
lasted nearly two hours. " All the
streets," continues the Abbe, " were lined
with several rows of citizens, armed
some with pikes, and others with mus-
kets. Besides this, the carriage itself
was surrounded by an imposing body of
troops ; and, to complete their precau-
tions, they had placed before the horses
a multitude of persons with drums, that
the noise of these instruments might
drown any cries which might be raised
in favour of the King. But whence
could such cries have proceeded ? No-
body appeared either at the doors or
windows, and in the streets were only to
be seen the rows of armed citizens. In
this manner the carriage arrived amidst
the deepest silence at the Place Louis
XV, and stopped in the middle of a large
empty space which had been formed
around the scaflbld. This space was
surrounded by cannons ; and beyond it,
as far as the eye could reach, was to be
seen a multitude in arms. As soon as
the King perceived that the carriage had
stopped, he turned towards me and said,
" We have reached the place, then, if I
am not mistaken."

The particulars that follow we collect
from difTerent narratives. It appears that
immediately on the carriage halting, one
of the executioners advanced and opened
the door, on which the two gendarmes
rose to step out ; but before they went,
the King, with a firm and dignified ac- 1
cent, charged them with the protection of I
his confessor from any insult to which
he might be exposed after his death. He j
then descended to the ground with a
steady step. He was dressed in a brown |
coat, a white vest, gray-coloured small
clothes, and white stockings. " On de-
scending from the carriage," says San-
son (the person who executed the sen-
tence,) in a narrative which M. Dulaure

has printed, " he was told that it would
be necessary to pull off his coat'; he
made some difficulty as to this, saying
that they could execute him as he was.
When it was represented to him that the
thing was impossible, he himself assisted
in pulling off his coat. He made the
same difficulty when his hands were
going to be tied, but offered them of his
own accord, when the person who was
with him (M. Edgworth) observed that
it was the last sacrifice. He then in-
quired if the drums were not to cease
beating. We replied that we did not
know, which was the truth. He ascend-
ed the scaffold, and wished to advance
to the front, as if for the purpose of
speaking ; but it was represented to him
that the thing was impossible. He then
suffered himself to be conducted to the
spot where we placed him, and from
which he called out with a very loud
voice : People, I die innocent ; then, turn-
ing to us, he said G entlemen, I am inno-
cent of all they accuse me of ; may my
blood cement the happiness of Frenchmen.
These were his true and last words."
" To render homage to the truth," con-
cludes Sanson, "he sustained the whole
with a sang-froid and a firmness which
astonished us all. I remain very much
convinced that he had derived this firm-
ness from the principles of religion, Avith
which no person ever appeared more
penetrated than he was, or more persua-
ded of their truth."

According to the Abbe Edgeworth
(and his account is confirmed by M.
Goret) Louis was prevented from con-
tinuing his address by a man on horse-
back, dressed in the uniform of a national
guard, who rushing suddenly sword in
hand, and with ferocious cries, upon
the persons with the drums, compelled
them to beat their instruments with re-
doubled vigor. This was Santerre,
then commander-in-chief of the national
guard. Several voices were raised at
the same time," proceeds M. Edgeworth,
" to encourage the executioners ; they
themselves appeared to acquire more
confidence, and, seizing forcibly the most
virtuous of kings, they drew him under
the axe, which, at a single stroke made
his head fall from his body. All this

FRANCE.

295

was the work of a few seconds : the
youngest of the executioners (he did not
appear to be more than eighteen years of
age) immediately took up the head and
showed it to the people, making the round
of the scaffold; he accompanied this
monstrous ceremony by the most atro-
cious cries and the most indecent ges-
tures. The deepest silence reigned at
first ; after a short time some cries of
Vive la Republique arose. By degrees the
voices so exclaiming grew more numer-
ous ; and in less than ten minutes the
cry became that of the whole multitude,
and all their hats were waving in the
air." The influence of the Mountain or
ultra democratic party, continued to in-
crease rapidly in the convention after the
death of the king.

La Vendee now rose, and the continent
as well as England armed in hostility to the
convention, whom nothing seemed to in-
timidate. Fourteen armies, without ex-
perience, and merely with the aid of pa-
per-money, were set in motion. Custine
took Mentz ; Montesqieu invaded Savoy ;
Lille repulsed the Austrians, who bom-
barded the city ; and Dumouriez, making
a descent upon Belgium, carried the re-
doubts of Jcmappe with the bayonet, now
substituted for the old French tactics.
The generals had only to sound the Mar-
seillais hymn, and the citizen soldiers
saw in the republic a futurity of peace
and prosperity; although the roots of
what was called the tree of liberty had
been saturated with blood. A descen-
dant of Turenne was honored with the
title of the first grenadier in France : a
Biron marched against the royalists in
La Vendee. The young Orleans fought
for national independence, while his
father, under the name of Egalite, passed
from the Mountain, where he sat, to the
scaffold where he perished.

But the Mountain men still meditated
vengeance on the Girondists for their
superiority, their constant opposition to \
their atrocities, their denunciations of
Marat, and their causing the arrest of
Hebert. After a new attempt at assassin-
ation, the Mountain ordered an insurrec-
tion. A hired multitude went on the
31st May, to dictate to the representation
and on the 2nd of the next month de-

manded twenty-two heads that had been
pointed out to it among the Girondists !
The proscribed all perished, with the
exception of one who survived the entire
revolution, the virtuous Languinois. The
first attack on the inviolability of the
representation became a fatal example.
Seventy-three deputies were decreed in
a state of arrest ; and though a constitu-
tion was drawn up, it was strangled in its
birth, and the revolutionary government,
or regime of terror, was organized, the ad-
ministration of which was the guillotine,
and its functionaries the executioners.

On learning the proscription of the Gi-
rondists, a young, enthusiastic Norman
girl, named Charlotte Corday, resolved
to avenge their fall. For this purpose
she set out from Caen in Normandy and
arrived in Paris on the 11th of July, and
spent some days in seeing the abodes
and learning the motions of the sanguin-
ary triumvirate. She determined to im-
molate one of them ; and Marat appear-
ed to her to be the most guilty and most
atrocious. But he no longer went abroad
to the convention ; suffering under a con-
tinual fever, which he allayed by frequent
baths, and indulged by denunciations and
proscriptions, sent forth either in his daily
journal, or in letters to the convention.
He was then clamorous, like a hound for
his meal delayed, that Custines and Bi-
ron, the two generals in command, were
aristocrats worthy of condemnation and
the guillotine. Charlotte Corday went
to the abode of the monster; a female
with whom he lived denied her entrance :
she insisted, saying she had matters of
importance to communicate, having just
arrived from Caen. Marat, who was
extended in his bath in an adjoining
chamber, caught the word, cried out that
the young girl should be admitted, and
eagerly commenced inquiries relating to
the Girondist deputies then at Caen. He
carefully noted down her replies, mutter-
ing, " they shall all go to the guillotine,"
when Charlotte Corday approached and
plunged a knife into his breast. His
cry for help brought his mistress ; and
she, a crowd. The monster had expired,
the words of blood still in his mouth.
Charlotte Corday stood by unmoved, in
the calm serenity of heroism, avowing

296

FRANCE.

and glorifying in the deed. Such was
lier countenance at her trial ; such did it
continue at her execution, which took
place in a few days after, amidst the ex-
ecrations of the mob ; whilst Marat was
borne to his tomb lamented by thousands.

The convention is a political phenom-
enon, which has existed but once ; and
its terrible power was wielded by men of
the lowest ambitions. The Mountain
was a volcano, which vomited its fires
over Europe, while it inundated France
with its incendiary lava ; and the Jaco-
bin club, the caves where the thunder-
bolts of power were forged. Still these
fanatics of liberty remained poor, while
they were denouncing death on the rich ;
as they depopulated the earth, while
they were promising themselves to share
its blessings and live like brethren. Ev-
ery thing in fact was immolated to the
fierce inflexibility of their passions.

Some attempts, however, were made
to shake off this frightful yoke. The
Girondists and constitutionalists, who
had been proscribed as moderate men
and as wishing to break the unity of the
republic, rose at Caen and Lyons ; when
the convention decreed that Lyons should
be destroyed. Marseilles was decima-
ted, and its name suppressed. Toulon
opened its gates to the English, but Nan-
tes repulsed the Vendeans. The Moun-
tain sent out its chiefs on all sides to es-
tablish its power; a revolutionary army
followed them ; they established in fact
a mission of terror, and extended their
works of death even to St. Domingo.
The Noyades of Carrier and the atroci-
ties of licbon are well known. Every
where tribunals of blood were in horri-
ble activity; even the camps were not
an asylum ; Houchard, who had just con-
quered the English at Ilondcoot, soon
followed his predecessor Custine to the
scaffold. To crown these evils, industry
and commerce were prescribed. Requi-
sitions and a maximum, which heavily
taxed provisions, produced a famine ; the
west of France was soon in a state of
revolution, caused by the same men who
pronounced as legislators the abolition of
the punishment of death, and founded
the conservatories and the polytechnic
school.

I The most remarkable event in the mil*
itary history of 1793, is the siege of Tou-
lon, not so much from its importance, as
from its first bringing to light the talents
of Napoleon Buonaparte. He was born
in Corsica, of a good family, in 1769, and
educated at the artillery school of Brienne.
As all the students of this establishment,
and, indeed, all intended to hold rank in
the army under the ancient regime, were
noble, the officers emigrated at the com-
mencement of the revolution ; Buonaparte
and three comrades being the only ones
that remained of his regiment. The
place of an ofhcer of artillery could not
be supplied from the lower and uninform-
ed ranks of life, as those of the line were
in France ; and thus he found himself,
at the age of twenty-four, with the rank
of major, and the chief of his army be-
fore Toulon. Two successive generals
appointed to command the siege were
totally ignorant of their profession. The
members of the convention present with
this army were self-sufficient, and still
less capable of conducting a siege. The
task fell upon young Buonaparte, who
had not only to devise good counsel, but
to make it prevail. The latter he effect-
ed by reports and written plans, that pro-
ved his talents to the war committee at
home, as his acts proved ihem to the be-
sieging army. Instead of making a reg-
ular attack upon the main fortification, he
proposed to get possession of the prom-
inent points commanding the harbor,
which would render it untenable to the
English fleet. Were this once eflected,
the motley garrison he knew would not
hold the town. Although amounting to
14,000, it numbered but 3000 English.
Even their commander, O'Hara, was ta-
ken in a sortie. The important posts
designated by Buonaparte were captured ;
and as the cannon from them reached
the fleet the evacuation of the town was
decided on. The English, in departing,
set fire to the magazines, and to the
French fleet, consisting of nine vessels
of the line and four frigates ; a melan-
choly spectacle to the men of Toulon, an
exasperating one to their republican con-
querors. The circumstances of the siege
were, however, useful to the cause of
the latter. It proved an example to awe

FRANCE

297

all towns and parties from mounting the
white flag of the Bourbons, or from re-
ceiving under any pretext the enemies
of their country within their walls.

Great talents were certainly displayed
in the committee of public safety, a se-
lect part of the Mountain faction. But
Carnot had only begun to secure victory
to the French arms by his arrangements,
when he had to contend with the treason
of Dumouriez. This general had deliv-
ered up to the enemy the commissaries
of the convention, who were coming to
bring him instructions, and take him back
to the guillotine. So far he acted in
self-defence ; but before he emigrated,
he endeavored to unite the French and
the Germans against the republic to which
he owed allegiance, in order to march to
Paris. The lines of Weissemburg had
also been siurendered by traitors

Robespierre was at this period (1794)
at the zenith of his prosperity. He had
sacrificed his old associate in crimes,
Danton, who saw in the revolution the
means of enriching himself, and who was
afterwards disowned by the rigid Jaco-
bins ; and science, reputation, and talents
became but the watch-word for proscrip-
tion and death. At last this prince of
homicides closed his career, by making
the Mountain itself tremble, demanding
those purifications which threatened to
attaint even the executioners themselves.
Billaud Varennes first shook off the
yoke ; the Jacobin speculators, the re-
mains of Danton's party, who saw them-
selves in danger, united with the remain-
ing part of the Girondists, and, on the
9th of Thermidor, Tallien braved and un-
masked the villain, whom St. Just, his
confidant, in vain attempted to defend.
Cries of " down with the tyrant" issued
from every mouth, Robespierre and his
party were hurried away ; but the .mob,
at the sound of the tocsin, rose in their
favor. Barras now put himself at the
' liead of the national guard, in the name
I of the convention ; and they easily made
I themselves masters of the Hotel de Ville.
; Robespierre was at last overcome ; and
1 after having attempted self-destruction,
I he received his well merited death blow.*

■ For some time there had been skimiishes in

But a cruel re-action blemished this cri-
sis ; the Thermidorians proscribed the
Mountain in their turn ; and the royalists

the convention betwixt Robespierre and some of
the old Mountainists, who showed an inclination
to form an opposition. Amongst thcni were
Bourdon, Tallien, Fouche, Barras. With these
now united the malcontents of the two commit-
tees. The report of Vadier was publicly read,
despite the efforts of Robespierre. He retired
indignant from the convention, and the commit-
tee ; thus imitating the false steps of Danton, and
leaving his friends, Couthon and St. Just, to
strive alone against CoUol, Billaud and Barrere.
In the Jacobins, however, Robespierre continued
still paramount. Possessed of them, the organ
of popularity, and of the municipal force under
Henriot, he thought he might defy the conven-
tion. He retired from it, meaning thereby to
convey a warning and a menace. But conven-
tion and committee continued their labor, the
party in opposition gathering numbers, consisten-
cy, and force, for the struggle that was approach-
ing. The Jacobin tyrant was reported to demand
the heads of half the assembly, and much more
than half were terrified in consequence, and
alarmed into resistance. He took counsel with
his immediate friends. The more furious press-
ed him to seize his antagonists on his own indi-
vidual authority. But this appeared to him too
bold a step ; it would alienate the armies. An
insurrection in form, another 31st of May, ap-
peared the preferable mode. But he hoped to
obviate even the necessity of this by intimidation.
The Jacobins were accordingly worked up to a
proper pitch of e.xcitement, and on the 25th of
July, the 7th Thcnnidor, a menacing petition — a
similar one had preceded the 31st of May — was
presented to the convention. It was received in
silence. The members feared alike to reprobate
or applaud. On the following day, Robespierre
appeared, ascended the Tribune, and developed
in a speech of many hours the conduct of his
whole political life, his aims, his wrongs, his for-
bearance towards the convention, but at the same
time his determination to uphold the revolution.
In plain language, what he meant to utter was
this : I am in a minority, both in the legislature
and the government, and the convention, and the
committees. Restore me to my influence, or

There ensued a considerable tumult in the

assembly. Billaud and Vadier each defended
himself Panis accused Robespierre of prepar-
ing lists of proscriptions in the Jacobin club, more
especially against Fouche. Bourdon at length
proposed instead of ordering the speech to be
printed, to refer it to the committees. " That i«
to my enemies," exclaimed the dictator. " Name
them whom you accuse," was the reply ; in oth-
er words, " Tell us how many heads you de-
mand." Had Robespierre had the courage at
this moment to designate a dozen of his enemies,
and prove at the same time his cordiality with the
rest, the twelve would most probably have been
sacrificed, aivd the tyrant still upheld in his reign.
He refused to name his victims ; and as each be-

298

FRANCE.

rising in the south organized themselves
into companies of assassins.

lieved himself on the fatal list, the only safety
was in resistance.

The morrow, 9th Thcrmidor, 27th of July,
proved decisive. The night was spent by both |
parties in making preparations for the struggle. |
When the silting opened, St. Just got posses-
sion of the tribune, and, under pretence of read-
ing a report, commenced a denunciation. He
had already uttered the name of Tallien, when
that deputy rose to order, asserting that St. Just,
not having consulted with the committee, had no
right to read the report. " Let us at once tear
asunder the veil," said Tallien, commencing his
attack. But Billaud-Varennes, as member of
the committee, and more entitled than Tallien to
denounce, interrupted Tallien, and assumed the
lead against Robespierre. He told the assembly
that the Jacobins had sworn yesterday to slaugh-
ter the convention, and that their only hope con-
sisted in firmness. He then launched out into a
ferocious philippic against Robespierre, who
rushed to the tribune to answer. But universal
cries of "Down with the tyrant !" drowned his
voice, and prevented him from being heard. Tal-
lien succeeded Billaud, already triumphant. The
refusal to hear Robespierre presaged his fall.
"Yesterday," said Tallien, " I was present at the
meeting of the Jacobins, and I shuddered for my
country. There I saw forming the army of the
new Cromwell, and I armed myself with a poniard
to pierce his breast (Tallien showed the weapon)
in case the convention had not courage to pass
the decree of accusation." Tallien then propo-
sed the arrest of Henriot, and that the assembly
should sit in permanence until the menaced in-
surrection was put down, and the guilty seized.
This was passed with acclamation. Robespierre,
at the foot of the tribune all this time, tried to
gain possession of it, begged to be heard, and
foamed at the mouth in frenzy of exertion and
despair. But the assembly would not hear him.
Barrere at length got up. It is said that he had
in his pocket two speeches, one for, one against,
Robespierre. Seeing the state of feeling, he
produced and spoke the latter. It defended the
committees, and accused the tyrant. Tallien
again followed. It is remarkable, that in all this
rage, this ample theme of denunciation against so
manifest a tyrant, there was no eloquence, no
overwhelming force of accusation. As guilty
themselves as Robespierre, Billaud and Tallien
dared not tax him with his crimes. The fears of
the convention, however, gave it energy. They
dreaded even to listen to Robespierre, lest they
should be more awed by his voice than by his
vengeance. In vain he asked to be heard. He
turned to all sides of the assembly ; clamors
only answered him. " President of assassins,"
cried he, " for the last time I ask the liberty to
speak." His voice and his strength here failed
him. " The blood of Danton stifles thee," ob-
served a member. " Ha ! it is Danton you
would avenge," replied he, snatching at the least
advantage. His arrest was now unanimously de-

The Jacobins in 1795 made some fur-
ther struggles for power: the Thermido-

creed. Robespierre the younger started up, and
demanded to be included in the decree ; Couthon,
St. Just, and Lebon were also added. They
were ordered to the bar, and descended with im-
precations ; but not a huissier, or officer of the
house, could be found bold enough to take the
dreaded men into arrest. At length some gen-
darmerie were procured to take charge of them.
The debate had lasted all day, and the arrest
was not pronounced till evening. The mayor
and commune remained in suspense, but Henriot
collected his gendarmerie, and refused to obey
the order of the convention depriving him of the
command. The keepers of the several prisons were
in the same interest ; they refused to receive the
arrested members, who were rescued and con-
veyed to the Hotel de Ville. Thus were the two
rival powers each in its head-quarters ; the con-
vention at the Tuilleries, Robespierre and his
friends at the commune. Each was in posses-
sion of a certain part of the armed force ; but so
feeble, that it seemed impossible to strike a de-
cisive blow on that night. Robespierre was
grievously disappointed in finding that the rabble
had not flocked to his standard. Henriot tried
in vain to raise the fau.xbourgs ; but this could
only be done by a certain low class of agitators,
such as the Anarchists and the Cordelier club
united and held in pay. In crushing these, Robes-
pierre had destroyed the instruments, and the
officers in fact, of insurrection, and no aid was
hence to be obtained. Here then was his blun-
der. In ruining the mob party, he had cut away
his own support. The commune, however, had
some reliance on the sections, and the national
guard attached to them. But the convention,
despatching two of its members to each section,
proved more active than the commune, or than
Robespierre, who was stupified rather than exci-
ted to exertion by this his final peril. Henriot, too,
was an nnfit, a drunken commander. He had
been seized in the evening at the palace of the
convention, and afterwards liberated by his
friends. His approach had thrown the assembly
in a panic, and they had voted to die at their
posts. On recovering from their fears, they ap-
pointed Barras general, and other deputies to act
under his command. The sections answered the
appeal of the convention. None but the can-
noniers adhered to the commune ; and these
were shaken in their firmness by emissaries who
penetrated amongst them, and acquainted them
with the decree outlawing the Robespierres and
their party. The apathy of the populace, the
want of spirit in the leaders, who scarcely show-
ed themselves, but remained in secret and irres-
olute council, contributed to the defection of the
cannoniers, the greater part of whom drew off at
length, and abandoned the Hotel de Ville. Thus,
about midnight, when the force under the orders
of the convention surrounded the Hotel and oc-
cupied the place, there was scarcely a sign of
resistance. Even within the doors, in the man-
sion and stronghold of the commune, there was

FRANCE.

299

rians opposed to them tlie " golden youth
of Frerou," an armed association of all
those who had to avenge some victim of
the system of terror, and who sung the
" awakening of the people !" On the
12th of Germinal an assemblage of the
people, excited to violence by the fam-
ine, was dispersed, and seA^enteen Moun-
tain men were arrested ; Billaud and Col-
lot were transported to Guinea. The
remainder of the Mountain, however, ob-
tained some advantage on the 1st- of
Prairial, by getting possession of the
hall of the convention, where the deputy
Feraud was assassinated. Already had
the terrible Faubourg advanced in a col-
umn. The Thermidorian committees
were conquerors at last without striking
a blow; the 31st of May was cruelly
avenged ; and six Mountain men doomed
to death, put an end to their own lives.

little opposition. A few gendarmes were able to
make their way up the staircases, and to surprise
the conspirators.

There is considerable diversity in the narra-
tives of their final capture. A gendarme, named
Meda, was most instrumental. In the account
which he has written, the whole credit is assigned
to him. It was he who first seized Henriot, who
commanded the attack, and who first rushed
amongst the conspirators, shooting Robespierre
through the jaw with a pistol, and slaying another
who resisted. Meda's account is, however, set
aside by both Tiiiers and Mignet, although the
deputies of the convention attributed to him the
chief honors of the attack, and although the as-
sembly voted him thanks. According to the
prevailing account, Henriot was thrown from a
window, from which young Robespierre also flung
himself. Robespierre the elder discharged a pis-
tol at his own head, which, however, took effect
but in the jaw. St. Just and Couthon were sent
to the Conciergerie. Robespierre was conveyed
to the committee-room of public safety, the hall
of his reign, laid on the table on which he had
signed so many death-warrants, and left there to
await his fate.

Their outlawry rendering trial unnecessary,
they were executed on the following day. Robes-
pierre never spoke after his capture, despite
the host of questions put, and imprecations heap-
ed upon him. He died, as well as St. Just, with
the wonted courage of the time in facing death.
His brother and Henriot were decapitated also,
though already expiring from the effects of their
fall. Simon, the cobbler, and barbarous tutor of
the unfortunate son of Louis the Sixteenth, was
executed also. At this time the acclamations
and applause of the more respectable citizens
were heard mingling with those of the rabble
round the fatal scaffold.

A peace was then concluded with the
Vendeans, who still entertained the hope
of an approaching restoration of the
house of Bourbon.

By the adoption of a new constitution,
on the 23rd of October, 1795, France
secured for itself greater stability in its
external and internal affairs. According
to this constitution, the legislative power
was vested in two councils ; the council
of five hundred with whom all laws ori-
ginated, and the council of the ancients
consisting of 250 members, which adopt-
ed or rejected the laws sent up to them
from the other council. The executive
power was vested in the hands of five
directors, one of whom was elected an-
nually. After that Prussia, Spain, Tus-
cany, and the Elector of Hesse-Cassel
had concluded a treaty with France ;
Austria, England, and Russia, united in
a triple alliance, on the 28th of Septem-
ber, 1795, with the design of vigorously
prosecuting the war. The emigrants
also who had assembled in the Breisgau
under the prince of Conde, proclaimed
the count of Provence (Louis XVIIl)
king. But the French armies, on the
renewal of the campaign, entered Ger-
many and Italy as victors ; and the civil
war in the Vendee was finally put down
by Hochein 1796.

The history of France has been be-
fore likened to a river ; the deep majes-
tic current of the monarchy burst its
banks at the revolution, and spread over
an immense extent, forming in its wide in-
undation a lake with islands interspersed
with various channels, inlets, too intricate
and vast for the eye to grasp at one view.
Now, however, as the revolution draws
to its close the current narrows ; and,
like water at the termination of a lake,
we see the large events of a nation's
history contract and deepen, in order to
run in the bounded channel of an individ-
ual's fortune. In other words, the history
of France becomes for a long and glori-
ous period identified with the life of Na-
poleon Bonaparte.

The affair of Toulon opened his ca-
reer ; thence he joined the army of Italy ;
where, employed as an engineer, he had
full opportunity of studying a field of
warfare destined soon to be that of his

300

FRANCE.

reputation. Suspended and put into arrest
after Thermidor, he was released on an
energetic remonstrance, but left without
employment. He betook himself to Pa-
ris, where, after some time, he was order-
ed to La Vendue. But it was not merely
active service that could satisfy him, but
an ample field ; he refused to serve
against the Vendeans, but remained in
the capital making his way in society,
and meditating an ambitious marriage,
since a campaign such as he sought was
denied. The rebellion of the sections
in Vendemiaire occurred ; Bonaparte,
through Barras, took the command against
them, and was successful ; in recom-
pense he was appointed general of the
army of the interior, — of that, in other
words, destined to act as guards to the
directory. From this command he was
appointed, in March, 1796, to that of the
army of Italy. His marriage with the
widow of general Beauharnois happen-
ing simultaneously with the appointment,
gives some foundation to the rumor that
tiie interests of her friends, combined
with his own, procured for him the com-
mand of an army of activity. Josephine,
much older than Napoleon, was a native
of St, Domingo, or Hayti, of engaging
person, and seems to have inspired him
with sincere passion.

In the commencement of the war, the
Netherlands had principally attracted the
attention of the forces of the French.
Here conquerors, and being secure from
hostilities on the Lower Rhine by peace
with Prussia, and on the side of the Py-
renees by that with Spain, they bent their
eflbrts first to the invasion of Germany
by the Upper Rhine. The campaign of
1795 had in this quarter not been attend-
ed with success ; whilst on the Mediter-
ranean a partial victory, in which the
counsels of Bonaparte had no small
share, had shown Austria to be far more
vulnerable in that quarter. Whilst Mo-
reau, a cautious rather than an active
general, was sent to replace Pichegru on
the Rhine, Bonaparte was despatched to
Italy with an army totally destitute of
warlike equipments. He marched from
Genoa ; defeated the Austrians and Pied-
montese in the battles of Montenotte
fought on the 12lh of April, 1796, and of

Milesimo on the 14th of the same month;
compelled the king of Sardinia to con-
clude a treaty of peace, in which Savoy
and Nice were given up to France ; on
the 8th of May crossed the Po ; on the
succeeding day forced Parma to consent
to an armstice ; on the 10th, defeated
general Beaulieu at Lodi ; on the 20th,
proclaimed the freedom of the Lombard-
ese ; in the month of June compelled
Modena, Naples, and the Pope to con-
clude an armstice ; defeated General
Wurmser — who had succeeded Beaulieu
in command — on the 3rd of August at
Lonado, and on the 5th of that month at
Castiglione, forcing him to retire into the
fortress of Mantua ; advanced against the
Tyrol ; defeated Alvanzi at Arcole on
the 15th of November, and at Rivoli on
the 14th January, 1797 ; concluded the
peace of Tolentino, in which the Pope
yielded Avignon to France ; and Bolog-
na, Ferrara, and Romagna to the Cisal-
pine republic, on the 19th of February ;
defeated the archduke Charles at Lison-
zo ; and signed preliminaries of peace
with Austria at Leoben on the 16th
of April, 1797, which formed the basis
of the peace of Campo Formio, conclu-
ded on the 17th of October following.

During these victories in Italy, Jour-
dan penetrated from Dusseldorf into the
Upper Palatinate, and Moreau from Kehl
to Munich, after having concluded a peace
with Baden and Wirtemberg, in August,
1796. But the archduke Charles crossed
over to the left bank of the Danube on
the 17th of August, and defeated Jour-
dan at Neumark on the 22d, at Amberg,
on the 24th, at Wurtzburg on the 3d of
September, at Grossen on the 16th, and
at Altenkirchen on the 20th of Septem-
ber ; by which victories he compelled
Moreau likewise to retire from Bavaria,
a retreat which he accomplished, with
consummate prudence and skill, in the
face of the surrounding Austrians.

After the overthrow of the constitution
of the Venetian republic on the 22nd of
May, 1797, occasioned by a rising of the
Venetian against the French troops sta-
tioned in their territory, Austria, in the
peace of Campo Formio, gave up the
whole of Belgium to France, and recog-
nized the Cisalpine republic, to which

FRANCE.

301

she surrendered Milan and Mantua ;
while, on tlie other hand, she received
from the Venetian states, Venice, Istria,
Dalmatia, and the neighboring districts
extending to the Adige. The remainder
of the Venetian dominions, and the state
of the duke of Modena were annexed to
the Cisalpine republic ; and the seven
islands belonging to Venice were ceded
to France.

In the period between the peace of
Campo Formio and the renewal of the
war, a directorial government was formed
in Batavia, on the 22nd of January, 1799,
under French influence. The ancient
constitutions of Switzerland were ex-
changed, after a series of bloody strug-
gles, for the new constitution of the Hel-
vetian republic in March, 1798; and
Berthier, on the 10th of February, 1798,
founded a republic with a consular con-
stitution at Rome, and led pope Pius VI,
prisoner to France, where he died the
following year. Bonaparte embarked on
the 22nd of May, 1798, for Egypt; and
after having subdued the Mamelukes,
penetratad even into Syria, but was com-
pelled to abandon the siege of Acre, and
to retrace his steps into Egypt. At
Aboukir he defeated the Turkish forces,
and leaving Kleber in the command of
the army, retur^ped to Europe in Septem-
ber, 1799, at the moment that France
had exhausted herself in the new war
against Austria and Russia, with whom
the Porte had coalesced.

A new war was begun in November,
1798, by the king of Naples, Ferdinand
IV, who had marched into Rome Avith
the design of re-establishing the dominion
of the Pope, whereupon the French in-
stantly proclaimed war against Naples,
and likewise against Sardinia, under the
pretext of these powers having secret
correspondence with the enemies of
France. General Joubert, on the 9th of
December, 1798, forced the king of Sar-
dinia to relinquish Piedmont ; and Cham-
pionnet in the same month defeated the
Neapolitans under Mack, and on the 25th
of January, 1799, proclaimed the Par-
thenopeian republic. These successes in
Italy, where the French had also erected
Tuscany into a republic, were lost in the
beginning of the war with Russia and

Austria in March, 1799, when the arch-
duke Charles defeated the French under
Jourdan at Ostrach in Suabia on the 21st
of March, and at Stobach on the 26th ;
whilst Kray defeated Scherer at Past-
rengo in Italy on the 26th of March, at
Verona on the 30lh, and at Margnano on
the 5th of April ; after which Suwarrow,
at the head of the Russians and Austrians,
engaged the French at Cassano on the
27th of April. Moreau succeeded Sche-
rer in the command of the French forces ;
but Macdonald — who after Champion-
net's arrest, commanded the French at
Naples — retreated, after Scherer's de-
feat, from Naples into Upper Italy. He
fought with great valor from the 12th to
the 1 8th of June, at Piacenza, against the
Russians and Austrians, who opposed his
march to Mantua, but was forced to join
Moreau with the remains of his army.
The Russian, Austrian, and French ar-
mies again measured their strength in
the battle of Novi, on the 1 5th of August,
which was begun by Joubert, and con-
tinued by Moreau, after the former had
received a mortal vv^ound. After this en-
gagement, in which the French were
defeated, both armies retreated into strong
positions ; and the Russian and Austrian
forces separated, the first intending to
penetrate into Switzerland, to unite with
another Russian army under Korsakow.
Massena defeated the united forces of
Korsakow and the Austrians under Hotze,
at Zurich, on the 25th and 26th of Sep-
tember, by which victory he maintained
himself upon the boundaries of Germany
and Switzerland, and prevented the arch-
duke Charles from crossing the Rhine ;
and Brune, on the 9th of September, and
6th of October, defeated the Russians
and English troops who had landed in
the Netherlands. The greatest disunion,
meanwhile, prevailed in Paris between
the directory and the legislative body.

Bonaparte arrived in Paris on the 15th
of October, 1799. In concert with the
director Sieyes, he abohshed the third
French constitution, by occupying the
hall of the legislative body with troops,
on the 9th of November, 1799, or the
1 8th of Brumaire, according to the French
republican almanac. Sieyes, himself,
and Roger Ducos, were named consuls

302

FRANCE

ad interim, till the new constitution thus
forced upon France was proclaimed on
the 13th of December, and general Bo-
naparte nominated first consul, Camba-
ceres and Lebrun being appointed second
and third consuls. The executive power
was vested in the three consuls. A sen-
ate of eighty members, who were to liold
their office for life, a tribunal of one hun-
dred members, and a legislative assembly
of three hundred members, composed the
other branches of the government. The
strength and energy of the new govern-
ment made itself visible in the immediate
union of the best leaders of all parties,
and the return of many thousand emi-
grants in the humbler ranks of life.

In Italy, at the beginning of 1800,. the
French retained scarcely any of their
conquests, except the republic of Genoa,
and this the Austrians were preparing to
wrest from them. In the city of Genoa,
Massena took the command, and resolved
to defend it to the last extremity. In
the beginning of April, the Austrian ge-
neral Melas, and a British fleet, invested
it so completely, that the communication
with France was cut off. General Melas j
having thus prevented the possibility of
its relief, left some troops before it, and
marched with the main body against the
French general Suchet, whom, on the
7th of May, he totally defeated. In con-
sequence of this defeat they crossed the
Var, and entered France, and the Aus-
tiian general became master of the whole
department of the maritime Alps.

On the Rhine, general Moreau was
opposed to general Kray ; but the latter
was fettered by the orders which he re-
ceived from the council of war at Vienna,
whereas Moreau refused to act according
to the instructions sent him by the Chief
Consul, except where his own judgment
and observation convinced him they were
wise and practicable. The plan of Mo-
reau was to cross the Rhine ; in this he
succeeded, and drove Kray before him
as far as Ulm : here he fortified himself ;
but Moreau, manoeuvring in such a man-
ner as to threaten to cut him off from his
magazines, the Austrians were obliged
to fight at Hochstet. The French were
victorious, and the Austrian general, after
in vain endeavoring to oppose the enemy

again at Newburg, was obliged to fall
back to Ingolstadt. The electorate of
Bavaria was conquered : the hereditary
domiuions of Austria were threatened,
and at Vienna, the popidace demanded
peace.

The affairs of Austria, were not more
promising on the side of Italy. The
army of reserve that had been collected
at Dijon, marched, as soon as the cam-
paign opened on the Rhine, towards Italy,
Bonaparte joined them near the lake of
Geneva ; and the passage of the Alps
was immediately prepared to be under-
taken. The difficulties only served to
stimulate the ambition, the energy, and
the talents of Bonaparte. The trunks
of trees were hollowed into the forms of
troughs, that the cannon might slide
along in them ; the gun carriages were
conveyed on sledges, and the wheels on
poles. Their passage was over Mount
St. Bernard, which the men could only
ascend one by one, moving with the ut-
most caution. The descent was still
more dangerous ; but so admirably were
the measures of Bonaparte planned and
executed, that scarcely any lives were
lost ; and none of the cannon or provi-
sions were left behind. Thus Avas ef-
fected the passage of a numerous and
well-appointed army over the Alps, — an
enterprise so extraordinar}^, that the Aus-
trians, from a firm conviction that it was
absolutely impracticable, never thought
of opposing it. Aosta, the fort of Bard,
Ivria, Romagno, and Vercelli.were taken.
The Tessino was crossed ; Milan entered
without opposition ; valuable magazines
were captured at Pavia ; and Placentia
fell into the possession of Bonaparte,
who, by his sudden and unexpected ap-
pearance, and by his subsequent mas-
terly manoemTcs, completely out-gener-
aled Melas.

He did not arrive, however, in time to
relieve Genoa ; for Messena, after one
of the most obstinate defences recorded
in history, during which 15,000 of the
inhabitants are said to have perished by
disease and famine, was compelled to
surrender to the Austrian and British
commanders on the 5th of June. As
soon as Genoa fell, Melas despatched
General Ott with 30 battalions to check

FRANCE.

303

the progress of the French, who hitherto
had not penetrated further than Piedmont ;
but that general having suffered a dread-
ful defeat at Mon Abello, Melas collected
his whole force between Allessandria and
Tortona. Here, on the 14th of June,
Avas fought the battle of Marengo : for
nine hours the Austrians were victorious ;
but an imprudent or unskilful movement
of General JVlelas, which was instantly
taken advantage of by General Dessaix,
who made a vigorous charge with a body
of fresh cavalry, turned the fate of the
day. The victory was purchased by
the death of Dessaix, to whose memory
due honors were paid by his grateful
countrymen.

On the 3rd of Dec. 1 800, was fought the
battle of Hohenlinden, in which Moreau
defeated the archduke John, and entirely
routed his army. This was followed by
the conclusion of a treaty with Austria,
in its own name and that of the German
empire, but without the concurrence of
England, on the 9th of February, 1801.
In this peace — which was signed by
Joseph Bonaparte and Cobenzel, — the
course of the Rhine was fixed as the limit
between France and Germany. Those
German princes who lost their territories
beyond the Rhine by this new arrange-
ment, were to be indemnified by addi-
tional possessions on the right bank of
that river. In Italy, the course of the
Adige was fixed as the boundary between
Austria and the Cisalpine republic, and
the former power gave the Breisgau and
Ortenau to the duke of Modena. The
territories of the grand duke of Tuscany
were erected into the kingdom of Etruria,
which was given to the hereditary prince
of Parma, according to a treaty between
France and Spain : the grand duke being
to be indemnified in Germany, for the j
loss of his territories.

After this peace, Portugal also con-
cluded a treaty with France, on the 29th
of September, 1801 ; and Russia and I
Turkey, on the 8th and 9th of October, I
concluded a treaty upon the statu quo.
Great Britain, by concluding the peace \
of Amiens, on the 27th of March, 1802, j
retired from the struggle ; retaining Cey- j
Ion and Trinidad, but engaging to restore
all the other captured colonies, to re- j

establish the order of the knights of St.
John, at Malta, and to guarantee all the
possessions of the Porte. France, on the
other hand, guaranteed the existence of
the kingdoms of Naples and Portugal.

The states-consultat of the Cisalpine
republic, which had assumed at Naples,
on the 26th of January, 1 802, the name of
the Italian republic, made choice of Bona-
parte for its president ; and on the 3rd of
August, 1802, the French also nominated
him consul for life, after that he had found-
ed the order of the Legion of Honor
in May, 1802, and concluded with the
new-elected pope, Pius VII, on the 15th
of July, 1801, a concordat for the Galil-
ean church, which "was published in
April, 1802. The business of the indem-
nification in Germany was concluded and
accomphshed in 1802 and 1803, at Rat-
isbon, by France and Russia, according
to a secret convention concluded between
these two powers on the 10th of October,
1801. An armament despatched under
Leclerc for the reduction of Domingo
was baffled ; and neither Napoleon nor
the Bourbons could succeed in again
reducing this island, which gained its
political independence after a bloody
struggle.

A conspiracy against the life of the
first consul, by Georges and Pichegru,
was adopted by some of Bonaparte's
friends as a pretext for introducing a pro-
posal to the senate to change the con-
sular government into an hereditary one.

The first consul having given his as-
sent to the proposal of the senate on the
5th of April, 1 804, the senatus-consultus,
by decree of the 18th of May, placed
Napoleon Bonaparte, as hereditary em-
peror, at the head of France ; and on
the 2d of December, pope Pius VII,
solemnly anointed the new monarch, who
himself placed the imperial crown upon
his own head. The Italian republic of
course followed the example of France ;
and on the 15th of March, 1805, having
named their president king of Italy, Na-
poleon, on the 26th of May, with his
own hands also placed the new crown
of the Lombardian kings upon his own
head, and Avas anointed by the arch-
bishop of Milan. During his presence in
Italy, the senate of the Ligurian republic

304

FRANCE.

demanded and obtained the incorporation
of the Genosee state with the French
empire, on the 4th of June, and the small
republic of Lucca, was transformed in
the same year into an hereditary princi-
pality for the princess Eliza, sister of
Napoleon.

These transactions excited the suspi-
cions of Great Britain, and a new and
third coalition was concluded at St. Pe-
tersburg, on the 11th of April, by the
English ambassador lord Gower, prince
Czartorinsky, and the chamberlain Novo-
siltzoff. Austria joined this coalition on
the 9th of August; and Sweden like-
wise took part in it by the treaties of sub-
sidy which she concluded with England.

Austria seemed to meditate the prin-
cipal blow in Italy, where the archduke
Charles was opposed to marshal Mas-
seaa ; at the same time 25,000 French
marched under St. Cyr from Naples into
Upper Italy, after a treaty of neutrality
had been concluded between France and
Naples, on the 21st of September, 1805.
The Austrian army in Germany was
commanded by the archduke Ferdinand
and general Mack. This army penetra-
ted into Bavaria in September, 1805, and
demanded that the elector should either
unite his army with the Austrian forces
or disband it. Upon this the elector as-
sembled his troops in the Upper Palati-
nate, whence they marched into Fran-
conia, whilst he himself proceeded to
Wirtemberg, where he joined Napoleon.
The same course was adopted by the
dukes of Wirtemberg and Baden.

Napoleon now left the camp of Bou-
logne, where he had been employed with
idle preparations for invading England, I
and on the 2d of October arrived at lAid- 1
wigsburg in Wirtemberg. The next day
he issued a declaration of war. The
corps of Bernadotte and the Bavarians !
having marched towards the Danube,
through the neutral province of Anspach,
belonging to Prussia, the latter power,
which had assembled its armies in the
neighborhood of the Russian frontier,
issued a note on the 14th of October,
renouncing its obligations to France ;
and by the treaty of Potsdam, concluded
on the 3d of November, during the stay
of the emperor Alexander at Berlin,

promised to take part in tlie coalition
against France upon certain conditions.
The Prussian armies, in conjunction with
the Saxons and Hessian forces, took up
a hostile position extending between the
frontiers of Silesia and the Danube. But
the Austrian armies in Suabia had been
rapidly turned and defeated by the
French, in a series of operations extend-
ing from the 6th to the 13lh of October;
upon which general Mack, the Austrian
commander, in the infamous capitulation
of Ulm, dated the 17th of October, sur-
rendered with 28,000 men, but the arch-
duke Ferdinand by constant fighting
reached Bohemia. The French now
penetrated through Bavaria and Austria
into Moravia ; and after having obtained
possession, in November, of the defiles of
the Tyrol, and driven back several Rus-
sian corps in a series of skirmishes at
Limbach, Amstetten, and Krems, they
occupied Vienna on the 13th of Novem-
ber, and afterwards took possession of
Presburg. The battle of Austerlitz deci-
ded this war, which lasted only two
months ; and the archduke Charles, hav-
ing received information of the event in
Suabia, retired through the German
provinces, after having fought a dreadful
battle upon the Adige, which lasted tliree
days.

The emperors of Russia and Austria
now rallied their forces at Olmutz.
They were at the head of 80,000 men,
whilst Bonaparte did not muster more
than 60,000. Confident of victory, on
the 27th of November, they marched from
Olmutz towards the French, who were
concentrated to the eastward of Brunn.
Napoleon, who had studied the ground
in his rear, retreated before the enemy,
drawing his right wing back more than

j the rest of the army. KutusofF, seeing

I this, and taking it for weakness, deter-
mined to turn the right wing of the
French, and so threaten to cut off their
army from Vienna. Bonaparte thus, by
drawing his army as nearly as was wise
to one point, suggested to his enemies
the idea of turning and surrounding him ;
a dangerous project for them, since it

, extended their lines, and exposed their
weak points to an enemy, vigilant, drawn

I together, and enabled to protrude an

FRANCE. '

305

overwhelming force in any one direction.
Had the Russians an idea that this re-
treat and concentration of the French
were dictated by art, ihey would of course
not have committed themselves. But
the French did every thing to affect hesi-
tation and timidity: they not only retired,
but, in partial encounters, showed a
disposition to fly. To the proposals of
Alexander, Bonaparte answered hesita-
tingly. He received the aid-de-camp
sent to him on the outskirts of the camp,
as if to avoid its weak state being seen.
Works were thrown up. An interview,
as the pretext of four and twenty hours'
truce, was begged. In short, a hundred
petty artifices were employed to persuade
the Russians that the French meditated
a retreat; and that the former should
lose no time, not only to attack, but also
to intercept.

On the 1st of December the combin-
ed army completely fell into the trap.
The chief force was pushed on to the
extreme left, whilst the troops on the rest
of the line, diminished for this purpose,
descended from heights in front of the
French, in order to move towards the
left also. Napoleon might have posted
his army on these heights, and would
have done so, had his object been merely
to repulse or check the enemy ; but his
aim was to defeat and destroy them ; and
he therefore yielded them the heights,
which, being separated by ravines be-
tween, favored his project for cutting the
Austrian line, when weakened by its ex-
tension and its march to take the French
in flank. Bonaparte Avatched anxiously
the motions of the enemy in advance of
Austerlitz ; and no sooner did his acute
eye perceive their forces thrown to their
left, and the number, in front of him, on
and around the line of heights dimin-
ished, than he exclaimed, " Yon army
shall be at our mercy ere to-morrow's sun
sets." Nay, so certain was he of this,
that he determined to communicate his
confidence to his soldiers ; and informed
them in a printed circular or order of the
day, that " the enemy, in marching to
turn the French right, had exposed their
own flauk." On the evening of the first,
the firing commenced on the menaced
point, the right of the French. Napo-
39

leon galloped thither, made his disposi-
tion for the morrow, and returned on foot
through the ranks and bivouacs of his
soldiery. The morrow was to be the
anniversary of his coronation : they
promised him the Russian colors and
cannon as a gift in honor of his fete.

Soult commanded the main right wing,
called by some the centre, because Da-
voList led a division still further off', to
oppose the object of the enemy in turn-
ing the French or taking them in the
rear. Bernadotte was the general of the
centre, Lannes at the left, Murat and the
cavalry behind the two latter, Bessieres
in reserve, Avith Oudinot and the guard.
The sun rose on the 2nd of December,
1805, with unclouded brilliancy; it was
hailed and remembered long as the sun
of Austerlitz. Its rays discovered the
Austrians and Russians disseminated on,
around, and behind the heights before the
village of Austerlitz, whence the allied
emperors watched the first effect of their
chief effort against the French right.
Here the battle began ; Soult and Da-
voust supporting the attack with their
wonted activity and skill, greatly aided
by their positions, which were amongst
flooded and marshy ground, with the ice
too weak to support the tread. All that
Bonaparte required of these generals was
to hold their ground for a certain number
of hours ; his aim being to attack simul-
taneously with his left and centre that
portion of the enemy in front of him,
which he proposed to cut ofl" from their
engaged wing. Napoleon delayed long,
however, to give the signal for this attack,
so little looked for by the enemy. He
feared lest they might recall their troops
from their left. No sooner, however, did
he hear the sound of battle fully en-
gaged in that direction, than he gave the
word. His generals hurried from him,
each to his post; Lannes, Bernadotte,
Legrand, St. Hilaire, each at the head of
his division, advanced. The allied col-
umns at this moment were descending
from the heights, in the direction of their
left, where they looked for the brunt of
the battle. They never expected to find
it before them, Bonaparte having sedu-
lously concealed the force and motions
of his army. The Russians were thus

306

FRANCE.

surprised, and attacked during an oblique
march, by cohnnns their equals or supe-
riors in strength. They Avere cut in
two, routed, and separated one from the
other. The French grained the heights,
pushing their enemies into the defiles.
This, no doubt, took time to effect ; but
the details can be imagined, if the ma-
noeuvres be comprehended, and the result
seized.

Between Austerlitz and the heights
thus won by the French was still the
Russian reserve, with the emperor in
person ; his choicest troops, the guard
for instance, commanded by the grand
duke Constantine. These two were
marching towards the left, when to their
astonishment the French skirmishers and
cavalry charged in amongst them. It
was a scene of surprise and confusion.
The emperor, however, aided by Kutu-
soff, rallied his men. The Russian
guards and other regiments charged ; and
the French, a moment since victorious,
were driven back. Some regiments that
had even formed squares were broken
into and routed by the impetuosity of the
Russians. Napoleon did not see what
was taking place, Austerlitz being hid-
den from him by the heights. His ear,
however, caught sounds that did not
augur lictory, and he instantly sent Rapp,
his aid-de-camp, to see what was the
matter. Rapp galloped off with some
squadrons of the guard, rallied stragglers
as he advanced, and saw, as he came up,
the menacing position of affairs, the Rus-
sians victorious, and sabring the French,
who were driven from their broken
squares. They were already bringing
cannon to play upon Rapp, when the
latter, crying out to his men, " to avenge
their comrades and restore the day,"
charged at full speed amongst the Rus-
sians. This gave the routed French
time to breathe and rally. They group-
ed and formed : Rapp returned to the
charge. Half an hour's obstinate strug-
gle and carnage took place, which ter-
minated in the rout of the Russian guards
before the eyes of the two emperors.

This feat achieved, Rapp rode back
to acquaint Napoleon that all the foe in
the direction of Austerlitz were in flight.
On other points victory had been already

assured. The left of the allies — the
left, on the efforts of which so much had
been built — was now cut off; it was
completely destroyed or taken. The
most dreadful feature of its route was the
attempt of several squadrons to escape
over the lakes : the ice at once gave way
under the accumulated weight, and thou-
sands of the brave men perished.

Such was Austerlitz. Savary had best
summed it up in calling it " a series of
mancEUvres, not one of which failed,
that cut the Russian army, surprised in
a side march, into as many portions as
ccftumns were directed against it."

The battle of Austerlitz was followed,
on the 4th of December, by an interview
between Napoleon and Francis H., and an
armistice between both powers was con-
cluded on the 6th. By the treaty of
peace of Presburg, signed by Talleyrand,
the prince John of Lichtenstein, and
count Stadion, on the 26th of the same
month, Austria yielded its A^'enetian pos-
sessions to the kingdom of Italy ; the
Tyrol and several German countries to
Bavaria ; Breisgau to Baden ; and other
Suabian possessions to Wirtemberg ; she
also recognised the elector of Bavaria and
Wirtemberg as kings, and the elector of
Baden as sovereign elector ; and obtain-
ed on the other hand, the greater part of
the bishopric of Saltzburg, now erected
into an electorate for the grand duke of
Tuscany, the bishop being indemnified
by the principality of Wurtzburg, taken
from Bavaria, with the title of elector and
all the rights of sovereignty, and the
hereditary dignity of a grand-master of
the Teutonic order. But during the vic-
torious course of the armies of France
by land, she suffered, a sensible loss by
sea ; the united fleets of France and
Spain, under Villeneuve and Gravina,
being wholly defeated off cape Trafalgar,
on the 21st of October, by Admiral lord
Nelson.

On the 15th of December, the empe-
ror concluded a treaty with Prussia at
Vienna, in which the aUiance between
both these powers was renewed, and
a reciprocal guarantee of the ancient
and newly-acquired states exchanged.
France pretended to give Hanover to
Prussia : and on the other hand Prussia

FRANCE.

307

yielded to France, Anspach, Cleve, and
Neufchatel. Prussia was now obliged
to act offensively against England, as
well by taking possession of Hanover as
by excluding English vessels from the
rivers which flow into the North Sea.
Napoleon gave the province of Anspach
to the king of Bavaria, who was directed
to resign the dukedom of Berg, which,
being united with the Prussian part of
Cleve, was given to Murat, the brother-
in-law of Napoleon, who, on the 13th of
March, was named duke of Cleve and
Berg. Neufchatel was also given to
marshal Berthier, with the title of Prince.
Joseph, the elder brother of Napoleon,
was by an imperial decree of the 13th of
March, 1806, named king of Naples and
Sicily, which had been conquered by
marshal Messena, who marched with an
army from Upper Italy into Naples, on
account of a pretended breach of neu-
trality occasioned by the landing of the
English and Russians. But Ferdinand
IV took refuge in Sicily with his family ;
and that island being protected by the
English fleet, formed merely a nominal
appendage to the crown of Joseph Bona-
parte. With the principality of Lucca
given to his sister Eliza, the emperor
now united Masso-Carrara and Carfag-
nana, which he detached from the king-
dom of Italy. He also named prince
Eugene Beauharnois, son of the empress
Josephine by her first husband, viceroy
of Italy, and married him to the daughter
of the king of Bavaria ; the minister
Talleyrand received the nominal title of
prince of Benevento ; Bernadotte was
proclaimed prince of Ponte Corvo ; and
Louis, the second brother of the emperor,
was proclaimed hereditary and constitu-
tional king of Holland. The constitution
of the German empire, which had lasted
for above 1000 years, was overthrown on
the 12th of July, 1806, to make way for
the Rhenish confederation, of which the
emperor Napoleon was named protector.
The misunderstandings which had
arisen between France and Russia, es-
pecially after the occupation of Cattaro
by the Russians, were only suspended
for a moment by the treaty concluded on
the 20th of July, 1806, by the French
general Clarke, and the Russian minis-

ter Oubril. The emperor Alexander
refused to ratify this peace after the for-
mation of the Rhenish confederation ;
and the same reason instigated England
to break off the pending negotiations of
peace with France. Prussia assembled
an army in August, 1806, which entered
Thuringia, and after some negotiations
at Dresden, was joined by 22,000 Sax-
ons ; while at the same moment lord
Morpeth proceeded to the Prussian head-
quarters, and after some negotiations, on
the 1st of October, the Prussian ultima-
tum was delivered to France. This
document demanded the withdrawment
of the whole French army from Germa-
ny, and announced the intended forma-
tion of a northern league, which was
designed to comprehend all those coun-
tries which were not already included in
the Rhenish league.

These propositions having been con-
temptuously rejected, the struggle began
with the advance of the French troops
upon the Prussian left wing. The grand
duke of Berg forced the passage of the
Saal at Saltzburg on the 8th of October,
and on the 9th, the Prussians and Sax-
ons were defeated at Schleiz. On the
1 0th the French left wing defeated the
united corps of Prussians and Saxons at
Saalfeld, where prince Louis of Prussia
was killed; and on the 14th the bat-
tles of Jena and Auerstadt decided the
fate of the countries between the Rhine
and the Elbe ; upon which Napoleon de-
clared Saxony a neutral province, and
marched instantly upon Berlin, whilst the
grand duke of Berg and marshal Soult
pursued the divisions of the Prussian
army through Thuringia. The prince
of Ponte Corvo defeated the Prussian
reserve under the prince Eugene of Wir-
temberg at Halle, on the 17th of October,
1806, and marshal Ney laid siege to
Magdeburg. On the 22d of October,
Napoleon arrived at Wittenberg, and on
the 27th entered Berlin. The fortresses
of Spandau, Crustrin, Stettin, Magde-
burg, Glogau, and others, instantly sur-
rendered ; indeed, with the exception of
Colberg, commanded by Gneisenau, and
Graudenz, all the Prussian fortresses
ultimately capitulated ; and the prince
of Hohenlohe, at the head of 16,000

308

FRANCE

Prussians, laid down his arms at Prenz-
low on the 28th of October. Blucher
alone ofl'ered a show of resistance ; but
retired to Lubeck, where he surrendered
on the 7th of November, after having
fought the corps of Bernadotte, Soidt,
and the grand duke of Berg.

Before the second series of operations
connected with this important struggle
commenced in Southern Prussia, Napo-
leon had taken possession of the do-
mains of the elector of Hesse, the duke
of Brunswick, the prince of Fulda, the
Hanseatic towns, and all the Prussian
provinces between the Rhine and the
Elbe. A proclamation, signed by Dom-
browski and Wybicki, two chiefs of an-
cient Polish families, on the 3rd of No-
vember, called upon the inhabitants of
that part of Poland which had fallen to
the lot of Prussia in the course of the
three partitions, to rise for the recovery
of their ancient independence, and a new
Polish army quickly joined the French,
who entered Warsaw on the 2nd of No-
vember. Before the struggle began with
the Russians upon the right bank of the
Vistula, the elector of Saxony, by the
peace of Posen, on the 11th of Decem-
ber, 1806, joined the confederation of the
Rhine, as an independent sovereign.
The five dukes of Saxony also joined the
Rhenish confederarion by the treaty of
Posen on the 15th of the same month.

Beyond the Vistula, the war between
France and Russia was opened on the
24th December, 1806, by the fight of
Czarnowo, in which the French carried
the Russian redoubts upon the left bank
of the Ukra. On the succeeding morn-
ing, Davoust drove field-marshal Kam-
enskji out of his position near Nasielsk ;
and on the day following the marshal
renounced the command-in-chief, in
which he was succeeded by Benningsen.
After an obstinate struggle at Pultusk
against the latter, and at Golymin against
Buxhouden, the Russians retreated to
Ostrolenka, and Benningsen suddenly
transported the theatre of war into East-
ern Prussia, where the Russians, on the
23rd of January, 1807, attacked the ad-
vanced posts of the prince of Ponte
Corvo, who engaged them on the 25th at
Mohrungen, and by his mancEuvres cov-

' ered the flank of the French army until
a junction was formed. After continual
fighting from the 1 st to the 7th of Febru-
ary, 1807, the battle of Eylau took place
on the 8th.

On the morning of the 8th, the Rus-
sians were drawn up in front of Eylau,
on which town, and on all its issues,
their artillery opened a furious fire. Un-
der this the French were obliged to come
forth in order to engage in the battle.
Great difference exists as to the stated
numbers of each army : they were prob-
j ably equal ; the Prussians under Lestocq
I being absent on one side, Ney and Ber-
' nadotte on the other. The aim of both
generals was to overthrow his adversa-
ry's left. Bonaparte, in addition, sent
strong columns against the Russian cen-
tre; but these, in the midst of smoke,
and a heavy fall of snow, which prevent-
ed their seeing, missed the right direc-
tion, and got engaged between the Rus-
sian right and centre. Thus the head of
I the column was flanked on both sides,
I whilst the reserve charged them in front.
There ensued a dreadful scene of confu-
sion and slaughter ; and Bonaparte was
obliged, in order to extricate his troops,
to send on his cavalry and reserve to
charge, which increased the fury and
indecision of the battle. Davoust by
this time had arrived, by a considerable
circuit, on the left flank of the Russians,
and drove it in. It folded up, as it were,
about to make a steady retreat, when the
Prussians under Lestocq arri^-ed, and re-
newed the engagement. Davoust re-
treated in turn. But, at the same time,
Ney arrived with his division on the
other extremity of the Russians. Thither
Avas transported the heat of combat.
Mutual and inveterate charges took place
1 betwixt him and Benningsen. Order
I there was no longer any. The Rus-
sians, huddled together in a small space,
refused still to quit the ground ; and the
; French being in equal confusion, their
generals in vain endeavored to bring them
; in formed or decisive masses on the foe.
It was, in fact, a drawn battle; the
slaughter incalculable on either side, and
I rendered more frightful by the snow
I which covered the ground, and which
I still fell upon the woimded, dyeing itself

FRANCE.

309

with tlieir blood. The Russians had not
yielded their ground on the day of bat-
tle ; but they had been dreadfully cut up,
with no succor to expect, while Berna-
dotte's fresh division was still behind
Napoleon's. Benningsen, therefore, re-
treated on the following day.

The emperor had contemplated mak-
ing the same movement ; but on the
disappearance of the Russians, he re-
mained at Eylau an entire week, and
then retired to occupy with his army the
line of the river Passarge, his head-quar-
ters being established at Osserode.

During a pause of several months, in
which both armies recruited themselves,
Dantzic was besieged and bombarded by
Lefevre, and General Kalkreuth was
compelled to capitulate on the 24th of
May, after marshal Lannes had defeated
a body of Russians who had landed at
Weichselmunde with the view of raising
the siege. At last, after a series of skir-
mishes between the different divisions of
the hostile armies, the decisive victory of
the French over the Russians at Fried-
land, took place on the 14th of June,
1807. Bonaparte remembered that it was
the anniversary of Marengo, and wel-
comed it as betokening good fortune.
Forming his columns in the passes of
the woods, he allowed Benningsen, the
Russian general, to cross the bridge of
Friedland with the greater part of his
array. The Russian did not suspect that
the whole army of the French were
lying in wait for him when he thus ven-
tured. But the several columns soon
issuing from the wood, their caimon get-
ting info position and opening upon him,
convinced Benningsen that he was forced
to fight at a disadvantage, and without
the possibility of retreating. He drew
out his line, however, — its left communi-
cating with the bridge. At this point
Napoleon of course directed his chief
attack, to cut off the enemy. Ney led
it ; and in his ardor to reach the bridge,
he was routed, and the head of his col-
umn broken. Dupont supported him and
rallied the men. Napoleon, however,
thought best to achieve the victory with |
his artillery, which from many points j
played upon the Russians, who were
now concentrated and formed in squares. |

Heavy charges of cavalry now and then
filled the pause of carmon ; and at
length, towards evening, the Russians
having much suffered, and many of their
squares broken, the French infantry again
advanced with musketry, and completed
the victory. As the cannon' raked the
bridge, there was no retreating by it.
The Russians flung themselves into the
river ; but the attempt to swim across
was impracticable to the Russian soldier,
charged and accoutred as he was. Thou-
sands were drowned, in addition to those
who perished in the field. Such was
the decisive victory on which Napoleon
reckoned, and which he had long desired,
as the means of disposing the Russian
emperor to an accommodation.

Konigsberg now surrendered. Ben-
ningsen had retreated with his army be-
yond the Niemen, the natural boundary
of Lithuania. The French soon arrived
in pursuit upon its banks. The Russians
demanded an armistice. It was granted ;
and preparations made for an interview
between the emperors. The first instant
of repose, Napoleon issued a proclama-
tion to his army : " In ten days' cam-
paign," said he, "you have taken 120
pieces of cannon ; killed, wounded, or
taken 60,000 Russians, Konigsberg, its
shipping, &c. From the banks of the
Vistula you have flown to the Niemen
Avith the rapidity of the eagle. Soldiers !
you are worthy of yourselves and of
me !" A raft was now prepared in the
midst of the Niemen, off Tilsit. On the
25th of June the emperors met upon this
raft, embraced, and conversed for a con-
siderable space. On the following day
Alexander crossed to the town of Tilsit,
and the two emperors were soon upon
terms of friendship and equality. A
peace was concluded on the 8th of July,
between France and Russia, by Talley-
rand, prince Kurakin, and Labanof-Ros-
trow ; and on the 9th of .J.:ly, between
France and Prussia by Talleyrand and
count Kalkreuth, after an interview be-
tween the three monarchs upon the Nie-
men, and subsequently at Tilsit. In this
peace Prussia lost the principality of
East Friesland, the county of Mark, the
principality of Minden, and the county
of Ravensberg ; the principalities of

310

FRANCE

Hildeshiem, Paderborn, and Munster ; •
the counties of Tecldenburg and Lingen; i
the electorate of Hanover, with the prin- j
cipality of Osnabruck ; the greatest part !
of ancient Mark, and the dukedom of
Magdeburg ; the principalities of Hal-
berstadt, Eichsfeld, and Erfurt ; the ]
county of Mansfield ; the ancient free
towns of Nordhausen, Muhlhausen, and
Goslar ; the ancient abbacies of Qued-
linburg, Essen, Elten, and Weiden ; the
principality of Bayreuth, the circle of
Kottbuss, the whole of Southern Prussia,
the whole of new Eastern Prussia, and
a considerable part of Western Prussia,
with the Netz district, including Dant-
zic, — territories containing upwards of
one half of the former population of
Prussia.

From these districts and other coun-
tries conquered by France, were formed
two new states: viz. the kingdom of
Westphalia, and the dukedom of Warsaw.
The ancient department of Bialystock,
containing 2150 British square miles,
and a population of about 200,000 souls,
was annexed to Russia ; and on the oth-
er hand Russia yielded the little princi-
pality of Jever to the kingdom of Hol-
land. By the peace of Tilsit, Jerome,
Napoleon's youngest brother, was ac-
knowledged Idng of Westphalia, and the
king of Saxony was flattered with the
title of duke of Warsaw. Upon the in-
tercession of Russia, the dukes of Meck-
lenburg-Schwerin, Oldenburg, and Co-
burg, were reinstated ; and France and
Russia exchanged reciprocal guarantees
of their possessions, and of those of the
other powers included in this peace.

After the peace of Tilsit, Napoleon
returned by Dresden — where he signed,
on the 22d of July, the constitution of i
the dukedom of Warsaw — to Paris. The
constitution of the kingdom of Westpha-
lia was signed by Napoleon, at Fontain-
bleau, on the 15th of November, 1807.
The other northern German princes had,
in April, 1807, joined the Rhenish con-
federation at Warsaw, with the exception '
of the two dukes of Mecklenburg, and -
the duke of Oldenburg, who did not join
the confederation till the following year. |

The above events are of so important \
a character as to render a brief recapitu-

lation necessary. We have seen that
the senatus consulte organique declared
Napoleon emperor of the French, and
the imperial dignity hereditary in his
family. This decree of the senate regu-
lated the privileges of the imperial family,
the inheritance, the titles and appanages
of its members, and their particular re-
lations to the person of the emperor.
The civil list remained as it had been
fixed by the constitution of 1791, and
amounted to 25,000,000 livres annually.
At the same time were established the
great officers of the empire, to whom the
marshals and covirt officers belonged ;
and the supreme imperial tribunal, which
was to judge offences of members of the
imperial family and of the higher officers
of state, high treason, and all crimes
against the state or the emperor. The
electoral colleges also received a precise
organization. The senate remained;
but the appointment of the senators, and
the right of fixing their number, were
given to the emperor. The legislative
body was also preserved ; but the tribu-
nate, which alone ventured on opposition,
was suppressed August 19, 1807. The
new emperor was now crowned with his
wife, in the presence of Pius YH, in the
church of Notre Dame.

March 18, 1805, the emperor of the
French was made king of Italy, and sol-
emnly crowned in Milan, and the order of
the iron crown was established. Genoa
(the Ligurian republic) and the principality
of Guastalla were soon after incorporated
with France. Lucca and Piombino were
erected into a duchy, and conferred on
one of the emperor's sisters, and Parma
and Placenza were placed under the
French government. The emperor of
Austria and many German princes ac-
knowledged Napoleon as emperor.

In April, 1805, the Russian and Swed-
ish charges d'affaires left Paris, and the
French ambassadors Petersburg and
Stockholm. Sweden concluded a sub-
sidy treaty with England, and Russia
entered into a third coalition with Eng-
land against France. The French had
already taken possession of Hanover.

The emperor of France now rigor-
ously prohibited the introduction of Eng-
lish manufactures wherever his power

FRANCE.

311

extended, and threatened England with
a descent. Pitt therefore drew Austria
into the coalition ; and the French army
marched from their encampment at Bou-
logne to Germany. The war was of
short duration. The surrender of an
Austrian army, under Mack, at Ulm, and
the battle of Austerlitz produced the
peace of Presburg, in which Austria was
compelled to sacrifice about 21,190
square miles, and 3,000,000 of inhabit-
ants, (among them the Tyrolese).

Napoleon was thus enabled to bestow
on his allies the rulers of Bavaria and
Wurtemberg, royal crowns and full sove-
reignty, which they did not enjoy under
the German empire. The latter was
also granted to Baden. Each of these
three states likewise received a conside-
rable increase of territory and inhabit-
ants. The kingdom of Italy was en-
larged by the addition of 10,600 square
miles, and France obtained a decided
predominance over the German princes.
The victory of the English at Trafalgar
over the united fleets of France and Spain,
destroyed an armament which had cost j
six years of preparation and 60,000,000 i
francs, 1640 cannons, and 15,000 men
fell into the hands of the victors.

Napoleon now changed his system
against England. Instructed by repeated |
experience that he never could meet the |
English successfully by sea, he resolved
to conquer them by land, and attempted,
by the continental system, to suppress all
intercourse with England. With this
view, he abandoned Hanover to Prussia,
which involved that power in a war with •
England. The dynasty of Naples was
declared to have forfeited the throne, on
account of the breach of its engagements j
with France. Joseph Bonaparte Avas '
made king of Naples and Sicily ; Louis, |
the second brother of Napoleon, king of
Holland ; Napoleon's son-in-law, Eugene I
Beauharnois, whom he had adopted, was
created viceroy of Italy, and married to ;
the daughter of the king of Bavaria ; ]
Alexander Berthier, the companion in
arms of the emperor, was created prince
of Neufchatel ; Talleyrand, the minister
of foreign affairs, prince of Benevento ;
Bernadotte, prince of Ponte-Corvo ;
Joachim Murat, grand-duke of Cleves |

and Berg; and Stephanie Beauharnois,
niece of the empress, whom Napoleon
had adopted, was given in marriage to
the crown-prince of Baden. All those
who immediately belonged to the new
dynasty, or were united with it, were to
be attached to France by a federative
system. The accession of Bavaria,
Wirtemburg, and Baden to the federal
system of the "great empire," and the
incorporation of the electorate of Hano-
ver with Prussia, had torn asunder the
political union of the German states.

Napoleon established the confedera-
tion of the Rhine, of which he was re-
cognised protector, July 12 , and Francis
II resigned the imperial crown of Ger-
many, August 6.

The affairs of Spain now began to oc-
cupy the attention of Napoleon ; one of
his first objects, however, was to destroy
the English influence in Portugal. A
French army, in concert with a Spanish
one, marched against that kingdom, the
partition of which had been concerted
between France and Spain, on the 27th
of October, 1807 ; the northern part be-
ing given to the house of Parma ; the
southern part to the prince of Peace, Go-
doi ; and the middle, on the conclusion
of peace, to the house of Braganza. Tus-
cany was to be given to France, and the
king of Spain to be declared protector of
the three states erected out of Portugal ;
the Spanish monarch was also to assume,
after the maritime peace should be con-
cluded, the title of emperor of both Ame-
ricas. In conformity with this treaty,
Tuscany was given up to Napoleon in
1807, and afterwards incorporated with
France ; and marshal Junot, duke of
Braganza, entered Lisbon on the 30th of
November, after the royal family had
embarked with their treasures, and a few
of the principal nobility, in a British fleet,
for the Brazils. But in 1808 the Span-
ish nobility, tired of the government of
the prince of Peace, formed a plot to raise
Ferdinand VII to the throne, and free
their country from foreign influence. The
palac*e of the prince of Peace was assail-
ed by a mob on the night of the 17th of
March ; and king Charles IV, in whose
name the government had been carried
on, resigned the throne in favor of his

312

FRANCE.

son. But Napoleon refused to acknow-
ledge Ferdinand VII, and Charles IV
resumed the regal dignity ; and on the
5th of May, finally resigned all the rights
of his house in Spain and India, into the
hands of Napoleon. Ferdinand VII, Avas
constrained to acquiesce in this renun-
ciation on the 10th, and both father and
son now became pensioners of the French
conqueror, who nominated his brother
Joseph, then king of Naples, king of
Spain and India. The people now rose
en masse to vindicate their rights, and
that struggle commenced in which the
patriotic Spaniards were so warmly and
successfully supported by the British
troops under lord Wellington.

The breaking out of the national war
in Spain, afforded Austria a convenient
opportunity for re-establishing her former
influence in Germany and Italy. In 1809,
therefore, Austria declared war against
France, and advanced her armies into
Bavaria, Italy and the dukedom of War-
saw. Ir. the preceding autumn, Napo-
leon and Alexander of Russia had an hi-
terview at Erfurth, and the consequence
of their alliance was, that a Russian aux-
iliary army now advanced against Austria
into Gallicia. Napoleon, with the aid of
the Bavarians and Wirtenbergers, defeat-
ed the Austrians at Abensberg, on the
20th, at Eckmuhl, on the 22nd, and at
Ratisbon, on the 23rd of April.

On the 4th of July, the French, re-
enforced by the Saxons, the army of Eu-
gene, and that of Marmont from Dalma-
tia, were concentrated in the island of
Lobau, to the number of 150,000. There
was scarcely room for the troops to re-
pose. Napoleon ordered the original
bridge opposite Essling, which had been
destroyed by the Austrians a few days
before, to be repaired, as if he intended
to cross by its means. This was but to
deceive the Austrians. In the night
three more bridges, ready prepared, were
fixed lower down, and the French army
crossed on the night of the 4th and morn-
ing of the 5th. The archduke instantly
found his batteries and preparations idle.
Instead of fronting the Danube, he was
obliged to extend his line perpendicular
to it, from behind Aspern to Wagram, and
from thence behind a little river on his

left. The 5th was spent in manoeuver-
ing and cannonade, the Austrians retiring
from Essling. Towards evening, Bona-
parte wished to dislodge tliem from their
connnanding position at Wagram, but his
troops were beaten back and routed.
Both armies slept on the field, and in
their positions, the French without a fire,
Napoleon in a chair.

On the morning of the 5th commenced
the famous battle of Wagram. The Aus-
trian centre was on the high ground near
that village. As the French on the pre-
ceding evening, had been repulsed with
ease from it, the archduke thought it
strong to keep, and easy to maintain.
He threw his chief force, therefore, into
his wings. The Austrian right attacked
Massena near Aspern and the Danube,
and drove him back with such rout that
his four divisions crowded into one. Da-
voust, on the right, was able to resist
with more success. But on Massena's
side the battle seemed lost. That gene-
ral, from the effects of a fall, was in a
carriage, not on horseback ; his troops,
unanimated by his presence, shrunk from
the enemy, whose cannon enfiladed the
line. For a long time Napoleon Avas in
doubt, riding on a white charger in the
midst of this raking fire, which Savary
calls "a hail-storm of bullets." At length
he resolved to allow his wings to resist
as they might, and to fling all his disposa-
ble force once more upon the Austrian
centre at Wagram. He sent Lauriston
first against it with 100 cannon, at full
trot, with orders to approach very near.
He knew the weakness of the xlustrians
at Wagram would not allow them to ad-
vance from the position. The infantry
under Macdonald followed Lauriston,
Bessieres supporting both with the caA'^-
alry of the guard. Macdonald's charging
columns arrived just as the artillery of
Lauriston had made large breaches in
the Austrian bodies. The French rushed
into the gaps. A diversion from the ex-
treme right aided them, and the centre
of the archduke Charles, at Wagram,
was driven in, routed, and the wings
abandoned. It was then an easy task to
take in the flank of the corps already vic-
torious over Massena. In short, the seve-
ral portions of the Austrian army fled

FRANCE.

313

from the field in disorder, separated from
one another. Both armies displayed
great valor. The loss of the Austrians
amounted to 27,000 killed and wounded.
The loss of the French was nearly equal.
The archduke retreated, constantly fight-
ing, to the heights of Znaym. This vic-
tory led to the peace of Vienna, which
was signed on the 14th of October,
und in which Austria was obliged to re-
sign the sovereignty of three millions of
subjects.

By the peace of Vienna, Austria re-
signed Sahzburg, Berchtolsgaden, and
the Innviertel and Hansruckviertel, which
were given to Bavaria ; the whole of
Western Gallicia, and a part of Eastern
Gallicia, with the town of Cracow, which
were united to the dvdiedom of Warsaw ;
the circle of Villach in Carinthia ; the
dukedom of Krain, the district of Trieste,
the county of Gorz, whh Friaul and Cro-
atia upon the right of the Saave, and Fi
ume ; of which — united with Dalmatia,
Istria, and Ragusa, which Avere taken
from the kingdom of Italy — Napoleon, on
the 15th of October, 1809, formed the
new state of the lUyrian provinces. The
Teutonic order was now abolished, and
its possessions given to those princes in
whose dominions they lay. Russia ob-
tained the circle of Tarnapole, in East-
ern Gallicia, containing 400,000 souls.
With this peace was connected the dis-
solution of the marriage between Napole-
on and Josephine, in December, 1 809 ;
and the emperor's second marriage with
the archduchess Maria Louisa of Austria,
in April, 1810. This peace also occa-
sioned a considerable change in some
of the Italian and German dominions ;
the southern half of Tyrol was united
with the kingdom of Italy, in the place
of those countries taken from the latter,
and annexed to the Illyrian provinces ;
Bavaria obtained for the cession of this
part of the Tyrol, besides the already
mentioned acquisitions, the old Prussian
principality of Bayreuth and Ratlisbonne,
from the prince Primate, whose state
Napoleon raised to the grand-dukedom of
Frankfort, and enlarged with the greater
part of the principality of Fulda, and the
county of Warsaw.

Previous to the breaking out of the
40

war with Austria, the provinces of Urbi-
no, Ancona, Macerata, and Caraerino,
had been united, on the 2nd of April,
1808, with the kingdom of Italy, because
the pope had refused to exclude the Eng-
lish from the ports of his state. Napo-
leon, during his residence at Vienna,
abolished the temporal power of the
pope, on the 17th of March, 1809, and
united the remaining territories of the
states of the church with France, to
which he had previously united Pied-
mont, Liguria, Tuscany, and Parma, be-
sides Savoy and Nice. A pension was
assigned to his holiness ; and the city of
Rome declared an imperial and free city.
The pope was conducted to Fontainbleau,
where Napoleon concluded a second con-
cordat with him, in which, though the
pope did not resume his temporal juris-
diction, he obtained the right to keep
ambassadors at foreign courts, to receive
ambassadors, and to appoint several
bishoprics.

In 1812, Russia made common cause
with Great Britain in opposing the con-
tinental system of Napoleon. The em-
peror left Dresden on the 29th of May,
for the purpose of joining his army in
Eastern Prussia, whilst the archbishop
of Mechlin appeared as his ambassador
in Warsaw, where the re-establishment
of the kingdom of Poland was formally
proclaimed on the 28th of June, six days
after Napoleon had announced the open-
ing of the second Polish war. He now-
crossed the frontiers of Russia, and the
Russian armies retreated into the interior
of the empire without offering any formi-
dable resistance to his advance, except
at the strongly fortified position of Smo-
lensk, which was taken by storm on the
17th of August, after a brief but bloody
struggle ; the Russian general, Barclay
de Tolly, firing the town on his retreat.

On the 5th of September the French
came in view of their enemies, posted on
heights extending southward from the
village of Borodino. Driving them from
an advanced redoubt. Napoleon estab-
lished his line opposite to theirs, and
prepared for a battle on the morrow. He
refused to manoeuvre on their flanks, or
menace to intercept them, lest such
a movement should bring about their re-

314

FRANCE.

treat, and put oiF the engagement. The
French army was about 120,000 strong;
the Russians were perhaps more. The
6th of September was the day long sought
by Napoleon. He was on horseback be-
fore <1 ay break, saw the sun rise in splen-
dor, like that of Austerlitz. Two fresh
arrivals from Paris were announced ; the
one a chamberlain, with a portrait of the
young king of Rome ; the other, Fabvier,
with tidings of the loss of the battle
of Salamanca by Marmont. Shaking off
the ideas excited by both, Napoleon is-
sued a short address : — " Soldiers ! here
is the battle you have so much desired.
Victory must depend on you. We need
one, in order to have abundance, good
quarters, and a speedy return to France.
Conduct yourselves as at Austerlitz and
Friedland. Let people say of each of
you with pride — ' He was at that great
battle in the plains of Moscow.' "

The left of the French, under the vice-
roy, was at Borodino, beyond the stream ;
the Russian right opposed to it was well
fortified. Prince Eugene was ordered
to follow this example. The other bo-
dies of the Russians, their centre and
left, under Barclay and Bagration, were
also fortified, each on its summit ; Bar-
clay by a large re'Joubt, Bagration by
several batteries. The French, as usual,
had the disadvantage of attacking. The
plan of Bonaparte was to carry first the
batteries of Bagration, and then take the
great central redoubt in flank. Accord-
ingly the action, though commenced on
all points, chiefly lay in the attack of
Davoust upon the batteries. It was gal-
lantly supported, and as gallantly resisted.
The general of the attacking division,
Campans, was wounded ; Rapp, who suc-
ceeded him, was wounded also ; and
Davoust himself hurt by the fall of his
horse, which was killed under him. The
attack on the right, in consequence, fal-
tered ; but victory came from the left,
where Napoleon least expected it.

The viceroy of Italy, Eugene Beau-
harnois, instead of holding back, accord-
ing to his orders, pushed forward into
Borodino, got possession of it, and im-
proving his advantage, dashed across the
river, to attack the great redoubt. The
colmnn of Davoust had, in the mean time,

rallied ; its second effort drove Bagration
from his batteries ; his soldiers still re-
turned to recover them, but in vain. Their
efforts, however, restored confidence to
the Russian army. Borodino was again
menaced by Cossacks, Eugene's attempt
upon the central redoubt repulsed, and
Bagration himself rallied to cover Bar-
clay's flank. The French were not used
to meet with this stubborn resistance,
these alternations of fortune. Again, how-
ever, they returned to the charge, and
what Fain calls a third battle was fought
towards evening on the contested points.
Finally, the Russians were beaten from
the great redoubt, and abandoned the field.

The battle of Moskwa, or Borodino,
was won dearly. Eight generals fell on
the part of the French. The heroic Ba-
gration killed, was a loss as severe lo
the Russians. Moscow, however, was
won. Kutusoff reluctantly abandoned
the hope of defending it, — consequently
it was evacuated by the inhabitants who
carried with them their most valuable
effects. On the 14th of September the
French army entered it, and Napoleon
took up his residence at the Kremlin, the
ancient palace of the czars.

Two days afterwards, flames suddenly
burst forth in various quarters of the city ;
the conflagration rapidly spread, and all
means used to stop it were unavailing ;
in the issue the whole city was reduced
to ashes, and the French, being thus de-
prived of all the means of subsistence on
which they had depended, commenced
their retreat, after having made proposals
of peace to the czar, which were not ac-
cepted. The extraordinary severity and
earliness of the winter destroyed the re-
treating army, although they struggled
with great valor against the pursuing
Russians in several fights, and particular-
ly at the passage of the Beresina, on the
27th of November. {See Russia.)

The wreck of the French army re-
treated at first under the command of the
king of Naples, and subsequently under
the viceroy of Italy, through Prussia and
'Poland into Saxony. Napoleon himself
hastened with a small suite through
Dresden and Mentz towards France,
where he employed the winter months in
raising new levies of troops, with which

FRANCE.

315

he appeared towards the end of April in
Thuringia. Tne capitulation of general
York, who commanded the Prussian aux-
iliary corps upon the Vistula, on the 30th
of December, 1812, to the van-guard of
the corps of Wittgenstein, before any
breach of alliance had occurred between
his coimtryand France, materially affect-
ed the issue of the war. In this capitu-
lation general Massenbach joined the
following day, and the public voice in
Prussia loudly demanded war with
France. On the 23rd of January, 1813,
the king of Prussia went from Berlin to
Breslau, where he signed the treaty of
Kalisch, and entered into an alliance
with Russia. The armies of these newly
united powers sustained a considerable
loss at Lutzen on the 2nd of May, and at
Bautzen on the 2 1 st and 22nd, in engage-
ments with the French, upon which an
armstice of ten weeks was concluded.
Although Napoleon had now recruited
his army, and effected an alliance with
Denmark — the alliance of Austria and
Sweden with Russia and Prussia, and
the unanimous and hearty consent with
which the subjects of these powers, irri-
tated by the bondage in which they had
for a long series of years been kept by
France, seconded the efforts of their gov-
ernments, altogether threw such a physi-
cal and moral preponderance into the
scale against the cause of the French
emperor, that even the successful defence
of Dresden on the 27th of August, and
the success of his arms at Lowenberg,
in Silesia, on the 21st of August, could
not save his army from the successive de-
feats of Grossbeeren on the 23rd, of
Katzbach on the 26th, of Culm and Nol-
lendorf on the 30th of August, of Denne-
witz on the 6th of September, and of
Wittenberg, on the 30th of the same
month. Having united his forces for one
tremendous effort in the neighborhood of
Leipsic, Napoleon was defeated in an
engagement fought during the 16th, 17th,
and ISih of October, and compelled to
evacuate that town, and retreat upon the
Rhine, through Thuringia, followed by
the allied troops. After a severe struggle
at Hanau, on the 30th of October, in
which the Bavarians, luider the command
of Prince Wrede, took a decisive part

against the French, Napcleon crossed
the Rhine.

The fortresses occupied by the French
in the rear of the allied army were in-
vested, while the main armies pressed
forward, and the isolated French corps
were driven back into the provinces of
the Rhine, Holland, and Belgium. The
advance of the Prussian general, Bulow,
into the Netherlands, enabled that coun-
try to throw off the French yoke, and re-
call the prince of Orange from England,
who assumed the title of sovereign prince.
Wellington now crossed the Pyrenees,
and in the battle of the Nieve, on the
10th and 13th of January, 1814, trans-
ferred the war to the French soil, while
the allies defeated the French armies in
their own country, at Bar sur Aube in
Champagne, on the 24th of January,
I 1814. Napoleon had the advantage over
j Blucher at Brienne on the 29th of Jan-
uary, but was forced to retreat at La Ro-
' chiere, where the allies had concentrated
j their forces. He now retired between
I the Loire and the Marne, with the view
I of covering Paris ; and it was not with-
I out difficulty that Blucher succeeded in
penetrating the French line. Napoleon,
however, obtained a partial success
against the Russians and Wirtenbergers ;
but the successful advance of the army
of the north under Bulow gave a favora-
ble turn to the affairs of the allies. Na-
poleon by his mancEuvres tried to trans-
i fer the war to the rear of the allied ar-
j mies, but Marmont retreated, on the 25th
of March, after the fight of Fere-Cham-
penoire upon Paris ; and on the 31st of
I March the French capital surrendered to
• the allies.

Alexander now declared, in the name
of the allied sovereigns, that they would
: not negotiate with Napoleon Bonaparte,
i nor with any of his family ; that they
j acknowledged the right of France only
to the territory embraced within its an-
I cient limits under its kings ; and, finally,
that they would acknowledge and guar-
antee the government which the French
nation should adopt. They therefore
invited the senate to establish a pro\ds-
I ional government for the administration
j of the country, and the preparation of a
1 constitution. Accordingly the senate as-

316

FRANCE.

iMmlint;: of Louis A'K/7/ at Calais.

seniblod, April 1, under the presidency
of Talleyrand, whom, with lour other
members, thoy charged with the provis-
ionary government. On the next day, it
declared that Napoleon and his I'amily
had forfeited the throne of France. The
legislative body ratitied this decree, which
tlie provisionary government published,
and soon aller made kviown the recall of
Louis XVHI, to the throne of France.
Meanwhile Napoleon had resigned the
crown unconditionally in favor of his son
at Fontainbleau. A treaty was conclud-
ed the same day ceding to him the island
of Elba.

The Bourbons were restored to the
throne of France by the senate. But it
is verv questionable whether the nation
received them with joy.

Louis XVIII landed at Calais * April

* With Louis landed also the duchess of An-
gouleine, the prince of Conde, and liis son the duke
of Bourbon. Upon landing, he pressed the diicli-
ess of Angouleme to his breast, and said, " I hold
•gain the crown of my ancestors. If it were of
roses, I would place it on your head, as it is of
thorns, it is for me to wear it." The memory
of his landing upon French ground is perpetuated
by a Doric column of marble erected at Calais,
and the trace of his first footsteps is carefully pre-
served in brass.

24, and entered Paris, May 3, 1814. A
plan of a constitution had already been
adopted by the senate, April 5, and by
the legislative body on the following day.
This fundamental law was to bo confirm-
ed by Louis XVIU. before ascending the
throne ; but he merely issued the decla-
ration of St. Ouen, in which, as king of
France and Navarre, he publicly declar-
ed his adoption of the princi[)h's of the
new constitution, as his brother, the
count d'Artois, had already done in the
character of lieutenant-general of the king-
dom ; but reserved for himself the right
of revising the document, which bore
marks of the haste in which it had been
drawn up by the senate.

The administration of Louis excited
the discontent of the French people, es-
pecially of the Parisians, who could not
tolerate the restoration of the ancient
forms and principles. In this state of
public feeling, nothing could be more
fatal for the royal government, than the
sudden re-appearance of Napoleon at
Cannes, on the coast of France, on the
1st of March, 1815.

These circumstances explain why,
without the existence of an actual con-
spiracy in favor of Napoleon, the meas-

FRANCE.

317

ures taken to oppose his progress were
unsuccessful ; why the army and a great
part of the nation declared for him ; and
why, after a march of eighteen days,
which resembled a triumph, he was able
to enter Paris without shedding a drop
of blood. The king and his partisans
left the country. Napoleon immediately
annulled most of the royal ordinances,
dissolved the two chambers, and named
a new ministry. He declared that he
should content himself with the limits of
France as settled by the peace of Paris,
and that he would establish his govern-
ment on liberal principles. But he could
not satisfy the expectations of the differ-
ent parties ; much less could he avert
the danger of a new war with Europe.

As soon as the news of Napoleon's
landing in France was received at Vien-
na, the ministers of all the allied powers,
who were assembled in congress there,
declared Napoleon the enemy and dis-
turber of the repose of the world ; and
that the powers were firmly resolved to
employ all means, and unite all their ef-
forts, to maintain the treaty of Paris.
For this purpose, Austria, Russia, Eng-
land, and Prussia, concluded (March 25)
a new treaty, on the basis of that of
Chaumont, whereby each power agreed
to bring 1 50,000 men into the field against
Napoleon, who, on Ids part, was inde-
fatigable in making preparations for war.
At the same time, he published the ad-
ditional act to the constitutions of the
empire, and summoned the meeting of
the Champ de Mai, which accepted that
act, June 1.

On the 7th of June, the new chambers
met. The army expressed great attach-
ment to him, but the nation was less con-
fident. Ilis greatest difficulty was the
want of supplies. The expedition of
Murat against Austria (April, 1815) frus-
trated the secret negotiations of Napo-
leon with the court of Vienna, so that
war was unavoidable. The armies of
the allies formed a cordon around the
frontiers of France, extending from Os-
tend to Switzerland, and beyond it to
Italy. Napoleon with his main army,
advanced to meet the English and Prus-
sians, under Wellington and Blucher,
who were approaching from the Nether-

I lands. After some skirmishes with the
j outposts on the frontiers, the French at-
tacked the Prussians at Thuin on the
Sambre, (June 15,) and drove them back.
On the 16th, Napoleon gained a victory
over the Prussians, in the plains of
Fleurus.

In consequence of the retreat of the
Prussians, the duke of Wellington retir-
ed on Waterloo. The position which
he occupied was good, but towards the
centre it had various weak points. It
ran from the Brussels road to the right,
about a mile and a half in length ; and
then turned very sharply to the right,
and crossed the road from Nivelle to
Namur ; these two roads cross each
other, so that the British position formed
nearly a quarter circle. At the turn of
the bottom of a slope, Avas a farm and
orchards, called Mount St. John, which
was the key of the position, and the front
of the centre. On their left, the British
communicated with the Prussians at
Wavre, through Ohaim.

At half past 1 0 o'clock in the forenoon
of the 1 8th, Bonaparte began to put his
troops in motion ; and, about an hour
afterwards, one of his corps attacked the
country-house on the right of the British,
where the Nassau troops were posted ;
these were obliged to give way ; but the
house itself was so well defended, that
the French could not gain possession of
it. This attack on the right of the Bri-
tish centre, Bonaparte accompanied with
a dreadful fire of artillery ; under the
cover of which, he made repeated attacks
of cavalry and infantry, sometimes mixed,
and sometimes separate, from the centre
to the right : but the skill of the duke of
Wellington, and the admirable moral
courage and physical strength of his
troops, were unconquerable. Agaiii.st
one of these attacks of the French cav-
alry, General Picton, who was with his
division on the road from Brussels to
Charleroi, advanced with the bayonet.
The French, stnick with astonishment at
the circumstance of infantry advancing
to the charge of cavalry, fired, and then
fled. At this moment, General Picton
! was unfortunately killed. The English
hfe guards next advanced against the
49th aod 105th regiments of French in-

318

FRANCE.

fantry ; to their support the cuirassiers
came up : the most sanguinary cavalry
fight perhaps ever witnessed, was the con-
sequence ; but the British were victori-
ous, and the cuirassiers were annihilated.

The battle had now lasted above five
hours ; during which Bonaparte had lost
an immense number of men, by his des-
perate charges, without being able to
make any decisive impression. The
duke of Wellington, kept his troops en-
tirely on the defensive ; but though he
thus had saved their strength as much as
possible, yet they were beginning to be
exhausted, and he frequently turned his
anxious and vigilant eye to that quarter
where he expected the Prussians to
arrive.

At break of day, the Prussian anny
had began to move ; the 2d and 4th corps
marched to take up a position whence
they might attack the French on the rear,
if circumstances proved favorable. The
1st corps was to operate on the right
flank of the French ; and the 3d corps
was to follow slowly in order. About 5
o'clock, Bonaparte perceived the advance
of part of the Prussian army, which at
first he seems to have supposed to have
been the division of his own army under
Marshal Grouchy, who had been posted
on the rear of the allies to take advan-
tage of their anticipated defeat. As soon,
however, as he ascertained that it was
the Prussians, he repeated his attacks
with cavalry and infantry, supported by
artillery, in a more desperate and mur-
derous manner than ever ; but the British
were immoveable. At last, about seven
in the evening, he made a last eflbrt, put-
ting himself at the head of his guards.
He succeeded for a moment in driving
back the Brunswickers ; but the duke of
Wellington, putting himself at their head,
and animating them by a short speech,
restored the combat. At this critical
moment, the Prussians came up : Gen-
eral Bulow advanced rapidly on the rear
of the right wing of the French ; and
Marshal Blucher had joined in person
with a corps of his army to the left of
the British army, by Ohaim. The duke
of Wellington headed the foot-guards ;
spoke a few words to them, which were
replied to by a general hurrah ; and his

grace guiding them on with his hat, they
marched at the point of the bayonet, to
close action with the imperial guard ;
but the latter began a retreat, in which
they were imitated by the whole French
army. The British, completely exhaust-
ed, left the pursuit to the Prussians, who,
coming fresh to battle, soon changed the
retreat of the French into a rout, the most
destructive, perhaps, ever known. In
this battle, nearly 300 pieces of cannon
were taken, and upwards of 14,000 pris-
oners. The loss of the French in kill-
ed, especially on the 16th, when the
Prussians neither gave nor received quar-
ter, was immense ; on the 16th and 18th,
it could not have amounted to less than
40,000 men. On the 16th, the Prussians
lost about 16,000 men; and on the 18th,
the duke of Wellington's army about
13,000.

As Napoleon saw that France was
lost to him, he resigned the crown, on
the 22nd of June, in a proclamation to
the French nation, and at the same time
declared his son emperor, under the title
of Napoleon II. A provisional govern-
ment, at the head of which was Fouche,
was vested with the administration of the
state. Napoleon left the capital, and
surrendered himself to the power of Great
Britain.

The army of the allies had, in the
meantime, arrived at Paris, where on the
3rd of July, a military convention was
concluded by Blucher and Wellington,
with marshal Davoust, according to the
articles of which, the French army retir-
ed behind the Loire, and Paris was sur-
rendered to the troops of the allies. On
the 6th they entered Paris ; and, on the
following day, Louis XVIIl, a second
time took possession of his throne. A
new chamber of deputies was now con-
voked, the French army behind the Loire
was disbanded, and an order was issued
for the formation of a new army. Severe
measures were adopted against the ad-
herents of Napoleon. After much nego-
tiation, the treaty of Paris was concluded
between the allies and Louis XVIII,
on the following conditions : — the limits
of France was to remain as in 1790 ;
France was to surrender four fortresses ;
the duchy of Bouillon ; that part of the

FRANCE.

319

depavment of the Lower Rhine situated
on the left bank of the Lauter ; a part of
the district of Gex ; and the part of Sa-
voy which had been left to France in
1814; in all, 434,000 inhabitants. She
was bound not to erect any fortress within
three leagTies of Basle, in the place of
the fortifications of Hiiningen, which had
been demolished immediately after its
surrender ; renounced her claims to the
principality of Monaco ; agreed to pay
to the aUies a contribution of 700,000,000
francs ; to give up seventeen citadels for
from three to five years, and to support
150,000 troops of the allies within her
frontier^.

The French government was further
bound to satisfy the lawful claims of in-
dividuals, corporations, or institutions, in
the countries of the allies, and to restore
ail the treasures of literature and art,
which the French had carried off from
conquered countries. The last article
was executed while the foreign troops
were in Paris. Finally, P'rance agreed
to abolish the slave-trade unconditionally.

This treaty was signed by Richelieu,
the president of the new ministry, ap-
pointed in September, 1815. The law
of the 29lh of October, 1815, granted to
the government the extraordinary power
of confining all persons suspected of de-
signs against the king and the state,
without previous conviction by a judicial
tribunal, and often without publicity.
Finally, the two chambers passed the
law of amnesty proposed by the king,
(January 6, 1816,) by which all those
who had voted for the death of Louis
XVI, or had accepted ofiices from Na-
poleon during the hundred days, were
for ever banished from the kingdom.

Though the Bourbons endeavored to
build up an aristocratical and absolute
monarchy, many of their measures had
a contrary effect. The nobles had ceas-
ed, in France, to form an aristocracy.
Their great numbers and little wealth ;
the mixture of political elements they
presented^ — the noblesse of the ancien
regime and of the imperial dynasty, the
one the offspring of feudalism, the other
of the revolution — the soldier of Conde,
and the officer of the republican army
who encountered him in the field ; their

total want of any political privileges ;
these, with some other circumstances,
had left the noblesse entirely without
consequence. Even the peers at the
present period, do not contain many aris-
tocratical elements. As they are with-
out the immense wealth and patronage
of the British peerage, they exercise lit-
tle influence ; and they follow, rather
than lead, the nation. One of the meas-
ures of the late dynasty, which had re-
coiled upon themselves, was the allowing
only those to vote, and to be eligible to
office, who paid the highest taxes. As
the nobility were not rich, it very often
happened that barons and counts could
neither be eligible nor even electors,
while rich manufacturers, bankers, &c,
enjoyed these privileges. Those very
persons whom it was the great object of
the government to exclude from the legis-
lature, were the persons who paid the
highest taxes, and, consequently, were
electors, and frequently were elected.
The Bourbons did not understand France,
and had gradually alienated the nation ;
the latter knew the sentiments of the
Bourbons ; they knew what they had to
expect from the new ministry, and were
determined, from the beginning, not to
tolerate their illegal projects.

The political history of the year 1830,
commenced, March 2, by a speech from
the throne, which announced that war
had been declared against Algiers on ac-
count of the insults oflered to the French
flag (the dey had also struck the French
consul at a public audience, on receiving
an answer in the affirmative to his ques-
tion whether the debt due from France
to Algiers, had been settled) ; that active
negotiations were on foot to effect a re-
concihation between the members of the
Braganza family ; and that the revenue
of 1829, though less than that of the
preceding year, exceed the estimates of
the budget. The speech ended with the
following words : " Peers of France,
deputies of the departments, I do not
doubt your co-operation in the good I de-
sire to do. You will repel, with con-
tempt, the perfidious insinuations which
malevolence is busy in propagating. If
guilty intrigues should throw any obsta-
cles in the way of my government.

320

FRANCE.

which I cannot and will not anticipate, I
I should find force to overcome them, in
my resolution to preserve the public
peace, in the just confidence I have in
the French nation, and in the love which
they have always evinced for their kings."

The funds fell as soon as the speech
was made public. There was a consid-
erably majority in the chamber of depu-
ties against the ministers. Royer-Col-
lard was re-elected president. On the
18th of March, the usual deputation of
the chamber, with the president at their
head, presented to the king the answer of
the chamber. The address declared, in
a frank, but respectful tone, that a con-
currence did not exist between the views
of the government and the wishes of the
nation ; that the administration was ac-
tuated by a distrust of the nation ; and
that the nation, on the other hand, was
agitated with apprehensions which would
become fatal to its prosperity and its re-
pose. " Sire," continued the address,
" France does not wish for anarchy any
more than you wish for despotism."
Never was a more firm yet prudent warn-
ing given to a king. The king replied,
by expressing his regret that the concur-
rence which he had a right to expect
from the deputies of the departments, did
not exist ; he declared that his resolu-
tion was fixed, and that the ministers
would make known his intentions. The
peers had answered on the 10th, by a
mere echo of the speech from the throne.
Chateaubriand's address on this speech
was a bold attack on the ministers. The
two chambers were immediately con-
voked for the next day, (the 19th,) to
receive a communication from the gov-
ernment, when the chambers v/ere de-
clared to be prorogued until September
1, the same year, — a measure which
produced great excitement throughout
France.

The journals became more active than
ever. The Jesuitical and royalist journals
exulted in the measure, and praised the
ministry for its firmness, whilst the liber-
al papers began to predict the events
which have since taken place. They
were conducted, in general, with great
decorum, whilst the ministerial journals
were filled with abuse and reproaches of

their opponents, whom they denounced
as traitors and enemies of the throne.
To the hatred of the liberals against Fo-
lignac and his colleagues was added con-
tempt for his imbecility. A society was
formed in Paris for the purpose of print-
ing journals in such departments and dis-
tricts as were destitute of them, and re-
moving the impediments to their publi-
cation occasioned by the refusal of prin-
ters to lend their presses to papers op-
posed to the measures of govenmient.
In Britany, an association was formed
to refuse the payment of taxes not regu-
larly granted by the chamber of dep-
uties.

The members of this association
agreed to assist each other in case of
prosecution. The association was de-
nounced, but was acquitted by the cour
royale at Paris. 221 deputies had voted
for the answer to the king's speech, and
181 against it. The names of 221 Avere
printed in hand bills ; the number 221
were seen on snuff-boxes, &c, and un
des 221 soon became an honorable title.
Benjamin Constant, however, declared
himself, in the Gazette de France, against
the answer. Government prohibited the
sale of snuff-boxes, &c, and published
a list of prefects, dismissed or transfer-
red to other departments ; purified, as
the ministerials called it, all branches of
the administration ; appointed many of
the most servile partisans judges, prose-
cuted the journals, and men of letters,
many of whom were national favorites,
and continued, though in the minority, to
treat their opponents as traitors, and de-
liberately insulted the nation.

April 1, coimt Villele had a long inter-
view with the king, and the papers as-
serted that negotiations were on foot to
recall him to the ministry. Prince Po-
ligTiac seemed to have become more
violent in proportion to his weakness ;
and it Avould seem as if schemes of ven-
geance had mingled with his absurd ideas
of governing France. The anniversary
of the entry of Charles X, (then count
d'Artois,) into Paris, in 1814, was celebra-
ted, April 13. All the public bodies made
flattering speeches, and received gracious
answers, and all the pageantry of mon-
archy, though of a very different com-

FRANCE.

321

plexion from what was soon to follow,
was displayed.

We have already mentioned the diffi-
culties which existed between the king
of P^rance and the dey of Algiers, and
the intimation, in the king's speech, of his
determination to take effectual measures
on this point. A war with Algiers was
in every shape agreeable to the adminis-
tration. The same reason, which was
one of the inducements to the war with
Spain, the desire of making the army
familiar with the name of the Bourbons
and the drapeau Mane, still existed. But
there were other reasons which rendered
a war with reasonable probability of suc-
cess, particularly desirable for the minis-
try at this moment. It enabled them to
assemble an army, which, in case of
necessity, might be used at home, and
even if it were absent at Algiers, the
military preparations might be useful for
their purposes. They hoped that a war
of this kind would divert the public at-
tention, and victory would at once render
them popular with a nation so enthusias-
tically fond of military glory. In both
calculations the ministry, as we shall see,
were grievously mistaken. Count Bour-
mont, the minister of war, was appointed
commander-in-chief of the expedition,
and admiral Duperre the commander of
the fleet. April 20, 1830, the Moniteur
stated the reasons for the war to be, that
the dey had raised the ancient tribute of
17,000 francs per annum to 60,000, and
finally to 200,000 francs ; that, though
this sum was duly paid from 1820 to 1826,
the dey had been unfavorable to the in-
terests of the French nation, insulted the
French flag, and struck the French con-
sul, &c. May 10, the army consisting
of 37,577 infantry and 4,000 horse, em-
barked at Toulon, and the fleet, consist-
ing of ninety-seven vessels, of which
eleven were ships of the line and twenty-
four frigates, set sail. June 14, at four
o'clock, the army began to disembark at
Sidi Ferrajh, on the coast of Africa.

May 17, the royal ordinance dissolv-
ing the chamber appeared in the Moni-
teur. At the same time, new elections
were ordered, and the two chambers
convoked for August 3. The Moniteur
of June 15, contained a proclamation of
41

the king, in which he called upon all
Frenchmen to do their duty in the col-
leges, to rely upon his constitutional in-
tentions, &c. In this proclamation are
these remarkable words ; — " As the father
of my people, my heart was grieved ; as
king, I felt insulted. I pronounced the
dissolution of that chamber." It ends
I thus — " Electors, hasten to your colleges.
Let no reprehensible negligence deprive
them of your presence ! Let one senti-
! ment animate you all ; let one standard
[ be your rallying point ! It is your king
j who demands this of you ; it is a father
I who calls upon you. Fulfil your duties,
j I will take care to fulfil mine." The
j elections for the new chamber took place
in the latter part of June and in July.
The activity and talent displayed in the
opposition papers during this struggle
were admirable. Though the success of
the army in Algiers became known during
the electoral struggle at home, and though
all parties exulted in the success of the
French arms, it appears that the ministry
gained no popularity by it. All the re-
turns of the new elections, indicated a
strong majority against the ministry, so
that, in the beginning of July, intelli-
gent men spoke of a change of the min-
istry as a natural consequence, and the
funds rose ; but the infatuated ministry
had determined otherwise. It preferred
to attack the charter, violate the social
contract, and expose France to a civil
war, rather than to yield. The ministerial
papers now began to assert that, after the
enemies in Africa were subdued, those
at home remained to be conquered.
They began to utter the phrase coup
d'etat, which several papers, under the
more direct influence of the clergy, actu-
ally demanded. During this time the
king and queen of Naples visited Paris,
and many festivals took place, strongly
in contrast with the state of political
affairs. The king also ordered Te
Deum to be sung in all churches of the
kingdom for the victory of his army in
Africa, the news of which reached Paris
(July 9) four days after the capture of
Algiers. The capital was illuminated.

In several departments numerous con-
flagrations had taken place, which were
evidently the work of incendiaries. Ma-

322

FRANCE.

ny people, whether reasonably or not,
believed these atrocities lo have been
perpetrated by the instigation of the min-
istry. This appears from the cries of
the populace, when prince Polignac was
arrested — " This is the monster who has
burned our houses. Hang him, Hang
him !"

Of the 221 who voted for the answer
of the chamber, 220 were re-elected.
The liberals in the new chamber were
270, the ministerial members 145, and
fifteen were undecided. In consequence
of this result, the ministers made a " re-
port to the king," setting forth at length
the dangers of a free press, of which
they say, " At all epochs, the periodical
press has only been, and from its nature
must ever be, an instrument of disorder
and sedition ;" and calling upon the king
to suspend the liberty of the press, a
measure authorised, as they asserted, by
the fourteenth article of the charter,
which declares that the king has the
power to make all regulations and ordi-
nances for the execution of the laws and
the safety of the state. " The state,"
they said, " is in danger, and your ma-
jesty has the right to provide for its
safety. No government can stand, if it
has not the right to provide for its own
safety ; besides, the eighth article of the
charter only gives every Frenchman the
right of publishing his own opinions, but
not, as the journals do, the opinions of
others ; the charter does not expressl)^
allow journals and the liberty of the
press. The journals misrepresent the
best intentions of government ; and the
liberty of the press produces the very
contrary of publicity, because ill-inten-
tioned writers misconstrue every thing,
and the public never knows the truth."

This report, to which its consequences
have given a considerable degree of his-
torical importance, is one of the shallow-
est and most preposterous state papers on
record. It combines the most unconsti-
tutional principles wdth miserable sophis-
try and the verbiage of despotism. The
Polignac ministry had resolved to violate
the constitution, and wanted talents to
play the despot. History proves that
nothing is so violent and so blind as
bigotry, religious or political ; and this

was the characteristic of the whole par-
ty, priests and laymen, who supported or
rather instigated Polignac.

Meetings of opident citizens were now
held for the purpose of considering what
course to pursue ; and they resolved not
to pay the current taxes, lest the money
should be applied to the final subjugation
of the chamber of deputies and the pe-
riodical press. The Bourse or Exchange
was crowded to excess. In every face
their Avas either stupefacticm or alarm.
There were at this time in Paris the de-
puties representing the electors of the
city, and some of the deputies from other
parts of the kingdom. They assembled,
to the number of thirty-two, and deliber-
ated at the house of the deputy, M. La-
fitte, the banker. A number of constitu-
tional peers hastily met at the duke de
Choiseul's. At each of these meetings
it was resolved not to submit. The peers
signed a protest, and sent it by a deputa-
tion to the king, who refused to receive
it. This rejection strengthened the re-
solution of the deputies, and forty cou-
riers were sent with despatches to towns
and villages Avithin one hundred miles
of the metropolis, representing the out-
rageous conduct of the government, and
urging the inhabitants to co-operate with
the Parisians in a determined stand for
the liberties of France.

In the meantime the government was
on the alert, and sent a general officer to
Grenelle, and another to Anglers, for mil-
itary purposes. The military command
of Paris was intrusted to the marshal
duke of Ragusa (Marmont). Troops
were ordered in from the barracks with-
in fifty miles around ; and the guards in
the city were doubled. Towards the
evening, bodies of gendarmerie were
stationed about the Bourse, and on the
Boulevards. In consequence of the bank
refusing to discount bills, the manufac-
turers perceived it had not confidence in
the government, and they immediately
discharged their workmen. These arti-
sans congregated in the difTerent streets
and reported what had happened to list-
ening throngs. Lovers of news rushed
to the offices of journals which contained
second editions, with the obnoxious ordi-
nances. The ministers were not willing

FRANCE.

323

that a knowledge of their own acts? should
extend to the provinces. Most of the
papers put into the post-office were with-
held, and the prefect of the police, M.
Maugin, issued the annexed ordinance.

" We, Prefect of Police, &c, seeing
the ordinance of the King, dated the
25th inst., which puts again in force ar-
ticles 1, 2 and 9, of the law of the 21st
October, 1814, &c, have ordained, and
ordain as follows : —

"Art. 1. Every individual who shall
distribute printed writings, on which there
shall not be the true indication of the
names, profession, and residence of the
author and of the printer, or who shall
give to the public the same writings to
read, shall be brought before the commis-
sary of police of the quarter, and the
writings shall be seized.

" 2. Every individual keeping a read-
ing-room, coffee-house, &c, who shall
give to be read journals, or other writings,
printed contrary to the ordinance of the
king of the 25th inst., relative to the
press, shall be prosecuted as guilty of
the misdemeanors which these journals
or writings may constitute, and his es-
tablishment shall be provisionally closed.

" 3. The present ordinance shall be
printed, published, and posted up.

" 4. The commissary chief of munici-
pal police, the commissaries of police,
shall be enjoined to see the execution of
it. It shall be addressed to the colonel
of the city of Paris, commander of the
royal gendarmerie, to cause the execu-
tion of it as far as he is concerned."

This ordinance, which was posted on
the walls in all parts of the city, height-
ened the general discontent. It was
plain there were to be fewer papers, and
each with only such a small amoimt of
adulterated intelligence as Prince Polig-
nac and his confederates should sanction.
Newspapers v/ith a Frenchman's coffee
in the morning are essential to his exist-
ence. He neither does, nor can he do,
without them. M. Maugin's ordinance
was honored with as much contempt as
the ordinance of Polignac and the other
members of the government. The offi-
cers of this functionary cleared the cof-
fee-houses and reading-rooms of visiters,
and shut up these and other places of re-

sort for amusement or refreshment.
By order of the police, the theatres were
closed. These precautionary measures
were by no means effective. The gov-
ernment spies prowled in redoubled num-
bers, and were enabled to inform their em-
ployers that all Paris was in a state of
high sedition.

In the course of the day the gendar-
merie were objects of popular dislike,
which was chiefly manifested by words.
Several shops and public buildings were
closed ; and, much earlier than was cus-
tomary, ail the shops in the Palais Royal
were shut up. Young men, chiefly the
sons of tradesmen, paraded the streets
with walking sticks containing small
swords, which they drew occasionally
and flourished in the air, at the same
time uttering loud cries of " Vive la
Charte." Charles X came privately to
Paris, and slept at the duchess de Her-
ri's ; while many of the Parisians passed
the night in devising means for opposing
the arbitrary domination he had assumed.

About noon, on Tuesday, the police
and a large force of gendarmes, mounted
and on foot, appeared before the office of
a very popular journal, called the Na-
tionnel. They found the door fast closed ;
and being refused entrance, broke in,
seized the types, and carried the redac-
teur-en-chef to prison, leaving five mount-
ed gendarmes to blockade the entrance
of the street. The same force proceed-
ed to the office of the Temps, another
popular newspaper, where, the door being
blockaded and admission denied, a smith
was sent for to break it open, but he re-
fused to act. Another smith was pro-
cured, who picked the lock and opened
the door. Still there was no entrance ;
for the door-way within was barricaded,
and a body of printers inside vowed to
defend the blockaded pass, and the press,
with their lives. The commissaries of
police, however, by some means got in,
and seized the papers that remained and
the types.

A deputation of peers left Paris for St.
Cloud ; but the court had taken a head-
long course, and perversely determined
on enforcing its mandates. The deputies
assembled, and were understood to have
unanimously resolved, that the ministers

324

FRANCE.

having placed themselves out of the pale
of the law, the people would be justified
in refusing payment of the taxes ; and
that all the deputies should be summoned
to meet on the 3rd of August, the day
first appointed for their convocation. By
twelve o'clock, there were, at least, 5000
people in the Palais Royal. The multi-
tude was increased by printers thrown
out of employment from the suppression
of the journals, and by workmen dis-
missed from the manufactories. The
ferment rapidly heightened, especially
among groups of electors of 12/. a year,
whom the ordinances disfranchised, who
listened to harangues from speakers :
mounted on chairs.

All work was now abandoned, every
manufactory closed, and detachments of
artisans with large sticks traversed the j
streets. Troops of gendarmes patrolled i
the streets at full gallop to disperse the j
accumulating crowds. The people were !
silent, and at an early hour the shops
throughout Paris were closed. Troops
of the royal guard and soldiers of the
line came pouring in. The people look-
ed sullen and determined. The chief
points of rendezvous were the Palais
Royal, the Palais de Justice, and the
Bourse. There were simultaneous cries
of " Vive la Charte .'" — " Down with the
absolute king !" — but no conversation —
no exchange of words with each other.
The king was at the Tuilleries. In the
Place Carousel there was a station of
several thousands of the military, includ-
ing the lancers of the royal guard, with
a great number of cannon. At the Place
Vendome a strong guard of infantry was
stationed around the column, to guard
the ensigns of royalty upon it from being
defaced. Crowds of people assembled
on the spot and menaced the troops.

On Wednesday morning, July 28, the
shops of Paris were closely shut, and
the windows fastened and barred, as if
the inhabitants of the city were in
mourning for the dead, or in apprehen-
sion of approaching calamity. The toc-
sin sounded, and the people flocked in
from the fauxbourgs and different quar-
ters of the city. That determined enemy
to oppression, the press, had been at
work during the night. Handbills were

profusely distributed, containing vehe-
ment philippics against the king and his
ministers, and summoning every man to
arm for his country, and to aid in ejecting
the Bourbons. Placards were constantly
posted up and eagerly read. During the
preceding night an organization of the
people had been arranged. All the arms
that could be found at the theatres, and
remaining in the shops of armourers that
had not been visited the evening before,
were seized and distributed. Every
other kind of property was respected.

Strong detachments guarded the difler-
ent hotels of the ministers. Loud cries and
shouts were constantly heard of " Down
with the Jesuits !" — " Down with the
Bourbons !" — " Death to the ministers !"
Each man strove to provide himself with
a musket, a pistol, a sword, a pole with a
knife, or some cutting instrument to form a
weapon of offence. Troops continually
arrived from St. Denis, St. Cloud, and
other military stations. Rude barricades
were hastily thrown up in diflTerent places
to prevent the attacks of cavalry. Se-
veral telegraphs, including that on the
church des Petits Peres, were dismount-
ed. Groups of the people, armed with
sticks, bayonets, pikes, and muskets, re-
moved or effaced all the insignia and em-
blems of royalty. A red flag was hoist-
ed on the gate of St. Denis, amidst the
shouts of the people. Tri-colored flags
were promenaded in the streets, and tri-
colored cockades and breast-knots were
worn, not only by the French, but by the
English and foreigners of all nations. The
royal arms and other ensigns of the gov-
ernment of Charles X that were move-
able, were burned in the Place Publique.
All Paris was in insurrection. Every
movement of the people portended a ter-
rible conflict. The government reposed
in security upon a Wind and implacable
dignity.

A deputation was formed of the follow-
ing eminent deputies : — Messrs. general
Gerard, count de Lobau, Lafitte, Casimir
Perrier, and Mauguin. — Amidst the fire
of musketry they went to the marshal
duke of Ragusa. M. Lafitte represented
to the marshal the deplorable state of
the capital ; blood flowing in all direc-
tions J the musketry firing as in a town

FRANCE.

325

taken by storm. He made him person-
ally responsible, in the name of the as-
sembled deputies of France, for the fatal
consequences of so melancholy an event.
The marshal replied — " The honor of a
soldier is obedience." " And civil hon-
our," replied M. Lafitte, " is not to mas-
sacre the citizens." The marshal said,
" But, gentlemen, what are the condi-
tions you propose ?" Without judging
too highly of our influence, we think that
we can be answerable that every thing
will return to order on the following con-
ditions : — The revocation of the illegal
ordinances of the 25th of July, the dis-
missal of the ministers, and the convoca-
tion of the chambers on the 3rd of August."
The marshal replied, " that, as a citizen,
he perhaps mightnot disapprove, nay, even
might participate in the opinions of the
deputies ; but that, as a soldier, he had his
orders, and he had only to carry them into
execution — that, however, he engaged to
submit these proposals to the king in
half an hour. But," said the marshal,
" if you wish, gentlemen, to have a confer-
ence on the subject with M. de Polignac,
he is close at hand, and I will go and
ask him if he can receive you." A quar-
ter of an hour passed, the marshal return-
ed with his manner much changed, and
told the deputies that M. de Polignac had
declared to him that the conditions pro-
posed, rendered any conference useless.
" We have then civil war," said M. La-
fitte. The marshal bowed, and the de-
puties retired.

It had been known among the people
that the deputies were to have a communi-
cation with the duke of Ragusa ; and
during the conference, and for some short
time after, though the public feeling was
intense, the assembled multitude was
perfectly still, and mixed freely among
the troops. As soon, however, as Polig-
nac's answer was made known, " that
ministers would enter into no compromise
or concession," war, and war to the knife,
commenced ; and never were witnessed
more heroic acts of personal bravery,
and more generous disregard of selfish
feelings than were displayed by the citi-
zens of Paris on this memorable day and
night. The drums of the national guards
soon beat " to arms !" The populace

answered the call amid the incessant
ringing of the tocsin, and the struggle
began in earnest. About two o'clock a
cannon on the bridge near the March^
aux Fleurs, raked with grape-shot the
quay, while the troops were resolutely
attacked by the people, and several of
the guards led ofl', killed, or wounded.

There was a tremendous conflict in.
La Halle, the great market-place of the
Rue St. Denis. The royal guard were
early in possession of it. All the out-
lets were speedily closed by barricades,
from behind which, from the corners of
the various streets, and from the win-
dows of the houses, the people fired on
the guards, and there was a terrible
slaughter on both sides. The hottest en-
gagement seems to have been in the Rue
St. Honore, opposite the Palais Royal,
where the military were assembled in
great force, and the people resisted their
assailants with desperate determination.

At the Place de Greve they fiercely
contended with the household troops, the
Swiss guards, and compelled them to
fly with great loss. In the Rue Mont-
martre an attack was made by the duke
de Ragusa in person. During part of
the day the Place des Victoires was oc-
cupied by some troops, among whom was
a part of the fifth regiment of the line,
who had gone over to the national guards
established at the Petits Peres. About
two o'clock the duke de Ragusa arrived at
the place at the head of fresh troops. He
drew them up opposite the Rues du Mail,
des Fosses, Montmartre, Croix des Petits
Champs, and Neuve des Petits Champs,
He immediately commanded a charge,
and on both sides several men were kill-
ed or wounded. The marshal directed
his troops down the Rue du Mail, and
they scoured the Rue Montmarte without
much difficulty till they reached the Rue
Joquelet, where the people were prepar-
ed. Each house was armed and guarded.
The black flag was displayed on the
Porte St. Denis and other edifices.

As soon as the firing ceased, the peo-
ple made preparations for the next day
by strengthening the barricades and in-
creasing their number. They were as-
sisted by women and even children.
The remainder of the afternoon and

326

FRANCE,

evening, and the whole of the night, was
spent in raising these important obstruc-
tions to the evolutions of cavalry. Ex-
cellent materials were at hand in the
paving stones ; they were dug up and
piled across the streets in walls breast
high, and four or five feet thick. These
walls were about fifty paces distant from
each other. Hundreds of the finest trees
were cut down for blockades. Nothing
could be more effective for the defence
of a large open town like Paris, traversed
in every direction by long narrow streets,
overlooked by houses of six, seven, and
eight stories, than such barriers scienti-
fically constructed. All the means that
industry and ingenuity could devise, in
so short a time, w^ere carried into exe-
cution, for the energetic stand and as-
sault determined to be made against the
military in the morning.

At day-break on Thursday the tocsin
sounded " To arms !" and the people be-
gan to assemble rapidly and in great
crowds. The military, whose guard-
houses had been destroyed, were chiefly
quartered at the Louvre and the Tuille-
ries, the Swiss and the royal guards be-
ing posted in the houses of the Rue St.
Honore and the adjacent streets. At the
same time, the students of the Polytech-
nic School joined the citizens nearly to
a man ; they then separated, proceeding
singly to different parts to take the com-
mand of the people, and nobly repaid the
confidence reposed in them. The garden
of the Tuilleries was closed. In the
place du Carousel were three squadrons
of lancers of the garde royale, a battal-
ion of the third regiment of the guards,
and a battery of six pieces, also belonging
to the guards.

About one o'clock in the afternoon, a
party of the royal guards and of Swiss,
to the number of nearly 800 men, ap-
peared on the Place de Greve. A brisk
fire commenced, but the national guards
not being in sufiicient strength, were
obliged to give ground, and to suffer the
royal guards to take possession of their
post. The royal guards had scarcely
made themselves masters of the Hotel
de Ville, when they were assailed on all
sides with a shower of bullets from the
windows of the houses on the Place de

Greve and in the streets abutting on the
quay. The royal guards resisted vigor-
ously, but were ultimately compelled to
retreat along the quay ; their firing by
files and by platoons succeeding each
other with astonishing rapidity. They
were soon joined by fresh troops of the
royal guard and of Swiss, including 100
curiassiers of the guard, and four pieces
of artillery, each of them escorted by a
dozen artillerymen on horseback. With
this terrible re-enforcement they again
advanced on the Hotel de Ville, and a
frightful firing began on all sides. The
artillery debouching from the quay, and
their pieces charged with cannister shot,
swept the Place de Greve, in a terrific
manner. They succeeded in driving the
citizens into the Rues de Matroit and du
Mouton, and entered for the second time
that day into their position at the Hotel
de Ville. But their posession of it did
not continue long ; for they were soon
again attacked with a perseverance and
courage which was almost irresistible.
Their artillery ranged before the Prefec-
ture of the Seine and the Hotel de Ville
threatened death to thousands.

Hundreds of the constitutionalists
were killed by the fire of the Swiss guard
from the windows of this edifice. It
was erected in 1 600, and though it does
not appear to possess any of the charac-
teristics of strength in a military sense
of the word, yet its gates being of im-
mense thickness furnished a good defence
from the musketry of the attacking par-
ties. The Hotel de Ville was afterwards
employed as the head-quarters of La
Fayette and the provisional government.

The Rue St. Honore, for two days,
was a perpetual scene of slaughter. The
Louvre, except the picture gallery, was on
all sides attacked and defended at the same
moment, and for hours. In the court of
the Louvre a field-piece was planted,
which commanded the Pont des Arts,
being exactly opposite the Institute. Here
the fighting was so dreadful and so main-
tained, that the front of the building of
the Institute was speckled with musket
and grape shot. One cannon ball smash-
ed a portion of the wall, and from its
elevation did dreadful execution in sweep-
ing the bridge. The attack on the Tuil-

FRANCE.

327

levies was over in two or three hours.
A young man marched with a tri-colored
flag at the head of the attacking bour-
geois. A thousand balls, fired from the
front of the chateau, whistled by him
without touching him. He continued to
march with perfect sang froid, but with,
at the same time, an air of importance,
up to the triumphal arch, and remained
there until the end of the battle.

While the people and the military were
combating at the Place de Greve, the
Louvre, and the Tuilleries, troops were
arriving by the Champs Elyse'es. A
great party of the people, and many na-
tional guards, with two pieces of cannon,
were hastening along near the Place
Louis XVI, towards the Barrier St.
Etoile, when a large troop of dragoons
arrived, made a desperate charge, and
cut down the people without mercy, who
made a very bold stand. Many of the
soldiers solemnly vowed that they would
not continue to obey orders to massacre
their brothers and sons. Their nimibers
were thinned, they were fatigued, dis-
heartened, discomfited, beaten, and fled.
At Chaillot, a district of Paris, verging
on the route to St. Cloud, the inhabitants,
though few in number, sustained the fire
of five regiments of the guards, who at-
tempted to eflfect their retreat by the bar-
rier of Passy. At length, all the royal
troops left the capital by the way of
the Champs Elysees, and in their retreat
were fired upon by the people.

At night, part of the town was illum-
inated, particularly the streets of St. De-
nis, St. Martin, St. Jacques, and the
neighborhood of the Hotel de Ville.
Perfect tranquillity prevailed throughout
the city. Strong patrols silently paraded
the streets, passed gently from barricade
to barricade, and disarmed individuals
whom fatigue and the heat of the weath-
er, more than wine, had rendered incapa-
ble of employing their weapons usefully.

A deputation from Charles X at St.
Cloud, arrived at the Hotel de Ville ear-
ly in the morning. It consisted of the
marquis de Rastoret, chancellor of France ;
M. Semonville ; and count d'Argout,
peer of France. They announced that
Charles X had named the duke de Morte-
mart president of the coimcil, and that

he was willing to accept a ministry
chosen by him.

At eleven o'clock, the deputies and
peers then in Paris assembled in their
respective halls, and established regular
communications with each other. The
duke de Mortemart was introduced to
the chamber of deputies, and delivered
four ordinances signed, the previous day,
by Charles X. One of them recalled
the fatal ordinances of the 25th ; another
convoked the chambers on the 3rd ; the
third appointed the duke de Mortemart
president of the council ; and the fourth
appointed count Gerard, minister of war,
and M. Casimir Perier, minister of fin-
ance. The reading of these ordinances
was listened to with the greatest atten-
tion. At the termination profound silence
continued ; — no observation was made ; —
the deputies passed to other business.
The duke de Mortemart returned to ac-
quaint his master that he was no longer
acknowledged as king of France. The
manner in which the duke and his com-
mxmications were received by the depu-
ties was an announcement that Charles
X, had ceased to reign.

July 31, the deputies published a pro-
clamation, declaring that they had invited
the duke of Orleans to become lieuten-
ant-general of the kingdom. At noon of
the same day, Louis Philippe d'Orleans
issued a proclamation, declaring that he
had hastened to Paris, wearing the "glo-
rious colors" of France, to accept the
invitation of the assembled deputies to
become lieutenant-general of the king-
dom. A proclamation of the same date
appointed provisional commissaries, for
the different departments of government,
as follows ; for the department of justice,
M. Dupont-do I'Eure ; of finance, baron
Louis ; of war, general Gerard ; of the
marine, de Rigny ; of foreign afl^airs,
M. Bignon ; of public instruction, M.
Guizot ; of the interior and public works,
M. Casimir Perier ; signed Lobau, A.
de Puyraveau, and Mauguin de Schonen.
The king, Avith his family, had fled to
St. Cloud.

History has but few events to show
that can be compared with the struggle
in Paris. The Parisians left their hab-
itations to fight, without organization, we

328

FRANCE.

might almost say, without arms, against
some of the best troops in the world ;
and for what ? Were they a rabble
driven by hunger, or a rebellious nobility
endeavoring to wrest new privileges from
the monarch ? No : they were men
who would not sulTer themselves to be
stripped of their civil rights, but firmly
and manfully defended them with their
lives. It is in this respect a great moral
revolution, and forms a brilliant epoch in
the history of France.

The king and his household fled on
July 31, from St. Cloud to Rambouillet,
a small place six leagues W. S. W. of Ver-
sailles. Three commissioners, Messrs.
De Schonen, marshal Maison, and O'Dil-
lon Barrot were sent to treat with him.
They informed the authorities at Paris,
under date of August 3, that the king
wished to leave France by way of Cher-
bourg ; to restore the crown jewels,
which he had taken from Paris, &c.
These concessions were produced by the
advance of the national guard toward
Rambouillet. On the morning of Aug.
2, the abdication of Charles X, and the
dauphin, Louis Antoine, was placed in
the hands of the lieutenant-general. The
abdication, however, was made in favor
of the duke of Bordeaux. A letter of
the king, of August 2, appointed the
duke of Orleans lieutenant-general of
the kingdom, and ordered him to proclaim
the duke of Bordeaux, king, under the
title of Henry V.

August 3, (the day originally fixed for
opening of the session), the chambers
met. The lieutenant-general addressed
the peers and the deputies, and announ-
ced the abdication of Charles. Casimir
Perier was chosen president of the
chamber, which had acted during the late
memorable events, under the vice presi-
dent Lafitte.

August 6. The chamber of deputies
declared the throne of France vacant,
de jure and de facto, and discussed those
changes of the charter, which we have
already given in the former part of this
article. On the 7th, new changes were
adopted, and it was voted to invite the
duke of Orleans to become king of the
French on condition of his accepting
these changes ; the vote stood 219 in fa-

vor, 33 against. The whole number of
deputies is 430 ; so that 219 is not only
an immense majority of those present,
but a majority of the whole chamber.
On the 8th, the chamber went in a bo-
dy to the duke of Orleans, and offered
him the crown, which he accepted ; and
on August 9, he took the prescribed con-
stitutional oath. A majority of the cham-
ber of peers actually present concurred
in these measures.

In the middle of November, 1831,
alarming riots occurred at Lyons, in con-
sequence of a dispute between the work-
ing weavers, their employers, and the
civic authorities, respecting the rate of
wages. The insurgents seized on the
prefect and general Ordoneau, the civil
and military leaders, and took possession
of the city, after driving out the troops.
In their first excitement, the rioters col-
lected some valuable properly, to which
they set fire ; but this feeling soon sub-
sided, and the discontented afterwards
behaved with moderation till the arrival
of the duke of Orleans, at the head of
50,000 men, when they submitted, and
order was restored.

At the beginning of February of the
following year, a conspiracy to de-
throne Louis Philippe, and re-establish
the late dynasty, was detected in Paris.
About 300 arrests took place, and large
sums of money, received as bribes, were
found on the persons of some prisoners.

In June, 1833, marshal Soult declared
the intention of the French government
not only to relinquish Algiers, but to en-
courage its colonization from France.
Since that time, the whole coast from
Oran to Constantine has been subjected
to the government of Algiers ; and the
fortifications of the city itself have been
repaired and greatly strengthened. Thus
the determination of the French govern-
ment to retain possession of the new col-
ony is no longer doubtful.

The present condition of France is
prosperous. Agriculture, manufactures
and commerce are in a flourishing state.
Great attention is paid to the education
of all classes. The arts and sciences
are highly cultivated, and among her
learned men, are to be found the greatest
scholars of the age.

GERMANY.

329

GERMANY.

Germany is divided among such a
number of sovereigns, native and foreign,
and its natural boundaries are so obscure-
ly marked, that it is difficult, and at first
sight seems improper, to describe it as a
single country. But when it is consid-
ered, that, in respect to name, language,
and inhabitants, it possesses a unity of
character, from which it derives a fair
and solid claim to occupy a separate place
among the divisions of Europe, and that
although its extreme limits are not easily
ascertained, the great mass of which it
is composed is sufficiently identified, we
trust we shall be justified in making it
the subject of a separate article.

Our most accurate, full, and important
information respecting ancient Germany,
is derived from Tacitus. He gives the
names and locations of the numerous
tribes inhabiting the country, which it
appears comprehended about one third
part of Europe.

The ancient Germans were distin-
guished by their blue eyes, red hair, and
large stature. Their children were al-
ways kept naked and dirty ; every mother
suckled her own infants, and did not
commit them to the care of maid-servants
or nurses. There was no distinction in
the mode of rearing the master and slave.
They lived among the same cattle, and
lay on the same ground, till age caused
them to be separated, and superior valor
marked out the free-born. They were
not permitted to marry early in life : the
more numerous a person's kinsman and
relations by marriage were, the more
comfortable and respectable was his old
age : it was no advantage, but rather
considered a misfortune and disgrace, to
be childless. The uncle, by the mother's
side, regarded his nephews with the
same affection as their father ; every
man's children were his heirs and suc-
cessors, without any testament ; if there
were no issue, the brothers of the de-
ceased inherited the property, and then
his uncles, by his father's or mother's
side. The ancient Germans were utterly
ignorant of arts and agriculture. Tacitus
42

expressly says, that in his time they had
no cities ; and though Ptolemy reckons
up 90 places, which he calls cities, in
all probability they were only rude forti-
fications, erected to secure the women,
children, and cattle, while the men were
engaged in warfare. They had not even
regular and connected villages, but each
individual fixed his dwelling were it suit-
ed his convenience, or pleased his fancy.
Neither stones, nor bricks, nor tiles,
were employed in erecting their habita-
tions. They were equally rude and ill
supplied with respect to their govern-
ment. The clothing used by all the
Germans was a loose mantle, fastened
with a clasp, or, when that could not be
procured, with a thorn. The rich, how-
ever, sometimes were clothed in a gar-
ment girt close, and showing the shape
of every limb. The tribes who dwelt
towards the north clothed themselves in
furs : the dress of the women was not
different from that of the men, except
that they sometimes wore linen robes of
their own manufacture, and adorned them
with purple. The principal employment
of the men, in time of peace, consisted
in hunting the various sorts of game,
with which the forests of Germany were
plentifully stocked : their herds of cattle
formed the principal object and source
of their wealth. The country, though
considerably varied, was in general cover-
ed with M'oods, or deformed by marshes ;
and the indolence and ignorance of the
inhabitants prevented them from render-
ing any large portion of it fit for the
growth of corn. Gold, silver, and iron,
were extremely scarce ; the scarcity of
iron appeared from their weapons, which,
for the most part, were spears tipt wdth
a short and narrow piece of iron. With
this spear, and with a shield, their cav-
alry went to battle. The infantry had
also missile weapons, which they threw
to a great distance, with wonderful force
and unerring aim. Their warriors were
either naked, or dressed in a loose and
light mantle. Their shields of wood, or
osier, were distinguished and ornament-

330

GERMANY.

ed with a variety of colors ; some of
the chiefs wore cuirasses, and a (cw
helmets. Their horses were slow, un-
manageable, and not remarkable for their
beauty. On their cavalry, therefore, they
seldom placed much reliance in the hour
of battle, their principal strength in gene-
ral consisting in their infantry, which
were drawn up, either mixed with the
cavalry, or in several deep columns by
themselves. They fought by families
and clans ; and while they fought, they
were encouraged by the presence of their
wives and children. Their mothers and
wives dressed their wounds : carried re-
freshments to them while fighting ; and
exhorted them to deeds of bravery. Their
armies were totally devoid of discipline ;
they rushed to battle Avith dissonant
shouts. Sometimes by their native valor,
they prevailed over the disciplined troops
of the Romans ; but they knew not how
to rally or retire ; a repulse was a sure
defeat; and when they were defeated,
the destruction of their army almost in-
evitably followed.

The ancient Germans had no temples,
but performed their religious rites in
groves, or in woods, forests, and desert
places. They adored the sun, the moon,
the fire, and the earth. Jupiter was wor-
shipped under the name of Thor, or
Thoran, the Thunderer. Odin, or Wo-
din, appears to have been their Mars, or
god of battle. The supreme deity was
worshipped under the name of Esus, or
Hesus, and under the emblem of an oak,
which was consecrated to him. They
had no druids, though their priests bore
some resemblance to them in several
points of their authority. The priests
exerted the influence wliich they pos-
sessed over the fears and superstition of
their countrymen, frequently to very use-
ful purposes. They maintained silence
and decency in the popular assemblies ;
and during a solemn procession of the
goddess Erlha, the sound of war was
hushed, quarrels were suspended, arms
laid aside, and the blessings of peace
and harmony were enjoj^ed. In war,
too, the influence of the priests was con-
spicuous. The consecrated standards,
which during peace were kept concealed
from the vulgar eye in the recesses of

the sacred groves, were placed in the
front of the battle ; and the army of their
enemies was devoted in the most solemn
manner to the gods of war and of thun-
der. They were taught by their priests,
that a brave man was the favorite of their
gods ; while the coward, Avho had lost
his shield, was devoted equally to con-
tempt and banishment in this world, and
shut out from the enjoyment of a future
state. A life spent in arms, and a glo-
rious death in battle, they were taught
assuredly led to a happy futurity, either
in this or in another world.

The passion of the ancient Germans
for play was extremely powerful. In
their sober moments they applied to dice,
as to a serious and important concern,
and with such resolved and blind eager-
ness to gain or lose, that when every
thing else was gone, they risked their
liberty and persons on the last throw.
The loser, though more powerful or more
noble than the winner, submitted to vol-
untary slavery, and sufllered himself to be
bound and sold. Still, however, notwith-
standing the strong and general preva-
lence of the spirit of gaming, some shame
was attached to it, which induced the
Avinner to dispose of the slave he had ac-
quired in this way, by commerce, in order
to wipe oft' the scandal of the transaction.
The slaves of the Germans were much bet-
ter treated, and of a higher class than the
slaves of the Romans ; each had his own
dwelling ; he was indeed bound to give
his master, from the fruits of his own
labor, a certain portion of grain, and a
certain number of cattle ; but when he
had given these, his labor was his own.

The invasion of Italy by the Cimbri
and Teutones ; their defeat by Marius,
A. M. 3909 ; the invasion of Gaul by
the borders of the Rhine, under Arioris-
tus, and their defeat by Julius Caesar, A.
M. 3950, are almost the only events of
consequence in the history of Germany,
before the Christian era, of which we
have any certain account. When Ca;sar
had completed the conquest of Gaul, he
j divided it into the Celtic, the Aquitanic,
and the Belgic provinces ; in the last, all
the German provinces on the left side of
; the Rhine were comprised. In the reign
' of Augustus, a further division took pLice,

GERMANY.

331

and the country lying between the Meuse,
the Scheldt, and the Rhine, was separa-
ted from the Belgic Gaul, and formed
into a province called Germania cis-
Rhonanas. In A. M. 3995, the famous
Arminius, at the head of the Cherusci,
massacred three Roman legions under
Varus, between the Lippe and the Ems.
In the third century of the Christian era,
the German tribes formed different asso-
ciations for their common defence against
the Romans. Of these the most remark-
able were the Saxons, comprising those
who dwelt on each side of the Elbe ;
tho Alemanni, formed by the nations be-
tween the Rhineji the Mayne and the
Lech ; the Francici, by the nations be-
tween the Rhine, the Mayne, and the
Weser ; and the Thuringians by the
nations between the Mayne, the Danube
and the Hartz. Charlemagne was the
first who united Germany under one
sceptre.

Soon after the division of the empire
of Charlemagne, the feudal system gain-
ed a consistency and firm footing, so that
by degrees it overpowered the influence
and authority of his descendants. In
consequence of the weakness of the
Carlovingian princes, the dukes and
counts converted their hereditary posses-
sions, which the)^ parcelled out among
their barons, and those among their vas-
sals. The principal of these in Germany
were, the dukes of Franconia, Saxony,
Bavaria, Suabia, and Lorraine. These
usurpations, joined to the incapacity of
the Carlovingian princes, caused the
house of Charlemagne to decline rapidly.
In Germany, on the abdication of Charles
the Fat, the people, from respect to the
placed the

empire were extended, chiefly by Otho

the Great.

This monarch subdued the kingdom of
Italy, deUvered the pope, and fixed the
imperial crown in the name and nation
of Germany. From that era, A. D.
962, two maxims of public jurisprudence
were introduced ; 1st, That the prince,
who was elected in the German diet,
acquired from that instant the kingdoms
of Italy and Rome ; and 2d, That he
could not legally assume the titles of
Emperor and Augustus, till he had re-
ceived the crown from the hands of the
pope.

It has already been mentioned, that in
the time of Tacitus, the Germans did
not live even in villages ; as, however,
they spread themselves over the country
on the west of the Rhine, they began to
inhabit villages, and even to construct
towns ; so that at an early period, after
the Triboci, Nemetes, and Vangions,
settled in the country between the Rhine
and the Vosges, the cities of Strasburg,
Spire, Mentz,and Worms, are mentioned.
Under the Francic sovereigns, cities were
multiplied ; and by Henry the Fowler
they were particularly encouraged by a
singular institution. From the troops
stationed in Germany, he chose every
ninth soldier ; the remaining eight were
to sow and till the land, and to carry the
produce to the ninth, whose business it
was to build habitations for himself and
his companions. By degrees, the lower
order of the people united themselves to
these soldiers ; and the Emperor order-
ed the courts of justice, fairs, tourna-
ments, &c, to be held in the cities they
constructed. His example was followed
in the other parts of Germany, so that in

memory of Charlemagne,

crown on the head of Arnold, a natural [ a short time it scarcely contained a d
son of Carloman, and after the decease : trict of any extent which had not its
of Arnold, on Louis, his son. On the { city. To each of them exclusive priv-
death of Louis, they elected a duke of j ileges were granted ; the most important
Franconia for their king, and then a of which were the jus stapulcB and the
Saxon line of princes. jus geranii ; by the former, all commodi-

The emperors of the house of Saxony
reigned from A. D. 911 to A. D. 1024.
They were, Henry I, surnaraed the
Fowler ; Otho I, surnamed the Great ;
Otho II, Otho III, and Henry II. During
the period that the throne was filled by
the Saxon emperors, the limits of the

ties brought into them were exposed to
public sale ; by the latter, all commodi-
ties imported or exported, were to be
weighed or measured by the public
weights or measures of the city, for
which it was entitled to a duty. At first,
the chief magistrates were of noble birth,

332

GERMANY.

but, by degrees, the chief offices were \
opened to the people at large. Thus, |
soon after the era of the Saxon Enipe- 1
rors, there were in almost every town
three different classes, — nobles, citizens, i
and slaves ; but, about the beginning of!
the 12th century, Henry V, eniranchised
all slaves in cities who were artisans.

The emperors of the house of Fran-
conia were called to the throne after the
Saxon emperors ; they reigned from
1027 to 1137. They consisted of Con-
ard II, who conquered the kingdom of;
Burgundy; Henry III, who conquered,
the country between the Inn and the i
Lech, now called Lower Austria ; Henry
IV, and Henry V ; on the death of the |
last, Lothaire, the Saxon, was elected i
king of Germany. Under Henry III, I
the empire of Germany had its greatest j
extent. It comprehended Germany, Italy, j
Burgimdy, and Lorraine. Poland and
other Slavonian districts, were tributary
to it ; and Denmark and Hungary ac-
knowledged themselves its vassals. The
Emperors of Germany at this period af-
fected to consider all Christendom as
forming a royal republic, of which the
Emperor was chief. In consequence of
this assumed supremacy, they claimed
the exclusive right of creating kings ;
and the states of the empire proclaimed
war against the Duke of Poland for hav-
ing taken to himself the title of king in
1077. Soon after reaching this point of
power and grandeur, the empire began to
decline, principally owing to the rapid
extension of the feudal system. In every
province, the subjects of the law were
the vassals of a private chief ; and the
standard which he received from his
sovereign, was often raised against him.
The power of the Emperors was also
curtailed by the incn^asing influence and
possessions of the clergy ; and the bish-
oprics in Germany became equal in ex-
tent and privileges, and superior in wealth
and population, to most of the secular
states. The emperors were gradually
deprived of the privilege of filling up
the ecclesiastical and secular benefices ;
and at length each sovereign was reduced
to a recommendation, once in his reign, I
to a single prebend in each church. l"he

by the sentence of their peers ; the ap-
pointment of the son to the duchy or
county of his father, which in the first
age of the monarchy was solicited as a
favor, was at length extorted as a right ;
and this right was claimed even by col-
lateral or female branches.

The emperor Henry IV, of Germany,
in attempting to preserve the rights of
the empire relative to the nomination of
the pope was opposed by Paschal HI,
who excommunicated the emperor, for
the alleged crime of introducing schisms
into the church. Whilst the emperor la-
bored under this calamity, his unnatural
son Henry, took up arms against him,
and having obtained possession of his
person, the archbishops of Mentz and
Cologne, were seni to inform him of his
deposition, and to demand the crown,
and other regalia. Henry having remon-
strated in vain, he put on his royal orna-
ments, and seating himself in a chair of
state, addressed the unfeeling prelates
to this effect ; " Here are the ensigns of
that royalty with which we were invested
by God and the princes of the empire ;
if you disregard the wrath of Heaven,
and the eternal reproach of mankind, so
much as to lay violent hands on your
sovereign, and strip us of them by force,
we are not in a condition to defend our-
selves from such an outrage." This ex-
postulation had no effect ; the bishops
snatched the crown from Plenry's head,
and, dragging him from his seat, pulled off
the imperial robes by force ; whilst he
lifted his streaming eyes to heaven, ac-
knowledging the sins of his youth, and
imploring God to punish the perjury and
insolence of his inhuman enemies. This
took place A. D. 1106.

The emperors of the house of Suabia
succeeded to those of the house of Fran-
conia, and held the empire from A. D.
1138 to A. D. 1254. They were, Con-
ard III ; Frederic I, surnamed Barba-
rossa ; Henry VI ; Philip ; Otho IV ;
Frederic II ; and Conard IV. The
principal events in the history of the lat-
ter princes of the Franconian line, and
of all the princes of the Suabian line,
were produced or influenced by the con-
tests between the popes and the empe-
rors ; and the principal ground of these

GERMANY

333

Deposition of Henry IV, Emperor of Germany.

contests was the claim of the popes to
the supreme dominion of every part of
the Christian world, both in temporal
and spiritual concerns. This claim gave
rise to the factions of the Guelphs and
the Ghibelines ; of which the former
were attached to the popes, and the latter
to the emperors. These two factions
kept Germany and Italy in perpetual
agitation during three centuries ; and
during this period, the imperial authority
continued to decline.

The next period, between 1254 and
1272, is generally called by the German
writers, the Great Interregnum. During
it, six princes claimed to be emperors.
The interregnum was determined by the
election of Rodolph, Count of Hapsburgh.
From him till the ultimate accession of
the house of Austria, the empire of Ger-
many was held by the following empe-
rors. Rodolph, Count of Hapsburg, elec-
ted A. D. 1273. Adolph, Count of Nas-
sau, elected A. D. 1292. Albert I, Arch-
duke of Austria, elected A. D. 1298.
Henry, Count of Luxemburg, elected A.
D. 1308. Louis V, Duke of Bavaria,
elected A. D. 1314. Charles, King of
Bohemia, A. D. 1347. Winceslaus,
King of Bohemia, A. D. 1378. Robert,

Elector Palatine, A. D. 1400. Sigis-
raond. King of Hungary, A. D. 1410.
and Albert I, duke of Austria, A. D. 1438.
During the period between the last acces-
sion of the house of Hapsburg and the
election of Charles V, the empire was
possessed by the following emperors.
Frederic III, elected A. D. 1440; Max-
imilian I, elected 1493 ; and Charles V,
elected A. D. 1519.

During this period, the boundaries of
the Germanic empire, the form of its
government, and the rise of its towns,
particularly those which composed the
Hanseatic league, are the chief subjects
of consideration. The emperor was al-
ways elective ; but great alterations took
place in the mode of election. In early
periods, the emperor was chosen by the
people at large ; afterwards the nobility
and principal officers of state possessed
the privilege exclusively ; by degrees it
was engrossed by the five great officers,
the chancellor, the great marshal, the
great chamberlain, the great butler, and
the great master. At first they contented
themselves with proposing a candidate
to the general body of electors. After-
wards they confined the whole right of
election to themselves. This mode was

334

GERMANY.

finally settled in tlie reign of Charles IV,
by the celebrated constitution, called the
Golden Bull, which fixed the right of
election in four spiritual and three tempo-
ral electors. These were, the King of
Bohemia, the Duke of Saxony, the Mar-
grave of Brandenburg, the Count Pala-
tine of the Rhine, and the three arch-
bishops of Meutz, Treves, and Cologne.
Subsequently, the Duke of Bavaria and
the Duke of Brunswick Lunenburgh
were added. The multitude of princes,
bishops, al)bots, and male and female no-
bles, who, under various names, possess-
ed sovereign rights, though all recogni-
zed the emperor as their feudal lord,
were divided into the primitive states, or
those which had always been held of the
emperor, as the duchies of Saxony aud
Bavaria, the Palatinate, and several bish-
oprics ; those which arose on the ruin of
the Guelphic family, in consequence of the
confiscation of the possessions of Henry
the Lion ; those which arose from the ruins
of llie Suabian family, and those which
arose principally during the interregnum.
But though the exclusive privilege of
choosing the emperor was confined to
the electors, they formed only one branch
of the diet. The other two branches
consisted of the princes, and of the free
and imperial cities of Germany. In pro-
cess of time, the college of princes and
prelates purged themselves of a promis-
cuous multitude. They reduced to four
representative votes the long series of in-
dependent counts, and totally excluded the
nobles, 60,000 of whom had often appear-
ed in the field of election. The cities of
Germany, the origin and first state of
which has been already noticed, insensi-
bly became divided into the free cities,
or those which held immediately of the
emperor, and had a voice at the diet ; the
mixed cities, or those under the protec-
tion of some prince, which had no voice;
and the municipal cities, entirely subject
to the states. The Hanse towns also
arose during the same period. They were
originally united for the support and en-
couragement of their commerce. Bremen
and several sea-ports in Livonia first es-
tablished the confederacy. At one time
80 towns were included in it. They were
divided into four classes ; the Vandallic,

I or the cities on the Baltic between Ham-
burgh and Pomerania ; over these Lu-
beck presided ; the Rhinarian, or cities
on the Rhine, at the head of which was
Cologne ; the Saxon, the cities in Saxony
and Westphalia, over which Brunswick
presided ; and the Prussian, the cities in
Prussia and Livonia, at the head of which
was Dantzic. From the beginning of
the 15th centurj^ Lubeck was regarded
as the head of the whole confederacy.
In the following century it declined ; in
the middle of the 17th, it was almost
wholly confined to Hamburg, Lubeck, and
Bremen. Their political existence ter-
minated in 1806.

Another important event in this period
of the history of Germany, is the division
of the territories of the empire into cir-
cles. The first division of Germany
was into the Upper and Lower, or south-
ern and northern states. The line divi-
ding them was supposed to be drawn
easterly from the mouth of the Mayne.
It was afterwards geographically divided
into the states lying on the principal
rivers, as the Danube, Rhine, &c. Maxi-
milian the First divided it into ten cir-
cles, viz, Bavaria. Franconia, Suabia,
Lower and Upper Saxony, Lower and
Upper Rhine, Westphalia, Austria, and
Burgimdy ; but the last, comprising High
Burgundy or Franche Compte, and the
17 provinces of the Netherlands, was soon
afterwards separated from the empire.

During the same period, the diets
which had been frequently held, were
regularly and solemnly established, con-
sisting, as has been already noticed, of
three classes : the college of electors of
ecclesiastical and secular princes, and
of imperial towns. This division was
finally established at Frankfort in 1580.
The three colleges deliberated separate-
ly. The agreement of them all, as well
as the consent of the emperor, was
necessary to form a resolution or law of
the empire.

Maximilian I, also established the im
perial chamber, and the Aulic council.
The president of the former was appoint-
ed by the emperor ; the assessors by the
states. The Court Palatine, or Aulic
Council, was established as a check on
the imperial chamber. During the va-

GERMANY.

335

cancy of the throne, its powers where
suspended ; but the imperial council act-
ed under the vicars of the empire. There
was no appeal from one to the other ;
the dernier resort was the diet. From
the accession of the house of Austria to
the imperial throne, the history of Ger-
many may properly be sought for imder
the article Austria. It will be neces-
sary here, however, to notice the lead-
ing events ; first, from the division of
the house of Hapsburg into its Spanish
and German lines, till the final extinction
of the latter in the house of Lorraine, or
the period between 1558 and 1745 ;
and, secondly, from the marriage of
Maria Theresa, till the abdication, by
the emperor of Germany, of the imperial
government of the empire, and the for-
mation of the confederation of the Rhine,
or the period between 1745 and 1806.

The principal events in Germany
during the first period, were the war of
thirty years, which began in 1618 and
ended in 1648 ; the war for the succes-
sion of Spain, which began in 1700 and
ended in 1713 ; the war for the succes-
sion of Poland, which began 1733, and
ended 1735 ; and the war for the suc-
cession of Austria, which began in 1740
and ended in 1748. The war of thirty
years was principally owing to the re-
ligious disputes of the 16th century.

The Reformation of religion in Ger-
many, by Martin Luther and others, was
the commencement of an important era
in the religious and civil history of the
world. This event is dated A. D. 1517,
when Tctzel, an agent of pope Leo X,
began to publish indulgences, and brought
them into Germany and offered them for
sale. Leo X was a man of pleasure and
ambition, who exhausted the papal trea-
sury, and took this method to raise mo-
ney ; but the scandalous manner in which
these pardons for all sins, past, present,
and to come, were disposed of, together
with the gross immorality of Tetzel and
his associates, gave offence to many re-
ligious persons. Luther at this time was
a professor of divinity at Wittenburg, and
when Tetzel came into the vicinity, he
boldly and eloquently protested against
the iniquity of these indulgences, and
other papal doctrines, and the vices of

the monks. He also published his sen-
timents, which spread over Germany
with great rapidity, and were read with
the greatest eagerness. Leo and his
agents, alarmed by the progress of Lu-
ther's sentiments among all classes of
people, excommunicated him as a heretic,
and would have probably put him to
death, had he not been befriended by
some of the princes of Germany, who
were friendly to the new doctrines he set
forth. * In 1520, the pope issued a bull,
or proclamation, threatening him with
destruction as an excommunicated heretic,

* Being at Augsburg in 1518, whither he had
been summoned to answer for his opinions, Lu-
ther declared he could not renounce opinions
founded in reason, and derived from Scripture,
and at the same time delivering a formal protest,
the cardinal asked, " What do you mean 1 Do you
rely on the force of arms 1 When the just punish-
ment and the thunder of the pope's indignation
break in upon you, where do you think to re-
main ]" His answer was, " Either in Heaven or
under Heaven."

Luther was at length summoned to appear be-
fore the diet at Worms, to answer for his heresy.
The emperor Charles V, having granted him a
safe conduct, he yielded obedience and set out
for Worms. While on his journey, many of his
friends (whom the fate of Huss under similar cir-
cumstances, and notwithstanding the same secu-
rity of an imperial safe conduct, filled with solici-
tude) advised and entreated him not to rush
wantonly into the midst of danger. But Luther
superior to such terrors, silenced them with this
reply : — " J am lawfully called,'" said he, " to ap-
pear in that city : and thither I will go in the 7hame
of the Lord, though as many devils as there are
tiles on the houses were there combined against me."

When Luther arrived at Worms, greater crowds
than had appeared at the emperor's public entry,
assembled to behold him. At his appearance be-
fore the diet he behaved with great decency and
firmness. When called upon to recant his opin-
ions, Luther replied, in a truly exalted manner,
" Except I can be convinced by clear reasoning,
or by proofs taken from the Holy Scriptures, I
neither can nor will recant, because it is neither
safe nor advisable to do any thing which is against
my conscience. Here I stand ; I cannot do other-
wise ; so help me God ! Amen !" Luther per-
sisting in this answer, he was dismissed from the
assembly under a strong escort, and was permit-
ted by the emperor to return from Worms.

Luther, after this, in 1534, translated the bible
into the German language, wrote many works,
and labored with unwearied zeal in propagating
the doctrines of the reformation. He had during
his life the pleasure of seeing vast numbers of
the people adoj)ting his sentiments, and the re-
formed religion firmly established in many parta
of Europe,

336

GERMANY.

unless he should within sixty days pub-
licly recant his errors, and burn his own
books. Amid a vast assemblage of peo-
ple at Wittenburg, Luther threw the pa-
pal bull, with the volumes of the canon
law into the fiames, renounced the au-
thority of the pope, exhorted the princes
of Europe to shake off the oppressive yoke
which they had so long borne, and ofler-
ed thanks to Almighty God that he was
selected as the advocate of true religion,
and a friend to the liberties of mankind.

At the diet of Augsburg, 1530, the pro-
testant princes of Germany delivered in
their confession of faith, and afterwards
formed the league of Smalkald against
the emperor. At the peace of Passau,
the free exercise of the Lutheran reli-
gion was permitted. In consequence of
the disputes regarding the succession to
the Duchies of Cleves and Juliers, the
protestant princes formed a confederacy,
called the Evangelical Union, at the
head of which was the Elector Palatine.
To this the Catholics opposed the confed-
eracy called the Catholie League, and
placed at its head the duke of Bavaria.
From 1618, when open war began, till
the peace of Westphalia in 1648, Ger-
many was a scene of deA'^astation. By
this peace, the empire underwent con-
siderable changes ; the Swedes obtained
Pomerania ; the house of Brandenburg
obtained Magdeburg, Minden, &c ; Al-
sace was conquered by France ; and Lu-
satia ceded to Saxony. The war for the
succession of Spain not producing any
changes in the Germanic empire, need
not be particularly noticed ; the same re-
mark applies to the war for the succes-
sion of Poland.

In Charles VI, the male stock of the
house of Hapsburg expired ; in his grand-
son Joseph, the two lines of this family,
after a separation of 1100 3rears were
reunited. On the decease of Charles VI,
Maria Theresa, his only daughter, suc-
ceeded him. The first events of import-
ance, after her accession, was the war
of seven years. In consequence of the
king of Prussia invading Saxony and
Bohemia, the Aulic Council voted his
conduct a breach of tlie public peace;
and the diet of the empire passed a de-
cree to the same effect. This made it a

war of that kind, which the publicists of
Germany call a war of execution of the
empire. The event of the war was, that
a mutual oblivion and restitution took
place. The next war was occasioned by
the extinction of the house of Bavaria ; it
ended in the peace of Saxe-Teschen, by
which the right of the Elector Palatine
to the succession was allowed, with the
exception of some districts of land be-
tween the Danube, the Inn, and the Salze,
which was ceded to Austria.

No event affecting the Germanic em-
pire took place after this till the French
revolution. By it the German states on
the left of the Rhine were first over-
whelmed ; afterwards the power of Aus-
tria was reduced ; Bavaria, Wurtemberg,
and Saxony, raised to the rank of king-
doms, and their territories considerably
increased, principally by the annexation
of the smaller states. Shortly after the
treaty of Presburg, most of the princes
in the western and southern divisions of
Germany separated themselves from the
Germanic body, and formed themselves
into a league, under the protection of the
emperor of the French, under the title of
the Confederated Slates of the Rhine.

By the act of the confederation, all
the laws of the empire were abrogated
with respect to these states ; their com-
mon interests were to be discussed in an
assembly of the league at Frankfort, di-
vided into two colleges of kings and
princes ; the members of the confedera-
tion to be independent of foreign powers,
and not to enter into any kind of service
except among themselves; the emperor
Napoleon to be protector of the alliance ;
all the princes, counts, &,c, within the
circle of the aUied territory to be subject
to the confederation ; every continental
war in which the emperor of the French
or the confederated states might be en-
gaged, to be common to both ; the con-
tingents to be as follows ; France 200,000
men ; Bavaria, 30,000 ; Wurtemberg,
12,000; Baden 8,000; Berg 5,000;
Darmstadt 4,000 ; Nassau, Hohenzol-
lern, and the others, 4,000 ; other Ger-
man princes were to be admitted into tho
alliance, when conducive to the common
interest.

By a solemn act, dated at Vienna on

G E Pv. M A N Y .

337

the 6th of August, 1806, the emperor of | assembly have but seventeen votes. Aus-
Germany after adverting to the conse- j tria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover,
quences of the treaty of Presburg, and | Wurtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Cassel, Hes-
to the formation of the confederation of , se-Dannstadt, Holstein, and Luxembero-
the states of the Rhine, absolved all his ; have each one vote. The other votes
German provinces and states of the em- j are collective.

pire from the reciprocal duties towards Austria presides in both diets, and has
the Germanic empire ; and the electors, ; the casting vote in the smaller assembly,
princes and states, and all that belonged j The deputies have the character of ple-
lo the empire, from the duties by which ' nipotentiaries, are responsible to their
they were united to him as their legal respective governments only, and are,
chief; at the same time abdicating the ; therefore, governed by the instructions of
imperial government of the Germanic their courts, not by their own convictions.

empire, renouncmg the title of emperor
of Germany, and assuming that of em-
peror of Austria.

With the fall of Napoleon, the confed-
eration of the Rhine was dismembered. —
Bavaria, and the other members succes-
sively, joining the allies against their for-
mer protector, — and was succeeded by
the Germanic confederation, formed June
the 8th, 1814, according to the words of
the document, to secure the indepen-
dence and inviolability, and to preserve
the internal peace, of the states. Ger-
many thus presents again the semblance
of a political whole, which in reality
possesses no strength, even in time of
peace, as many instances show. It is
only necessary to mention the fruitless
decrees of the Germanic diet, respecting
the arbitrary ordinances of the elector of
Hesse-Cassel against the holders of the
old domains, tlie,excesses and follies of
the duke of Brunswick, and the want of
any general system for promoting the
internal navigation of the country. In
time of war, its inefficiency must be still
more apparent. At present, the Ger-
manic confederation can be considered
only as an imperfect union, directed prin-
cipally by the two most powerful mem-
bers, Austria and Prussia, which entered
into it reluctantly, withholding several of
their provinces from the confederacy.

The confederation consists of thirty-

rhe chief objects of the German con-
federation are the following: — 1. The
independence and integrity of the states ;
with this is connected the right of ex-
amining the disputes between members
of the confederation and foreign states,
and of obliging the former to yield, if
they are judged to be wrong. 2. The
mutual protection of the states against
each other, or the preservation of the
confederacy. 3. The internal tranquilli-
ty of the separate states is left to the
care of the respective governments ; but
in case of the resistance of the subjects
to their government, the confederation
may assist the latter. The confederacy
may even interfere, without being called
upon by the government, if the commo-
tions are of a dangerous tendency, or if
several states are threatened by danger-
ous conspiracies. A central commission
for political examinations is instituted at
Mentz, which has been engaged for a
numl:)er of years in the investigation of
revolutionary plots. 4. The establish-
ment of representative constitutions in
all the states belonging to the confedera-
tion. Article 13 says — all the states of
the union shall have landes-standische
Verfassungen. This landes-standische
has been since explained in such a way
that mockeries of constitutions, like that
of Prussia, have been thought sufEcient
to answer the claims of the a<je. 5. The

four monarchical states of very unequal ; establishment of three degrees of juris-
extent, and four free cities. The diet is diction. 6. Legal equality of all Chris-
constituted in two forms : first, as a gen- tian denominations. 7. The establish-
eral assembly in which every member j ment of a common civil law in Germany,
has at least one vole ; the great powers 1 the liberty of emigration, and the right
having several. The other form of the } of the subjects of each state to hold real
diet is the ordinary a.ssembly, in Avhich ! property in every other state of the con-
the thirty-nine members of the general I federation. 8. The regiilation of the
43

338

GREAT BRITAIN.

leo^al relations of the mediatized princes ] Vienna, as the constitution of the con-
of the old empire. These provisions j federation. In regard to Austria and Prus-
were first settled by the fmidamental act i sia, it must be observed, that it is only their
of the 8th of June, 1815, and confirmed, German provinces which are considered
according to a decree of the congress of | as parts of the German confederation.

GREAT BRITAIN.

The history of England has been
traced to the close of the reign of Eliza-
beth. The union of the crowns of Eng-
land and Scotland forms a new era, and
tlie history of the two countries will here-
after be treated of under the name of
Great Britain.

James YI, of Scotland, came to the
throne of England, March 25lh, 1603.
He derived his claim to the throne of
England from being the grandson of Mar-
garet, eldest daughter to Henry VH ;
and, on the failure of the male line, his
hereditary right remained incontestiblc.
Elizabeth had, with her latest breath,
recognised him for her successor, so that
few monarchs ever ascended the throne
under more favorable auspices.

These favorable anticipations, how-
ever, were soon dispelled ; and the his-
tory of this monarch's reign consists of
little else than a detail of disputes and
contentions between him and his parlia-
ment. A particular and minute account
of such transactions could excite but little
interest ; but it is of importance to know
their origin, as they may be considered
the original cause of the civil war which
took place in the succeeding reign.

During the last years of queen Eliza-
beth's reign, the commerce, navigation,
and number of seamen in England, had
sensibly decayed. A remonstrance from
the Trinity House, in 1602, says, that
from 1588 to that period, the number of
seamen and shipping had decayed about
a third part. Every species of domestic
industry was fettered by monopolies ; and
by exclusive companies, which are only
another species of monopoly, almost all
foreign trade, except that to France, was
brought into the hands of a few rapacious
traders, and all prospect of future im-

provement in commerce was sacrificed
for a slight temporary advantage to the
sovereign. These companies, though
arbitrarily- erected, had carried their privi-
leges so far, that almost all the commerce
centered in this country was conlhied to
the metropolis ; the customs of London
alone amounted to 110,000/, a-year ;
while those of all the kingdom beside
amounted only to 17,000Z, ; nay, the
whole trade of London was confined to
about two hundred citizens, who were
easily enabled, by combining among
themselves, to fix Avhatever price they
pleased both on the exports and imports
of the nation. Besides this, the subjects
were burdened by wardships and purvey-
ances. The latter was an ancient pre-
rogative of the crown, by which the of-
ficers of the household were empowered
to take, without consent of the owners,
provisions for the king's family, and
wagons and horses, for the removal of
his baggage, upon paying a stated price
for them. The king had also a power
of sending any person, without his con-
sent, on whatever message he pleased ;
and thus he could easily force any indi-
vidual to pay him whatever money he
chose, rather than be sent out of the coun-
try on a disagreeable errand. Money
obtained from individuals, by this or any
other method of the same description,
was called a benevolence.

These formed the principal features
of oppression under which the nation at
this time labored, and these the rising
spirit of patriotism tended to redress.
This disposition, however, the severe
government of Elizabeth had confined
within very narrow bounds ; but when
James succeeded to the throne, symptoms
of a more free and independent char-

GREAT BRITAIN.

339

acter immediately appeared. But James
neither perceived the alteration, nor had
sufficient capacity to check its early ad-
vances. He had established in his own
mind a speculative system of absolute
government, w^hich few of his subjects,
and none but traitors and rebels, he
thought, would make any scruple to ad-
mit. The almost unlimited power which,
for upwards of a century, had been ex-
ercised by the English sovereigns, he
considered as due to royal birth and title,
not to the prudence and spirit of those
monarchs, or the peculiarities of the times
in which they lived. In his person,
therefore, he imaghied all legal power
to be centered by an hereditary and a
divine right ; and so fully was he per-
suaded that he was the absolute proprietor
of his subjects, that in his speech to the
parliament in 1621, he told them, that
he " wished them to have said that their
privileges were derived from the grace
and permission of him and his ances-
tors." And vi^hen the same parliament
protested that " the liberties, franchises,
privileges, and jurisdictions of parliament,
are the ancient and undoubted birth-right
and inheritance of the subjects of Eng-
land," he was so enraged, that sending
for the journals of the Commons, he, with
his own hand, before the council, tore out
this protestation ; and ordered his rea-
sons to be inserted in the council book.

The consequence of such opposite
opinions prevailing between the king and
his parliament was, that during this reign
the prerogatives of the crown were vio-
lently and openly attacked ; but the chief
grounds of discontent were money and
religion. The king's high notions of the
royal prerogative made him imagine he
had a right to whatever sums he pleased
to demand ; and his profusion caused him
to dissipate in a short time the scanty
supplies he could extort from the parlia-
ment, who seem to have acted as unrea-
sonably on the one hand as J ames him-
self did on the other. In the previous
reign the severities of Elizabeth had al-
most totally suppressed the catholics, but
it had been otherwise with the puritans.
So much had they increased by the very
means which had diminished the number
of catholics, that no less than 750 clergy-

men of that persuasion signed a petition,
to James on his succession. They hoped
that the king, having received his educa-
tion in Scotfand, and having always pro-
fessed an attachment to the church es-
tablished there, would at least abate the
rigor of the laws enacted against the pu-
ritans, if he did not show them particular
favor and encouragement. But in this
they were mistaken. He had observed
in their Scotch brethren a zealous attach-
ment to civil liberty. In the capacities
both of monarch and theologian, he had
experienced the little complaisance they
were disposed to show him. They con-
trolled his commands, disputed his tenets,
and to his face, before the whole people,
censured his conduct and behavior. This
superiority assumed by the presbyterian
clergy, the monarchical pride of James
could never digest. He therefore not
only rejected the petition of the seven
hundred and fifty clergjTiien above men-
tioned, but thoughout his whole reign re-
fused to relax in the least the severity of
the laws against protestant non-conform-
ists, though very often petitioned in their
favor by his parliament.

The same principles which occasioned
in James such an aversion to the puritans,
prompted him to favor the episcopalians,
and even the catholics ; indeed, in his
youth he had frequently been suspected
of a bias towards the religion of the latter ;
and when he ascended the throne of Eng-
land, it is certain he often endeavored to
procure some mitigation of the laws
against them, if not an absolute toleration.
But in this he was constantly opposed by
the parliament ; and, indeed, the strong
inclination shown by James to establish
episcopacy, tended greatly to alienate
the minds of his subjects from his gov-
ernment.

In May, 1617, the king set out for Scot-
land, expressly with the design of estab-
lishing episcopacy in that kingdom. He
did not, however, propose to abolish pres-
bytery entirely, and set up absolute epis-
copacy in its room. He intended, to con-
tent himself with establishing the royal
authority above the ecclesiastical, and
introducing some ceremonies into the
public worship, such as kneeling at the
sacrament, private communion, private

340

GREAT BRITAIN.

baptism, courirination of ohiUlron, ami the ]
observance of Christmas, itc. Ihit as
Ills desigij was t'liUy seen from the eom-
menoement, it was promptly met by the i
people ; every ailvance towards episeo- '■
paey, ami the most trivial ceremonies .
wore rejected as so mauv miMtal sins. i

The sante bad success attciulcd James :
when he attempted to oppose puritanical !
innovations in Englaml. He had observed
in his proijress throuuh that kingdoni.
that a strict observance of the Sunday
gained jiround every day ; and that by
tliis means, under color of relioion, the
people were departed from such sports ,
and recreations as he coitsidered neces- '
sarv for their health as well as amuse- ■
ment. He therefore issued a proclama-
tion to allow and encouraive, after divine j
service, all kinds of lawful «auu^s and
exercises ; but this proclamation his sub-
jects regarded as an instance of the great-
est impiety.

In lOOowas discovered the celebrated
gunpowder plot. 'I'he origin of which
was as follows : — On the accession of
James, great expectations had been form-
ed by the catholics that lie wotdd prove i
favorable to them, both as that was the
religion of his mother, and as he him- '
self had been suspected of a Iiias towards |
it in his youth. It is even pretended that
he had entered into positive engagements
to grant them a toleration as soon as he
should ascend the English throne. Here,
however, they fomul their hopes built on
a false foundation. As .lames on all oc-
casions expressed his intention of execu-
ting strictly the laws enacted against
them, and of persevering in all the rigor-
ous measures of queen Elizabeth, a plan
of revenge was first thought of bv a gen-
tleman of the name of Catcsbv. He com- j
municated his intention to Percy, a des- '
cendant of the house of Norihuniberland.
The latter proposed to assassinate the
king; but this seemed to Catesby very I
far from being adequate to their purpose. I
He told Percy, that the king would be '
succeeded by his children, who would
also inherit his maxims of government. |
He told him, that even though the whole
royal family were destroyed, the parlia- !
ment, nobility and gentry, who were all !
infected with the same heresy, would i

raise another protestant prince to tho
throne. " To serve any good jmrpose,
we must," to use his own words. " destroy,
at one blow, the king, the royal family,
the lords and commons ; and bury all our
enemies in one comnum ruin. Happily
tht\v are all assembled on the fust meet-
ing of parliament ; and alVord us the op-
portunity of glorious and useful ven-
geance. Great preparations will not be
requisite. A tew of us may run a mine
below the hall in which ihcy meet; and
choosing the very moment when the king
harangues both the houses, consign over
to destruction those determined foes to
all piety and religion. Meanwhile, wo
ourselves standing aloof, safe and unsus-
pected, shall trimuph in being the instru-
ments of divine wrath, and shall behold
with pleasure those sacrilegious walls, in
which were passed the edicts for pro-
scribing our church and butchering her
childrtMi, tossed into a thousand fragments,
while their impious inhabitants, medita-
tingperhaps still newpcrseculicms against
us, pass from flames above to fhunes be-
low, there for ever to endure the torments
due to their oU'ences."

This scheme being approved of. it was
resolved to cmnmunicate it to a few more.
Thomas \\ inter was sent over to Flan-
ders in quest of Eawkes, an oflicer in the
Spanish service of approved zeal and
courage. All the conspirators were bound
by the most solemn oaths, accompanied
with the sacrament ; and to such a de-
gree had superstition etlaccd every prin-
ciple of humanity from their minds, that
not one of them ever entertained the
smallest compunction for the massacre
they proposed to commit. Some indeed
were startled at the thoughts of destroy-
ing a number of catholics who must ne-
cessarily be present as spectators, or at-
tendants on the king, or as having seats
in the house of peers. But Desmond, a
Jesuit, and Garnet, who was the superior
of that order in this eoimtry, removed
those scruples, by showing that the inte-
rest of religion required in this case the
sacrifice of the innocent with the guilty.

This happened hi the spring and sum-
mer of 1604 ; when the conspirators also
hired a house in Percy's name, adjoining
to that in which the parliament was to

ORE AT BRITAIN.

341

assemble. Towards the end of that year
they bej^an to pierce through the wall of
the hoii.se, in order to gcA in below that
wliere the parliament was to sit. 'i'he
wall was three yards thick, and conse-
quently occasioned a great deal of labor.
At length, however, they approached the
other side, but were then startled by a
noise for which they could not well ac-
count. Upon infjuiry, tln^y found that it
came from a vault below the house of
lords ; that a magazine of coals had been
kept tliere ; and that the coals were then
selling ofl", after which the vault would
be let to the highe.st bidder. Upon this
the vault was immediately hired by Per-
cy ; 3('y barrels of powder lodged in it ;
the whole covered up with faggots and
billets ; the doors of the cellar boldly
flung open ; and every body admitted as
if it contained nothing dangerous.

'J'hc; king, the queen, and prince Hen-
ry, were expected to be pres(;nt at the
opening of the parliament. The duke,
on account of his age, would be absent,
and it was resolved that Percy should
seize or murder liim. The princess Eliza- '
beth, likewise a child, was kept at lord
Harrington's house in Warwickshire;
and some others of the conspirators en- '
gaged to assemble their friends on pre-
tence of a hunting match, when they were J
to seize that princess, and immediately
proclaim her queen. The day so long
wished for at last approached ; the dread-
ful secret, though communicated to more
than twenty persons, had been religiously
kept for a year and a half: when a few
days before the meeting of parliament,
lord Monteagle, a catholic, son to lord
Morley, received the following letter,
which had been delivered to his servant
by an unknown hand. "My lord, out of
the love I bear to some of your friends, I
have a care for your preservation. There- 1
fore I would advise you, as you tender
your life, to devise some excuse to shift
off your attendance on this parliament.
For God and man have determined to
punish the wickedness of this time. And
think not .slightly of this advertisement ;
but retire yourself into the country, where
you may expect the event in safety. For
though there be no appearance of any
stir, yet, I say, they shall receive a terri- ^

ble blow this parliament; and yet they
shall not see who hurts them. This
council is not to be contemned, because
it may do you good, and can do you no
harm : for the danger is over as soon as
you have burned this letter. And 1 hope
God will give you the grace to make
good use of it, to whose holy protection
I commend you." Though Monteagle
imagined this letter to be only a ridicu-
lous artifice to frighten him, he imme-
diately carried it to lord Salisbur}', sec-
retary of state ; who laid it before the
king on his arrival in town a few days
after.

The king looked upon tlie letter in a
more serious light. From the manner iu
which it was wrote he concluded that
some design was forming to blow up the
parliament house with gunpowder, and it
was thought advisable to search the
vaults bf'Iow. 'i'he lord chamberlain, to
whom this charge belonged, purposely
delayed the search till tlie day before
the meeting of parliament. He remark-
ed those great piles of wood and faggots
which lay in the vault under the upper
house : and casting his eyes upon Fawkes,
who stood in a corner and passed for
Percy's servant, he noticed the determin-
ed courage which was conspicuous in his
face, and so much distinguished this con-
spirator. Such a quantity of fuel, also,
for one wlio lived so little in the metro-
polis as Percy, appeared somewhat ex-
traordinary ; and, upon comparing all
these circumstances, it was resolved to
make a further search. About midnight,
Sir Thomas Knivet, a ju.stice of peace,
was sent with proper attendants ; and be-
fore the door of the vault finding Fawkes,
who had just finished all his preparations,
he immediately seized him, and, turning
over the faggots, discovered the powder.
The matches and every thing proper for
setting fire to the train were taken in
Fawkes's pocket ; who, seeing now no
refuge but in boldness and despair, ex-
pressed the utmost regret that he had
lost the opportunity of firing the powder
at once, and of sweetening his own death
by that of his enemies. For two or
three days he displayed the same ob.sti-
nate intrepidity ; but, being confined in
the tower, and the rack shown to him,

342

GREAT BRITAIN.

his courag;e failed, and he made a dis-
covery of all the conspirators.

Catesby, Porc-y, and the other crimi-
nals, on hearing thai Fawkes was arrest-
ed, hurried away to Warwickshire; where
Sir Edward Digby, imagining that his
confederates had succeeded, was already
in arms, to seize the princess Elizabeth.
.She had escaped into Coventry ; and they
were obliged to put themselves in a pos-
ture of defence against the country peo-
ple, who were raised from all quaters and
armed by the sherifls. 'i'he conspirators
with all their attendants , never exceeded j
the number of eighty persons : and being
surrounded on every side, could no longer
have any hope of escaping. Having
therefore confessed themselves, and re-
ceived absolution, they Iroldly prepared
for death, and resolved to sell their lives
as dear as possible. But even this mis-
erable consolation was denied them.
Some of their powder took fire, and dis-
abled them from defending themselves.
The people then rushed in upon them.
Percy and Catesby, were killed. Digby,
Rookwood, Winter, and others, being
taken prisoners, were tried, confessed
their guilt, and died, as well as Garnet,
by the hands of the common executioner.
The lords Stourton and Mordant, two
catholics, were fined, the former 4,000Z,
the latter 1 0,000Z, by the Star-chamber ;
because their absence fi'om parliament
had occasioned a suspicion of their being
made acquainted with the conspiracy.
The earl of Northumberland was fined
30,000/, and detained several years a
prisoner in the tower ; because, not to
mention other grounds of suspicion, he
had admitted Percy into the number of
gentlemen pensioners, without his taking
the requisite oaths.

James was succeeded by Charles I,
who ascended the throne in 1625. The
young king inherited from his father a
very high opinion of the royal preroga-
tives.

The Puritans had continued to gain
ground during the whole reign of James,
and now formed a great majority of the
house of commons ; in consequence of
which, petitions were presented to the
king for replacing such clergymen as had
been silenced for want of conformity to

the ceremonies of tne established church.
'I'hey also enacted laws for the strict ob-
servance of Sunday, which they would
know by no other name than the Sab-
bath, and the different appellations of
Sunday and Sabbath were at that time
known symbols of the diflerent parties.
In consequence of these disagreements,
Charles' first parliament was dissolved
on the 12th of August, 1625, and a new
one called on February the 6th, 1G26.

This parliament, however, immediately
adopted the same views as the preceding
one ; though they voted him a supply of
three subsidies (168,000/.), and three
fifteenths ; but the passing this vote into
a law was reserved until the end of the
session. This conduct was greatly re-
sented by Charles ; but he was obliged to
submit, and wait the event with patience.
In the mean time they attacked the duke
of Buckingham, who was also impeached
by the earl of Bristol, on account of his
conduct with regard to the Spanish ne-
gotiation. The impeachment, however,
was overlooked, and the commons were
unable to prove any thing of consequence
against him. The king commanded the
house not to interfere with his minister
and servant, but to finish in a few days
the bill they had begun for the subsidies ;
otherwise they must expect to end their
sittings altogether.

The next attack made by the com-
mons, had it succeeded, would have re-
duced the king to an absolute dependence
on his parliament. They were ])repar-
ing a remonstrance against the levying
of tonnage and poundage without consent
of the house. This article, together with
the new impositions laid on merchandise
by James, constituted near one half of
the crown revenues ; and after having
gained this point, they were to petition
the king, which then would have been
the same thing with commanding him, to
remove Buckingham from his presence
and councils. The king, however, being
alarmed at the yoke they were preparing
for him, hastily dissolved his parliament
on the 15th of June, 1626.

The king, under his pecuniary embar-
rassments, was obliged to have recourse
to means hitherto unpractised, to procure
the necessary supplies. The demands

GREAT BRITAIN.

343

of his Danish and German allies, added j
to the difficulties he encountered at
home, and the loss of a battle, which
brougiit the existence of protestantism in j
Germany to the lowest ebb, induced the !
king to raise a forced loan. He endeav- j
ored to justify this arbitrary measure by i
a promise, that every farthing thus obtain- i
ed from' his loving subjects, should be
returned by their grateful sovereign out ;
of his future subsidies. Notwithstand-
ing this declaration, the names of many ,
who refused to pay were returned to the '
commissioners. Of these the rich were
imprisoned ; while the poor were ordered
" to serve with their bodies," and were
enrolled in the army or navy.

Five gentlemen, however — sir Thomas
Darnel, sir John Corbet, sir Walter Earl,
sir John Hewenham, and John Hamp-
den— demanded a release, not as a favor
from the court, but as their due by the
laws of their country. No particular
cause was assigned for their commit-
ment. The special command of the king
and the council alone was pleaded ; and
it was alleged, that by" law this was not
sufficient reason for refusing bail or re-
leasement to the prisoners. The ques-
tion was brought to a solemn trial before
the court of king's bench, and the whole
kingdom was in a state of the greatest
excitement during its progress. By the
debates on this subject it appeared that
personal liberty had been secured by no
less than six different statutes. The
court having ultimately determined that
no bail could be taken, the public voice
exclaimed that the prisoners ought to be
instantly set free.

At this period Buckingham appeared
at the head of a large fleet before Ro-
chelle. The armament, consisting of a
hundred sail, was supposed to be destined
against Spain, since the public order was,
that it should act in the service of the ;
palatine ; but the private instructions j
directed that it should enter the harbor
of Rochelle, and proceed to the islands '
of Rhe and Oleron. In palliation of this :
appearance of hostilities where war was
not expected, Buckingham declared that
his royal master had no intention of con- 1
quest, and only took up arms as an ally ;
of the church in France The cxpedi- ;

tion terminated in an unfortunate retreat,
and the loss of some thousands of the
troops.

The mission had for its object to arm
the protestants against the French king.
That Charles should provoke a war with
the brother of his consort was to all a mat-
ter of surprise. The king had dismissed
the foreign establishment of his (]ueen
six months after her arrival in England,
and had also neglected to perfonu the
private treaty which he had made in fa-
vor of his catholic subjects; yet harmo-
ny had been restored by the mediation
of Bassompierre, ambassador extraordi-
nary from Louis to the English monarch.
Charles having prevailed on the Rochel-
lois to rebel, found himself bound in
honor to support their efforts in the
protestant cause, and proposed to his par-
liament to raise supplies for a second
expedition in their behalf; a means he
would not have pursued, could he have
obtained another loan by the royal pre-
rogative. A third parliament, therefore,
was called March 17, 1628. The king
stated at the beginning of the session,
that " if they should not do their duties,
in contributing to the necessities of the
state, he must, in discharge of his con-
science, use those other means which
God had put into his hands, in order to
save that which the follies of some par-
ticular men might otherwise put in dan-
ger." This parliament behaved different-
ly from either of the two former ones.
They commenced by voting against ar-
bitrary imprisonments and forced loans ;
after which, five subsidies (280,000Z.)
were voted to the king. With this sum,
though much inferior to his wants, Charles
declared himself well satisfied ; the com-
mons, however, resolved not to pass
this vote into law before they had obtain-
ed from the king a sufhcient security that
their liberties should be no longer viola-
ted. They resolved to frame a law,
which they were to call a "petition of
right." The principal oppressions com-
plained of were forced loans, benevolen-
ces, taxes without consent of parliament,
arbitrary imprisonments, billeting sol-
diers, and martial law. They stated that
they "did not pretend to possess any un-
usual power of privileges ; nor did they

GREAT BRITAIN.

intend to infringe the royal prerogative
in any respect ; they aimed only at se-
curing those rights and privileges derived
from their ancestors."

The king replied to this petition by
repeated messages to the house, in which
he always offered his royal word that
there should be no more infringements
on the liberty of the subject. These
messages, however, had no effect on the
commons ; and therefore the petition at
last, passed both houses, and nothing was
wanting but the royal assent to give it
the force of a law. The king accord-
ingly went to the house of peers, and
sent for the commons, when the petition
was read to him. In answer to it, he
said, " The king willeth, that riglit be
done according to the laws and customs
of the realm, and that the statutes be put
into execution ; that his subjects may
have no cause to complain of any wrong
or oppression contrary to their just rights
and liberties, to the preservation whereof
he liolds himself in conscience as much
obliged as of his own prerogative."

This answer was received with great
displeasure by the commons. At last,
the king, finding it impossible to carry
his point, yielded to the importunities of

Assasssination of llie duke of Biickhigham.

parliament. He came to the house of

peers, and pronouncing the usual form of
words, " Let it be law as is desired,"
gave full sanction and authority to the
petition. The house resoimded with ac-
clamations, and the bill for five subsidies
immediately passed.

But the joy was temporary ; as, in ten
days after, an exposure of the evils said
to be the result of an excess of power
given to and abused by Buckingham,
were stated in a remonstrance to the
king — leaving it to his majesty's consid-
eration how far it would be safe for him-
self and for the realm that such a man
should continue near his person. Be-
fore another petition could be read, the
parliament was prorogued ; but the advan-
tages it had gained by the king's rccogni-
. tion of the bill of rights established the
j liberties of the nation, and rendered pos-
' terity their debtors.

I Buckingham having received the com-
mand of the re-enforcements intended for
Rochelle, proceeded to Portsmouth for
< the purpose, when his progress was ar-
rested by the assassin Felton, who struck
I a knife into the duke's heart. \\'hen re-
I preached with the crime of murder, he
I said, the remonstrance which was pre-

GREAT BRITAIN.

345

sented by the commons had convinced
him that the duke was the cause of the
national calamities, and that to bereave
him of life was to serve his God, his
king, and his country ; that he felt no
enmity to the duke, but as he struck him
had prayed, " May God have mercy on
thy soul."

That the duke of Buckingham pos-
sessed many fascinating qualities, accom-
panied by a graceful person and courtly
manners, seem to have been the chief
recommendations by which he obtained
the partial favor of two succeeding mon-
archs. In temper he was rash, impetu-
ous, and obstinate ; and had he escaped
the knife of the assassin, he would most
probably have finished his career on the
scaffold. His perseverance in urging
the king to trample on the liberty of his
subjects, and the self-confidence with
which he braved the indignation of the
people, had raised a hatred throughout
the nation, which nothing but the forfeit
of his life could have satisfied. The
king received the intelligence of the
duke's death with real sorrow ; he called
him the martyr of his sovereign, he paid
his debts, took his widow and children
under his protection, and ordered that his
remains should be deposited in West-
minster Abbey.

At the re-assembling of the parliament,
in 1629, different petitions were again
presented on the subject of grievances,
and complaints of the increase of Catho-
licism ; and while the party, named the
" Saints," called the king's attention to
religious objects, the patriots claimed his
notice to the petition of right, of which
fifteen hundred copies had been prepared
for circulation, but which the king order-
ed should be suppressed, to make room
for another edition in which the royal as-
sent was withheld. This act branded
the character of Charles with the stigma
of duplicity ; but the indignation of his
subjects was so fearlessly expressed, that
he found it prudent to moderate their an-
ger by a conciliatory speech from the
throne. Such was the tumult in the
house of commons on the occasion, that
when the speaker informed the members
that the king had ordered an adjournment
of the house, they compelled the speak-
44

er, by locking the door, and holding him
down in his chair, to hear sir John El-
liot read a remonstrance against the
whole government. This conduct be-
ing contrary to all former precedent,
caused Charles to issue a proclamation,
in which he showed it was his intention
to govern in future without the interven-
tion of his parliament.

Scotland was the first of the three
kingdoms to offer open force to the gov-
ernment of Charles. The exertions of
Laud to establish the English liturgy
lighted the torch of dissension through-
out Scotland ; but the publishing by royal
authority a new code of ecclesiastical
law, and a new form of church service,
threw the whole country into commotion.
Crowds of petitioners came to Edin-
burgh, and their representatives com-
posed a committee, who inquired into all
questions, and exercised an authority
which in a few weeks became formida-
able under their leaders, Bothes, Bal-
merino, Lindsay, Lothian, Loudon, and
Cranston. After a succession of contest-
ed opinions, a new covenant was com-
posed, containing a profession of the doc-
trine, tenets, and discipline of the kirk,
to which was attached the vow wherein
they bound themselves, " by the great
name of the Lord their God," to defend
the true religion, to resist all contrary
errors and corruptions, and to stand in
defence of the king. On an appointed
day the covenanters, who in number
were as a hundred to one of their ojjpo-
nents, met in the church of St. Giles,
and swore to the contents of the cove-
nant.

In vain did Charles issue the royal
mandate for the covenanters to disperse.
With the earl of Argyle at their head,
they declared the order illegal, and de-
termined to meet the expected army from
England with the sword of defiance.
Charles found his English subjects on
that occasion very backward ; some even
declined taking the oath of allegiance by
which it was intended that they should
bind themselves to oppose the covenant-
ers as rebels. The armies met at Ber-
wick ; Lesley headed the covenanters,
who were 20,000 strong ; and on their
ensigns was this motto, added to the

346

GREAT BRITAIN,

Scottish arms, " For Christ's crown and
the covenant." Charles commanded an
equal force ; but all these warlike pre-
parations terminated in a pacific treaty,
conducted by Charles in person, and
signed by the monarch and the chiefs of
the covenanters at Berwick. The king
engaged in this treaty to summon a parlia-
ment at Edinburgh in the month of Au-
gust, to consider upon civil matters ; and
at the same time to call an ecclesiastical
assembly, to which he should refer the
questions on religion. Meantime Charles,
who saw the desire of the covenant-
ers to suppress his authority, conceived
the only sure way to obtain their obedience
was to use force ; but before he summon-
ed his English parliament, he authorized
Wentworth, whom he had created earl
of Strafford, to vote for a subsidy in the
Irish parliament, intending it should form
a precedent to the English members, who
were required to assemble soon after ;
and as they had not met for some years,
the people looked to the session as likely
to afford them relief. At its opening the
king repeated his demand, for money ;
the commons heard his complaints with
indifference, giving their whole attention
to the grievances of the nation, to which
subject they asked the co-operation of
the lords. In vain did they maintain in
the upper house that the wants of the
king should be lirst supplied ; the com-
mons would not yield, and during their
debate Charles dissolved the parliament,
and the hopes of the people once more
withered in despair.

Preparations for war were now made
both by the English and the Scots ; but
the poverty of Charles, and the prudent
foresight of the covenanters, rendered
the latter decisive and unanimous, so that
they were ready for the attack when the
English were only beginning their ar-
rangements.

The earl of Strafford, who, under the
king, acted as commander-in-chief, or-
dered the general of the horse to oppose
the Scots in the passage of the Tyne :
the attempt was made, but ended in the
defeat of the English. Although the
Scots were encouraged with the pros-
pect of victory, they knew that it would mar
their interest to rouse the spirit of re-

J venge in their enemies ; and, therefore,
I they resolved on presenting themselves
] in the guise of petitioners to their sov-
j ereign. The king signified his willing-
ness to receive their demands, and sum-
I moned the English peers to meet him at
I York : as the commons had showed
themselves refractory, he preferred this
j mode to the calling both houses of par-
liament ; but a series of petitions obhged
him to pursue the usual way, and a full
parliament was summoned.

The members of the covenant directed
their labors to the abolition of episcopa-
cy, and the establishment of the presby-
terian form of church government. But
here opinion was much divided ; even
when the majority was in favor of the
anti-episcopalians, the king declared that
his conscience would never allow him to
put down an order which he considered
necessary to Christianity. The debates
between the different parties arrived at
such a height, that the king found him-
self obliged, in order to conciliate the
public mind, to adopt a sort of middle
path, by which the bishops would be de-
prived of their legislative powers. With
this the enemies of episcopacy professed
themselves satisfied, and it was deter-
mined to bring the earl of Strafford to
trial for high-treason.

Never, perhaps, did a statesman encoun-
ter such open enmity. The Scots called
for his destruction for having urged the
king to make war upon them ; the Irish
detailed, under sixteen heads, the oppres-
sions they had suffered under his govern-
ment ; and the English house of lords
issued an order, to which the king as-
sented, that the privy counsellors should
be examined on oath regarding the advice
given by Strafford at their board. As re-
garded the latter charge, a document was
produced containing short notes in the
writing of the secretary, of a debate at
the council-table, in which Strafford was
made to say, " Your majesty, having tried
the affection of your people, is absolved
and loosed from all hold of government,
and to do what power will admit. Hav-
ing tried all ways and being refused, you
shall be acquitted before God and man ;
and you have an army in Ireland, that
you may employ to reduce this kingdom

GREAT BRITAIN.

347

to obedience ; for I am confident that the
Scots cannot hold out five months."

To obtain evidence on this charge,
all the members were examined, except
Windebank and Laud ; and all, with the ex-
ception of Pym, to whom sir Henry Vane
had privately shown the notes, declared
they had no recollection of the words.
When the managers found they had failed
in this attempt, they resolved to produce
the short notes ; and with this view, on
the morning on which Strafford was to
enter upon his defence, they asked leave
to bring further evidence, to which the lords
replied, that the same favor that should
be granted to the accusers should be
granted to the accused : for the lords,
who had previously formed their opinions,
had, during the trial, changed them in fa-
vor of the earl. The commons, who
formed the committee of the house, dis-
approving of this temper in the lords, re-
tired to their own house, where, having
deliberated on the matter with closed
doors, they determined to abandon the
mode of impeachment, and adopt that of
attainder, and brought in a bill to that
effect.

When the bill of attainder had passed
the lower house, the king encouraged
Strafford with the assurance that his life
should be preserved. Many projects for
this purpose were planned, all of which
were frustrated by the treachery of the
agents, so that Charles had recourse to
another measure. He assured the lords
that the contents of the document were
false, and that with this knowledge it were '
impossible for him to give his assent to
the bill ; and he required of them to
suggest some plan by which to satisfy
public justice, without offering violence
to his conscience.

The commons considered this a viola-
tion of their privileges, and a protest,
signed by both houses, waited on the
king, to obtain his assent to the sentence
of treason passed upon Strafford. He
promised to give it on the following
Monday.

At the period which had been fixed
for the king to meet his Scottish parlia-
ment, his majesty commenced his jour-
ney, though much solicited by his Eng-
lish subjects to delay it. At Newcastle,

the monarch accepted an invitation to
dine with Lesley, and after his arrival in
Scotland he made many concessions,
and attended the long service of the
kirk : by these means Charles expected
to gain the favor of the people, and
thought he should secure the lives of
several who were his friends, and whom
he had been compelled to abandon.

During the period that his majesty was
in Scotland, the people of Ireland stated
that they possessed equally just claims
with the English parliament to defend
their rights and their religion ; and that
part of his majesty's dominions became,
in a few months, in a state of open re-
bellion. It was not till things had con-
tinued several weeks in this state, that
a meeting was summoned to inquire into
the causes of the rebellion. The ques-
tion was answered that, on account of
their religion, the natives had been sub-
jected to cruel restraints, and excluded
from all offices of trust, while low and
needy persons were raised to honors be-
cause they were protestants and English-
men ; they also mentioned many other
grievances, on which accounts they de-
clared themselves firm in their resolution
never to lay down their arms until these
evils were redressed ; and observed, that
in such conduct they ought not to be
deemed more blameable than the Scots,
whose petition had been received and
approved by the king and the parliament.

At this crisis, the king returned to
England, and a remonstrance was pre-
sented from the country party, in which
seventy catholic gentlemen were de-
nounced as dangerous to the state. The
qtieen's confessor was sent to the Tower,
and both houses passed a resolution, de-
claring they would never consent to the
toleration of the catholic religion in Ire-
land, or in any part of his majesty's do-
minions. The king resolved to retain
the army for the support of his crown ;
and his enemies were equally resolved
to possess the command of it. The two
houses had appointed a council of war
while the king was on his way from
Scotland, and had commissioned the earl
of Leicester to raise men for the service
of Ireland. Charles from this period
commenced open hostilities with the

348

GREAT BRITAIN.

most violent of his opponents, and soon
after found it needful to fly with his fam-
ily for safety to Hampton Court, and
found himself so beset by his enemies,
that he copied all the papers, sent him
by the faithful Hyde, with his own hand,
and burnt the originals.

The king's subsequent retirement to
York rendered his situation less painful,
as the gentry sent him loyal addresses ;
but at this time his majesty and the par-
liament were both raising armies to op-
pose each other.

Hostilities commenced by the refusal
of Colonel Goring to attend the order of
the paliament without the permission of
the king. The latter commanded the
royal standard to be raised at Notting-
ham ; on it was a hand pointing to a
crown, with this motto : " Give to Caesar
his due." The higher classes rallied
round the king, whilst the country yeo-
manry, and the merchants and tradesmen,
gave their services to the parliament.
The first of these parties were called
cavaliers, and the latter round-heads,
from their fashion of cropping the hair
short. The royalists were commanded
by the earl of Lindsay ; the parliamen-
tary forces by the earl of Essex.

The first action, at Edge-hill, was ad-
vantageous to the royalists, though the
united numbers of the slain on that day
amounted to six thousand. Another bat-
tle took place at Brentford, where the
advantage was still on the same side ;
but on approaching nearer the metropo-
lis, the two armies faced each other a
whole day on Turnham Green, without
making a charge, and the king retired to
Reading, and thence to Oxford.

In Ireland a federative government
was formed by the catholics, in which
they professed loyalty to the sovereign,
but claimed their right to defend their
liberty and religion. They oflered their
allegiance to his majesty, while at the
same time they petitioned for the redress
of their grievances, and asked for those
national rights which had been granted
both to England and Scotland. The
king consented that an armistice should
be formed with the insurgents, and the
confederates contributed a considerable
sum towards the support of the royal

army. In less than six months after-
wards a strenuous endeavor was made
by the king to obtain peace, but the par-
liament decided for war.

A numerous army of Scotch and Irish
assisted both parties ; and the reputation
of the latter for courage greatly intimi-
dated their adversaries. Several able
generals distinguished themselves, and
among them the celebrated colonel Monk,
who was made a prisoner by the royalist
army at Nantwich. The parliament de-
clared its intention to stake the fate of
events on one great and decisive battle,
and for this end increased their forces,
imder their generals Essex and Waller.
But here, as in most national causes, the
diversity of interests in the commanders
prevented union in their conduct. In
number the royalists were much inferior
to their opponents, which rendered it im-
portant to the king that he should rather
evade his pursuers than give them battle.
He succeeded in this manoeuvre, and had
gained courage from the result, when he
learned that the city of York was be-
sieged. His majesty immediately sent
his commands to prince Rupert to hasten
to its relief. He obeyed the mandate,
and in a few days after fought the great
battle of Marston Moor, the result of
which was disastrous to the royal party ;
the city of York was compelled to capitu-
late for the safety of its inhabitants, and
the campaign ended by an order for the
combined army to separate. This order,
issued by the parliamentary committee,
Essex did not obey ; he continued to
pursue and harass the royalists, until his
situation compelled him to capitulate, and
to surrender his arms, ammunitions, and
artillery : a circumstance which so far
revived the hopes of Charles, that he in-
' vited his subjects to accompany him to
London. His adversaries again rallied,
' and many engagements followed ; but in
the end the parliamentary cause received
the greatest check from the ambition of
its own agents. The command of the
seven associated provinces had been
forced upon the earl of Manchester, who
accepted the office with reluctance, as '

he was unaccustomed to military opera-
tions, and he intrusted their direction to
^ his council. His lieutenant-general was j

GREAT BRITAIN.

349

Cromwell, the representative in the com-
mons' house for Cambridge ; he was a
relative, and had been a faithful follower
of Hampden, and was a man of singular
zeal, energy, and courage. Cromwell
maintained the common right of men to
worship God according to their own con-
sciences, and his manners obtained him
the entire control of the soldiers under
his command ; this alarmed the commis-
sioners for Scotland, and they oppointed
Crawford, who was a rigid presbyterian,
to the post of major-general, which cir-
cumstance created a rivalship between
these officers, and they accused each
other and recriminated until their quarrel
became matter of inquiry in the house.
Cromwell was accused of having turned
his back in the battle of Marston Moor ;
and he charged Manchester with disaf-
fection towards his party. A reform
of the army was determined on, and a
decree passed, called the " self-denying
ordinance," which excluded the members
of the two houses from all civil and mili-
tary offices. Sir Thomas Fairfax was
placed at the head of the army, with
major-general Skipton as second in
command.

Again the question of peace became
the subject of debate ; but in a cause
where opinions were as diversified as
the different interests of the parties con-
cerned, there was great difficulty in com-
ing to any satisfactory conclusion.

The battle of Naseby was the first in
which the valor of Cromwell was highly
distinguished, and it was that in which
the king's cabinet, containing a number
of private letters, formed part of the trea-
sure taken from the vanquished royalists.

Charles now retreated to Hereford, and
thence to Kagland castle, the seat of the
marquis of Worcester, and then to Car-
diff', for the purpose of holding communi-
cation with prince Rupert at Bristol ;
and he also lost the three fortresses, Car-
lisle, Pontefract, and Scarborough. To
avoid falling into the hands of his ene-
mies, the king fled from one spot to
another, until he arrived at Oxford, where
he intended to spend the winter, hoping
that, in the following spring, the victories
of Montrose in Scotland, the peaceable
state of Ireland, and the interest of his

foreign allies, would all operate in his
favor.

The king having deemed it advisable
to join the Scottish army, he renewed his
correspondence with the parliament.

When Charles received the proposi-
tions of parliament, he again mentioned a
personal conference, to " weigh reasons
and come to a right understanding."
This answer was termed evasive by the
independents. Whilst this topic was
discussed with much party violence, the
two houses fixed on Holmby, near North-
ampton, for the future residence of the
king ; and they sent commissioners who
conducted him thither, under a strong
guard, but who treated him with outward
marks of respect.

After the king's arrival at Holmby he
was carefully watched, and no one had
access to the royal person without the
leave of the parliament ; all those who
came to be touched for the evil were
sent back, and three months were passed
by the monarch without any variation,
except his occasional rides, and some-
times a game at bowls ; the rest of the
time his majesty passed in the retirement
of his closet.

At the end of that period, the king, in
a letter to the parliament, expressed his
readiness to yield to their requests in
confirming the presbyterian government
for three years, provided that liberty of
worship should be allowed to himself
and his household, and that, at the end
of that term, religion should be regulated
by himself and the two houses. He also
expressed his willing concession in other
points which they had deemed of im-
portance. The lords received the letter
with satisfaction, but the commons ne-
glected to notice it. In the interim,
Cromwell was moving onward towards
the goal that was to crown his success ;
he gained the confidence, and obtained
an entire control over his commander,
Fairfax — a man daring and courageous
in the field, but easy and conceding in his
private conduct.

The independents pursued their own
course ; they secretly issued their or-
ders, and the troops were on their inarch
towards the metropolis, before the parlia-
ment was aware that they had left the

350

GREAT BRITAIN.

Cromwell swppressing the Mutineers.

neighborhood of Nottingham. A remon-
strance was presented, in which the
army required the payment of arrears
due, and exemption from foreign service,
and stated a long list of grievances, which
drew from the parliament threats of pun-
ishment that only served to increase the
general discontent. " Should men," they
asked, " who had fought and bled for
their country be forbidden to state their
grievances ?" They eidisted volunteers,
and thus increased their numbers to many
thousands ; they divided themselves into
two distinct bodies : the officers formed
one, and two privates where selected
from each troop as representatives, who
formed the other, under the name of ad-
jutators, or helpers ; and these two bodies
acted from their joint deliberations. The
result was, that the army became the
most powerful party. Having determin-
ed on taking the king under its own pro-
tection, Joyce, a cornet in the general's
life-guard, was sent to conduct his majes-
ty to the camp.

The king, attended by his servants,
proceeded to Newmarket. The army
having so far succeeded in their views,
the parliament treated with its command-

ers as commissioners of a party possessing
equal power with themselves, and hence-
forward they acted in concert. The king
was treated Avilh the highest respect ;
his children and friends found easy ac-
cess to his person. After the army had
entered London, and the king's residence
was fixed at Hampton Court, he profess-
ed his readiness to treat with the com-
missioners of the army ; and observed,
that their plan was likely to form the
basis of a lasting peace.

While Charles seemed thus satisfied
with the conduct of the army, he was in
reality forming treaties with the commis-
sioners of Scotland and Ireland ; and
while his opinion fluctuated with the influ-
ence of party, a new faction rose, with the
avowed aim of investing the sovereignty
in the people. The movers of this fac-
tion called themselves levellers, and their
number soon increased to a formidable
height under their nominal supporters,
colonels Pride and Rainsborough. The
nation being now thrown into confusion,
the king thought himself unsafe so near
London, and fled to the countess of
Southampton, at Tichfield House ; from
thence lus friends solicited the protec-

GREAT BRITAIN.

351

tion of Hammond, governor of the Isle
of Wight, a man in the interest of Crom-
well. By this officer, who acted with
caution, the king was conducted, some-
what reluctantly, to Carisbrook Castle.
The levellers were irritated at his flight,
and directed their revenge against Crom-
well, who, considering his life in danger,
saved it by an act of intrepidity, by insti-
tuting a court martial, and executing
some of the leaders on the spot. This
summary proceeding restored subordina-
tion in the army, though it taught him a
lesson to keep on good terms with the
parliament and the army.

The royalists looked to Scotland for
assistance ; but the army under the duke
of Hamilton did not arrive so soon as was
expected ; and colonel Poyer, governor
of the castle of Pembroke, was the first
to unfurl the royal standard. Small di-
visions collected in different parts of the
kingdom, who rallied at the call for " God
and the king." Petitions daily poured
in from all parts, praying that the army
might be disbanded, and that the king
might be brought back to the capital ;
but opinions varied on the latter point,
and the royalists began to despair of suc-
cor, when they heard that the Scottish
army had crossed the borders : this, how-
ever, was only a fallacious hope. Ham-
ilton had led his men into Lancashire in
numbers, where they might have proved
victorious ; but it was the duke's misfor-
tune to feel diffident of his own powers,
and, with a great share of personal cour-
age, he trusted to the guidance of others,
who allov/ed their own interests and their
private jealousies and quarrels to super-
sede every consideration regarding the
service in which they had engaged. The
complete discomfiture of the Scottish ar-
my was the result of this misconduct,
and Cromwell's cause proved triumphant.

When aflairs were in this state, and
England, Ireland, and Scotland were in
anarchy and disorder, from the contend-
ing influence of diHerent factions, Charles
removed from Carisbrook to the town of
Newport, where, surrounded by his ser-
vants and a few friends, he enjoyed the
outward appearance of liberty ; but in the
negotiation then pending between him-
self and the commissioners acting for the

ruling powers, he was soon sensible that
he was still a captive, and that it was
expected he should submit, not treat.
Before any thing conclusive was done, a
plan for a new constitution was presented
from the independents, as the petition of
"thousands of well affected persons in
and near London." The objects here
proposed were, "that the supremacy of
the people should be established against
the negative voice of the king and of the
lords ; that, to prevent civil wars, the
office of the king and the privileges of
the peers should be clearly defined : that
a new parliament, to be elected of course,
and without writs, should assemble every
year, but never for a longer time than
forty or fifty days ; that religious belief
and worship should be free from restraint
or compulsion ; that the proceedings in
law should be shortened, and the charges
ascertained ; that tithes for the support
of the clergy, and perpetual imprisonment
for debt, should be abolished ; and that
the parliament should lay to heart the
blood spilt and the rapine perpetrated by
commission from the king, and consider
whether the justice of God could be
satisfied, or his wrath be appeased by an
act of oblivion."

While the petition formed the subject
of debate in the house of commons,
which, as the representative body, was
I acknowledged to be the " sovereignty of
the people," Charles, finding that his life
was threatened, owned himself willing
to make further concessions ; but his
counsellors, the duke of Richmond, the
earl of Lindsay, and colonel Coke, of-
fered their assistance in effecting his
escape. Charles, however, resisted every
persuasion, because he had given his
parole to remain twenty days after the
treaty, and he would not forfeit his honor.
The next evening he was lodged in Hurst
Castle, which place was connected with
the coast of Hampshire by a causeway
two miles in length. During these trans-
actions Cromwell was in Scotland, from
whence he returned at this period, and
was conducted to Whitehall to receive
the thanks of the commons for his ser-
vices. The army, being chiefly com-
posed of independents and levellers, had
gained the superiority of power, and may

352

GREAT BRITAIN.

be said to have been the executive gov-
ernment. In the commons, Cromwell
declared the men traitors who proposed
to depose the king and disinherit his
posterity, but in tlie next sentence he \
professed himself reluctantly compelled
to harsh measures in obedience to the
will of God, who had imposed the un-
■willing task upon him.

General Fairfax, who had hitherto suf-
fered himself to be led by the advice of
Cromwell, suddenly adopted a firmer char-
acter, and refused his concurrence to the
trial of the king. Meanwhile his majesty
had been removed, after a residence of
only three weeks in Hurst castle, to the
palace at Windsor, where the usual cere-
monies of royalty were omitted, which so
operated on the feelings of the king, that
he desired to take his meals in private.

The trifling eflbrt made by the Scots
was soon overbalanced by the arguments
of Cromwell, who found it an easy mat-
ter to convince the covenanters, that
where it became a duty to punish malig-
nants generally, it was more imperative
to punish him who was the chief of the
malignants. The removal of his majesty
to Whitehall annihilated every hope, and
on the 20th of January, 1649, Charles
was conveyed to Westminster-hall, by
the serjeant-at-arms, and conducted with-
in the bar to take his trial. " His step
was firm, his countenance erect and un-
moved. While the clerk read the charge,
he appeared to hsten with indifierence ;
but a smile of contempt was seen to quiver
on his lips at the passage which des-
cribed him as a 'tyrant, traitor, murderer,
and a public and implacable enemy to the
Commonwealth of England.' On being
told that the court sat by the authority of
the House of Commons, ' But where,' he
asked, ' were the Lords ? Were the Com-
mons the whole legislature ? Were they
free ? Were they a court of judicature ?
Could they confer on others a jurisdic-
tion which they did not possess them-
selves ? He would never acknowledge
an usurped authority. It was a duty im-
posed upon him by the Almighty to dis-
own every lawless power, that invaded
either the rights of the crown, or the lib-
erties of the subject."

Such was the substance of his answers

delivered on three diflTerent days, and
amidst innumerable interruptions from
the president, who would not suffer the
jurisdiction of the court to be questioned,
and at last ordered the " default and con-
tempt of the prisoner" to be recorded.
After two more days, which were spent
by the court in private deliberations, the
king proposed to hold a conference with
a joint committee of the lords and com-
mons. The request was refused in harsh
language by Bradshaw, the president,
who informed the king that nothing now
remained but for the judges to pronounce
sentence ; they had learned, he said,
from holy writ, "that to acquit the guilty,
was as equal an abomination as to con-
demn the innocent." The charge was
again read, and the judgment followed,
"that the court being satisfied in con-
science that he, the said Charles Stuart,
was guilty of the crimes of which he had
been accused, did adjudge him as a ty-
rant, traitor, murderer, and public enemy
to the good people of the nation, to be
put to death by the severing his head
from his body."

It was remarked that his majesty's
character had becoma firm and inflexible ;
indeed no weakness was exhibited on
that trying occasion. The few interve-
ning days, between his trial and execu-
tion, were spent by the king in religious
preparation, assisted by Dr. Juxon, bishop
of London, who was permitted to attend
his sovereign, at the request of Hugh
Peters, a preacher. His majesty did not
allow even his friends to intrude on those
hours ; the few moments he did spare
from this pious employment were given
to his children, the princess Elizabeth
and the infant duke of Gloucester, his
brother James having escaped to Hol-
land. In the last of those interviews,
his majesty divided a few jewels between
them, gave them his blessing, and hav-
ing kissed them with strong feelings of
affection, he retired to his chamber. The
king slept four hours during the night
preceding his execution. On awaking
in the morning, he observed to Herbert,
" This is my second marriage day ; I
would be as trim as may be ; for before
night I hope to be espoused to my bless-
ed Jesus."

GRE AT BRITAIN.

353

From St. James's palace the king pro-
ceeded on foot to Whitehall, where he
waited more than two hours, which delay
many thought was caused by the arrival of
ambassadors from the Hague, with whom
was Seymour, the bearer of two letters
from the prince of Wales ; one addressed
to lord Fairfax, in which was a sheet of
blank paper subscribed by the prince, to
be filled up with the conditions for the
life of his father, whatever they might
be, his seal and signature were already
fixed, so that they were granted. The
other letter was to the king, who had the
most consoling proof that could be expe-
rienced of his son's aflectionate attach-
ment to his royal parent. Colonel Tom-
linson admitted Seymour to the presence
of his majesty, from whence he carried
the last instructions to his son and suc-
cessor. No alteration, however, took
place in the fate of Charles, who, on re-
ceiving the fatal summons that " all was
ready," proceeded with the same hrm
step through the long gallery, lined with
soldiers, whose looks sympathized with
the mournful occasion. He was brought
to the scaffold from one of the windows
of the banqueting house, and met his fate
with a degree of firmness which was
worthy of a better cause.

The unfortunate end of this monarch,
filled the kingdom with consternation.
The people sought freedom of rights, re- |
ligious and political ; but they had no [
wish to shed the blood of their monarch. !
The pious resignation with which he ;
bore his sufferings had greatly endeared
him to the nation ; and the firmness with
which he conducted himself during his
trial drew upon him the respect of man-
kind.

The dissolution of the monarchical
form of government followed the death
of Charles, and in a few days the com-
mons voted that the house of lords was
both useless and dangerous, and that it
should be abolished. They also had it
proclaimed high treason to acknowledge
Charles Stuart, son of the late king, as
successor to the throne, and a great seal
was made ; on one side of which were
engraven the arms of England and Ire-
land, with this inscription, "The great
seal of England." On the reverse was
45

represented the house of commons sitting,
with this motto : " On the first, year of
freedom, by God's blessing restored,
1649." The forms of all pubHc business
were changed from being transacted in
the king's name, to that of the keepers of
the liberties of England. The court of
king's bench was called the court oi pub'
lie bench.

Charles, after the death of his father,
passed a considerable portion of his time
at Paris ; but finding little chance of as-
sistance from the French court, he was
induced to accept of almost any condi-
tions. The Scots, however, while they
were thus professing loyalty to their king,
were punishing his adherents with the
greatest cruelty. Among others, the brave
marquis of Montrose was taken prisoner,
while endeavoring to raise the Highland-
ers in the royal cause ; and being brought
to Edinburgh, was hanged on a gibbet
thirty-feet high, then quartered, and his
limbs sent to the principal towns of the
kingdom. Yet, with a knowledge of all
these severities, Charles ventured into
Scotland, and had the mortification to
enter the gate of Edinburgh while the
body of that faithful adherent to his house
was still exposed on the walls.

The young king, however, soon found
that he had only exchanged his exile for
imprisonment. He was surrounded and
incessantly importuned by those who
surrounded him to conform to their views.
They scarcely allowed him to act for him-
self, and as a last resource, he endeavor-
ed to escape. But he was overtaken
and brought back. Cromwell, in the
mean time, who had been appointed by
the parliament to command the army in
Ireland, carried on the war in that king-
dom with his usual success. He had to
encounter the royalists commanded by
the duke of Ormond, and the native Irish
led on by O'Neal ; but he obtained a com-
plete victory over these troops ; and most
of the towns, intimidated by his success,
opened their gates at his approach. He
was on the point of reducing the whole
kingdom, when he was recalled by the
parliament to defend the commonwealth
against the Scots, who had raised a con-
siderable army in support of the royal
cause.

354

GREAT BRITAIN.

On the return of Cromwell to England,
he was. chosen commander-in-chief of
the parliamentary' forces, in the room of
Fairfax, who declined opposing the pres-
byterians. The new general immedi-
ately set forward ibr Scotland with an
army of 16,000 men, where he was op-
posed by general Lesley, who formed an
excellent plan for his own defence.
Knowing his men to be inferior in valor
and discipline, however superior in num-
bers, to those of Cromwell, he kept him-
self carefully in his entrenchments. At
last Cromwell was drawn into a very
disadvantageous post near Dunbar, where j
his antagonist waited deliberately to take
advantage of him. From this imminent
danger, however, he was delivered by
the madness of the Scotch clergy, who
believed " that the heretical army, to-
gether with Agag, their general, would
be delivered into their hands." Upon
the assurances of these visions, they
compelled their general to descend into
the plain, and give the English battle.
When Cromwell saw this result, he as-
sured his followers, " that the Lord had
delivered them into his hands," and or-
dered his army to sing psalms, as if al-
ready certain of victory. The Scots,
though double the number of the English,
were soon put to flight, and pursued with
great slaughter, while Cromwell did not
lose in all forty men.

After this defeat, Charles put himself
at the head of the remains of his army ;
and tliese he farther strengthened by the
royalists, who had been for some time
excluded from his service by the cove-
nanters. He was so closely pursued by
Cromwell, however, that he soon found
it impossible to maintain his troops. Ob-
serving, therefore, that the way was open
to England, he immediately directed his
march towards that country, where he
expected to be re-enforced by all the
royalists in that part of the kingdom.
In this, however, he was deceived ; for
scarcely had he arrived at Worcester
when he was informed that Cromwell
was marching from Scotland with an ar-
my of 40,000 men. This news was
scarcely told, when Cromwell himself
arrived. He assailed the town on all
sides ; the whole Scottish army was ei-

ther killed or taken prisoners ; and the
king himself, after having given many
convincing proofs of personal valor, was
obliged to fly. Charles, however, es-
caped, and after encountering many difli-
culties, Anally embarked for P>ance,
where he arrived in safety.

Cromwell, in the mean time, returned
in triumph ; and his first care was to pass
an act for abolishing royalty in Scotland,
and annexing that kingdom as a conquer-
ed province to the English common-
wealth. It was, however, allowed to
send a few members to the British par-
liament. Every part of Great Britain
being now perfectly subdued, the parlia-
ment next turned their arms against the
Dutch. In this undertaking the parlia-
ment's principal dependence lay in the
activity and courage of Blake their ad-
miral, who, though he had not embarked
in naval command till late in life, yet
surpassed all that preceded him in courage
and naval skill. On the other hand the
Dutch opposed to him the celebrated ad-
miral Van Tromp. The several engage-
ments which followed served rather to
show the excellency of the admirals than
to determine their superiority. At last
the Dutch proposed a treaty of peace, to
which the parliament gave a very unfavor-
able answer, as they knew that while the
force of the nation was employed at sea,
it would, in some measure, serve to coun-
terbalance the formidable power of Crom-
well by land. To prevent this, and to
secure the attachment of the army, he
resolved to seize the sovereign power.
He persuaded the officers to present a
petition for payment of arrears and re-
dress of grievances. His orders were
I obeyed ; a petition was drawn up and
: presented, in which the oflicers, after de-
I manding their arrears, desired the par-
I liament to consider how many years they
I had sat, and what pretensions they had
formerly made of their designs to new-
i model the house, and establish freedom on
I its broadest basis. They alleged that it
; was now full time for them to give place
! to others ; and, however meritorious their
I actions might have been, yet the rest of
the nation Iriad some right in their turn to
manifest their patriotism in defence of
their country. The house then appoint-

GREAT BRITAIN.

355

ed a committee to prepare an act which '
stated that all persons who presented
such petitions for the future should be !
considered guilty of high treason. To
this the officers made a very warm re- ;
monstrance, and the parliament as angry
a reply. Cromwell being informed of j
this altercation, suddenly rose up, and
turning to major Vernon, exclaimed, ;
" that he was compelled to do a thing that
made his hair stand on end." Then has-
tening to the house with three-hundred [
soldiers, and with marks of violent indig-
nation on his countenance, he entered,
took his place, and attended to the de- j
bates for some time. When the question
was ready to be put, he suddenly rose,
and overwhelmed the parliament with re-
proaches for their tyranny, ambition, op-
pression, and robbery of the public. Upon
which, stamping with his foot, which
was the signal for the soldiers to enter,
the place was immediately filled with
armed men. " It is you," said Cromwell,
" that have forced me upon this. I have
sought the Lord night and day, that he
would rather slay me than put me upon
this work." Then pointing to the mace,
" Take away that bauble," cried he ; af-
ter which, turning out all the members
and clearing the hall, he ordered the
doors to be locked, and putting the keys
in his pocket, returned to Whitehall.

The change of government which was
thus effected had been anticipated by
many of the continental powers. France
proposed an alliance, but the pride of
Louis would not allow him to style Crom-
well brother, and the latter refused the
term of cousin ; at length the distinction
of " Monsieur le Protecteur" was adapted
with success, and the treaty would have
been concluded but for the massacre of
the protestants, which took place in
France. Meantime two armaments sail-
ed with secret instructions. One com-
manded by Blake was destined for the
capture of the Spanish fleet, laden with
treasure from the Indies ; though the pre-
tended object of his voyage was to chas-
tise the pirates. A discovery of his in-
tention caused Philip to frustrate its ex-
ecution, and Blake was compelled to be
satisfied with having destroyed the fleet
off" Tunis. The other expedition was

conducted by Penn and Venables, and
intended for the conquest of St. Domingo.

Cromwell was aware that among his
dependents there were many who had
energy enough to become powerful op-
ponents, should he assume the entire gov-
ernment of the state at this period ; he
therefore placed the executive authority
in the hands of those who were entirely
devoted to himself, to insure the return of
that power into his own keeping. The
period that intervened between the dis-
solution of the long parliament and the
election of a protector, was signalised
by the name of the " Barebone Parlia-
ment," from the name of one of its prin-
cipal members.

It was impossible such a legislature as
this could stand ; even Cromwell him-
self began to be ashamed of their absur-
dities. He had carefully chosen those
who were entirely devoted to his inter-
ests, and these he commanded to dismiss
the assembly. They accordingly met by
concert ; and observing to each other
that this parliament had sat long enough,
they hastened to Cromwell, with Rouse
their speaker at their head, and into his
hands resigned the authority with which
he had invested them. Cromwell ac-
cepted their resignation with pleasure ;
but being told that some of their num-
ber were refractory, he sent colonel
White to clear the house of such as ven-
tured to remain there.

This shadow of a parliament being
thus dissolved, the officers, by their
own authority, declared Cromwell pro-
tector of the commonwealth of England.
The mayor and aldermen were sent for
to give solemnity to his appointment, and
he was instituted into his new office at
Whitehall. He was to be addressed by
the title of highness ; and his power was
proclaimed in London, and other parts
of the kingdom. It was now, indeed,
necessary that some person should take
the supreme command ; for affairs were
brought into such a situation, by the dis-
sensions of the contending parties, that
nothing but absolute power could prevent
a renewal of bloodshed and confusion.
The government of the kingdom was ad-
justed in the following manner. A coun-
cil was appointed, which was not to ex-

356

GREAT BRITAIN.

ceed twenty-one, nor to be under thirteen '
persons. These were to enjoy their offi-
ces for life, or during good behavior ;
and, in case of a vacancy, the remaining
members named three, of whom the pro-
tector chose one. The protector was
appointed the supreme magistrate of the
commonwealth, with such powers as the
king was possessed of. 'J'he power of
the sword was vested in him jointly with
the parliament when sitting, or with the
council at other times. He was obliged
to summon a parliament once every three
years, and to allow them to sit five months
without adjournmeni. A standing army
was established of 20,000 foot and 10,000
horse ; and fimds were assigned for their
support. The protector enjoyed his of-
fice for life ; and on his death, his place
was to be supplied by the council. Of
all these clauses the standing army was
sufficient for Cromwell's purpose ; for
while possessed of that instrument, he
could mould the rest of the constitution
to his pleasure. He chose his council
from among his officers, who had been
the companions of his dangers and vic-
tories, to each of whom he assigned a
pension of 1,000^. a year. He took care
to have his troops, upon whose fidelity
he depended for support, paid a month in
advance ; the magazines were also well
provided, and the public treasure man-
aged with frugality and care ; while his
activity, vigilance, and resolution, were
so well exerted, that he discovered every
conspiracy against his person, and every
plot for an insurrection, before they took
elfect.

Cromwell continued to govern, though
without assuming the title of king, in as
absolute a manner as any prince in Eu-
rope. As he was feared at home, so he
commanded respect abroad. He granted
religious toleration, caused justice to be :
faithfully administered, and his officers
of government were generally men of i
moral and religious principles, and vice '
was discountenanced at his court. He
refused the title of a king. In his private
life he was exemplary ; though some-
what of an enthusiast, yet he appeared i
deeply impressed with religious feelings.]
By some writers he has been represented i
as a religious hypocrite ; but, as it has |

been well observed, this supposition is con-
tradicted by the whole tenor of his life.
He was delivered from this life of anxie-
ty by a tertian ague, of which he died,
September 3, 1658, after having governed
nine years.

Oliver Cromwell was succeeded in his
office of protector by his son Richard, who
immediately called a parliament. To this
assembly the army presented a remon-
strance, desiring some person for their
general in whom they could confide.
The house voted such meetings and re-
monstrances unlawful ; upon which the
officers surrounding Richard's house,
forced him to dissolve the parliament ;
and soon after he signed an abdication
of the government. His younger broth-
er Henry, who had been appointed to
the command in Ireland, followed Rich-
ard's example, and resigned his commis-
sion without striking a blow.

The officers, thus left at liberty, re-
solved to restore the rump parliament as
it was called, consisting of that remnant
of a parliament which had condemned
Charles. They were no sooner reinsta-
ted in their authority, however, than they
began to humble the army by cashiering
several favorite officers, and appointing
others in whom they could have more
dependence. The officers immediately
resolved to dissolve the assembly. Lam-
bert, one of the general officers, drew up
a chosen body of troops ; and, placing
them in the streets which led to West-
minster-hall, when the speaker Lenthall
proceeded in his carriage to the house, he
ordered the horses to be turned, and very
politely conducted him home. The oth-
er members were likewise intercepted ;
and the army returned to their quarters
to observe a solemn fast, which generally
either preceded or attended any signal
triumph. A committee was then elected
of twenty-three persons, of whom seven
were officers. These they invested with
sovereign authority ; and a military gov-
ernment was established.

Upon hearing that the officers had by
their own authority dissolved the parlia-
ment, General Monk, who was then in
Scotland, with 8,000 veteran troops, pro-
tested against the measure, and resolved
to defend the national privileges. As

GREAT BRITAIN.

357

soon as he put his army in motion, he
found himself eagerly sought after by all
parties.

Monk now proceeded with his army
towards London. The gentry, on his
inarch, flocked round him with addresses,
expressing their desire of a new parlia-
ment ; but that general still continued his
march to within a (ew miles of the capi-
tal, when he sent the parliament a mes-
sage, desiring them to remove such for-
ces as remained in London to country
quarters. Some of the regiments will-
ingly obeyed this order ; and such as did
not, Monk compelled by force ; after
which he took up his quarters with his
army in Westminster. The house voted
him thanks for his services, and he in
return desired them to call a free parlia-
ment. He afterwards arrested eleven
of the most obnoxious of the common
council of the city ; broke the gates and
portcullises, and then returned in triumph
to his quarters at Westminster.

The commons were now greatly
alarmed. They tried every method to
gain off the general from his new alli-
ance. Some of them even promised to
invest him with the dignity of supreme
magistrate, and to support his usurpation.
But Monk was too just or too wise to
listen to their proposals ; he resolved to
restore the secluded members, and by their
means to bring about a new election.

The restoration of the expelled mem-
bers was easily effected ; and their num-
ber was so much superior to that of the
" rump parliament," that the chiefs of this
last party now thought proper to withdraw
in their turn. The restored members began
with repealing all those orders by which
they had been expelled. They renewed
and enlarged the general's commission ;
fixed a proper stipend for the support of
the fleet and army ; and, having passed
these votes, they dissolved themselves,
and gave orders for the immediate as-
sembling of a new parliament. Mean-
while, Monk new-modelled his army for
the purposes he had in view. Some of-
ficers presented him with an address, in
which they promised to obey implicitly
the orders of the ensuing parliament.
He approved of this engagement, which
he ordered to be signed by all the differ-

ent regiments ; and this furnished him
with a pretence for dismissing all the of-
ficers by whom it was rejected.

The new parliament being assembled,
the thoughts of all were turned towards
the king ; when at length Monk gave di-
rections to Annesly, president of the
council, to inform them that sir John
Granville, a servant of the king's, who
had been sent over by his majesty, was
now arrived with a letter to the house of
commons. This message was received
with the greatest joy. Granville was
called in, the letter read, and the king's
proposals immediately accepted. He
offered a general amnesty to all persons
whatsoever, and that without any excep-
tions, but what should be made by parlia-
ment. He promised to indulge scrupu-
lous consciences with liberty in matters
of religion ; to leave to the examination
of parliament the claims of all such as
possessed lands with contested titles ; to
confirm all these concessions by act of
parliament ; to satisfy the army under
general Monk with respect to their ar-
rears, and to give the same rank to his
officers when they should be enlisted in
the king's army.

In consequence of this agreement be-
tween the king and parliament, Monta-
gue, the English admiral, waited on his
majesty to inform him that the fleet ex-
pected his orders at Scheveling. The
duke of York immediately went on board
and took the command as lord high ad-
miral. The king afterwards embarked,
and landing at Dover, was received by
the general. He entered London on the
29th of May, 1660, which was his birth
day ; and was attended by an innumera-
ble multitude of people, who testified
their joy by the loudest acclamations.

Charles II was thirty years of age at
the time of his restoration, and his first
measures were calculated to give univer-
sal satisfaction.

After repeated solicitations, the act of
indemnity passed both houses, with the
exception of those who had an immedi-
ate hand in the king's death. Even
Cromwell, Ireton, and Bradshaw, though
dead, were absurdly considered as proper
objects of resentment ; their bodies were
dug from their graves, dragged to the

358

GREAT BRITAIN.

place of execution, and, after hanging
some time, buried under the gallows.

The army was now disbanded that had
for so many years governed the nation ;
prelacy, and all the ceremonies of the
church of England, were restored ; and
at the same time the king pretended to
preserve an air of moderation and neu-
trality.

The court now set an example of a
very difi'erent kind in the opposite ex-
treme to that of Cromwell's ; nothing but
scenes of license and festivity were to
be seen ; the horrors of the late war be-
came the subject of ridicule ; the formal-
ity of the sectaries was displayed on the
stage, and even laughed at from the pulpit.

In the midst of these scenes of dissi-
pation, the old and faithful followers of
the royal family were left unrewarded.
Numbers who had fought both for the
king and his father, and who had lost
their whole fortunes in his service, still
continued to pine in want and oblivion ;
while their persecutors, who had acquired
fortunes during the civil war, were per-
mitted to enjoy them without molestation.
The wretched royalists petitioned and
murmured in vain ; the monarch fled
from their expostulations to scenes of
mirth and festivity ; and the act of in-
demnity was generally said to have been
an act of forgiveness to the king's ene-
mies, and of oblivion to his friends.

In 1661, the Scotch and English par-
liaments vied with each other in their
protestations of devotion to the king. In
England, monarchy and episcopacy were
raised to the greatest splendor. The
bishops were permitted to resume their
seats in the house of peers ; all military
authority was acknowledged to be vested
in the king. He was empowered to
appoint commissioners for regulating cor-
porations, and expelling such members as
had intruded themselves by violence, or
professed principles dangerous to the
constitution. An act of uniformity was
passed, by which it was required that
every clergyman should be re-ordained,
if he had not before received episcopal
ordination ; that he should declare his
assent to every thing contained in the
book of common prayer, and should
take the oath of canonical obedience.

In consequence of this law, above 2000
of the presbyterian clergy resigned their
cures at once. In Scotland the right of
the king was asserted in the fullest and
most positive terms to be hereditary and
divine. His creatures said that his
power extended to the lives and posses-
sions of his subjects, and from his ori-
ginal grant was said to come all that they
enjoyed. They also voted him an addi-
tional revenue of 40,000/.

These feelings of excessive loyalty,
however, were dissipated by the profuse
extravagance of the king, and the sale of
Dunkirk to the French for 40,000/, caused
universal discontent in the minds of the
people. In 1662, Charles married the
Infanta of Portugal, whose portion
amounted to 500,000/, with the fortress
of Tangier in Africa, and Bombay in
the East Indies.

At this period, a complaint from the
merchants that they had sustained seri-
ous injuries by the non-performance of
the English treaty with the Dutch, led
Charles to a declaration of war against
the states of Holland. The step in it-
self was an imprudent one ; but he sent
out a fleet, such as England had never
before brought together, and with his
brother superintended the naval prepara-
tions. The duke of York, as high admi-
ral, imfurled his flag on board the Royal
Charles, and proceeded with ninety eight
ships of the line and four fire-ships to
the coast of Holland. At the king's
suggestion, that something of the order
observed in military affairs should be at-
tended to in naval engagements, the im-
proved mode of fighting in a line and
regular form of battle was adopted, and
their first engagement, on the 3rd of
June, 1665, proved victorious. The news
of that victory arrived in London, when
its inhabitants were suflering imder the
most severe of human calamities. This
was the great plague, which swept off"
100,000 persons. This dire visitation
was followed by another, still more dread-
ful. A fire broke out in the city of Lon-
don, and spread with such rapidity, that
no efforts could extinguish it, till it laid
in ashes the principal part of the city.
This calamity, though it reduced thou-
sands to beggary, ultimately proved bene-

GREAT BRITAIN.

359

Grcal Fire in Loiidon.

ficial to the metropolis, as it rose from '
its ruins in greater beauty than ever ; and ;
it is remarkable that not a single life was i
lost. The blame of this fire was laid on ;
the catholics. The Dutch war was ex-
claimed against as unsuccessful and un-
necessary, and Charles himself became
sensible that all the ends for which he
had undertaken it were likely to be frus-
trated. A treaty was, therefore, entered
into, which was concluded at Breda, on
the 21st of July, 1667. By this treaty
the only advantage gained by Britain was
the cession of the colony of New York,
in America.

A religious insurrection in Scotland
gave fresh gi'ounds of uneasiness,' and
that was no sooner suppressed than a
greater evil was apprehended in the ex-
hausted state of the treasury ; so greatly
increased by the difficulty of procuring
loans. In consequence of these embar-
rassments, the king prudently allowed
part of the fleet to lay by, when the
Dutch admiral, De Witt, taking advan-
tage of a congress at Breda, where the
different powers were engaged in dis-
cussing their various interests, left the
Texcl, and proceeded with seventy sail
to the buoy off the Nore. Their success

in being able to ride triumphantly in the
river, where they destroyed the Royal
James, the Oak, and the London, was
deeply regretted by the whole nation.
Soon after this event, three treaties
of peace with England, signed by the
powers of Holland, France, and Den-
mark, put a stop to furtJier hostilities.

Charles' temper which at first was
easy and careless, became arbitrary and
cruel. His tyranny was such, that the
party in England, that still cherished
their former ideas of freedom, resolved to
restore liberty to their country Ijy dethro-
ning the king. The principal conspira-
tors were Monmouth, Shaftesbury, Rus-
sel, Essex, Howard, Algernon Sidney,
and John Hampden, grandson to the
great man of that name. Monmouth
engaged the earl of Macclesfield, lord
Brandon, sir Gilbert Gerard, and other
gentlemen in Cheshire. Lord Russel
opened a correspondence with sir Wil-
liam Courtney, sir Francis Knowles, and
sir Francis Drake, who promised to raise
the western parts of England.

Besides these there were subordinate
conspirators, who frequently met together
unknown to Monmouth and his council
Among these was colonel Rumsey, an

360

GREAT BRITAIN.

old republican officer ; lieutenant-colonel
Walcot ; Goodenough, under-sheriff' of
London ; and a number of the inhabit-
ants of London. These men undertook
the desperate resolution of assassinating
the king in his way to Newmarket.
Rumbold, one of the party, possessed a
i'arm upon that road, called the Rye-
house, and from thence the conspiracy
Avas called the " Rye-house plot." 'J'hey
intended to stop the king's coach by
overturning a cart, and shooting him
through the hedges. The house in which
the king lived at Newmarket accidentally
took fire, and he was obliged to leave
that town eight days sooner than was
expected ; to which circumstance he
owed his safety. Soon after this the
conspiracy was discovered.

The trial of lord W. Russel was prin-
cipally celebrated for the assistance
which he received from lady Russel,
who was actively engaged in his defence.
After his condemnation his father of-
fered 100,000Z to save his life ; and lady
Russel also used both prayers and en-
treaties for the same purpose. But the
king was inflexible, and lord Russel was
beheaded in Lincoln's Inn Fields, on the
21st of July, 1682.

Russel, Sidney, and Walcot, were
executed ; Essex destroyed himself ;
Hampden was fined 40,000/ ; and scarce-
ly one escaped who had been in any
manner concerned, except the duke of
Monmouth.

The government of Charles was now
as absolute as that of any prince in
Europe ; but to please his subjects by an
act of popularity, he married the lady
Anne, his niece, to prince George, bro-
ther to the king of Denmark. This was
the last remarkable transaction of this
extraordinary reign. On February 2nd,
1685, about eight in the morning, the
king was seized with a fit of apoplexy.
By being blooded, he was perfectly re-
stored to his senses ; and there were
great hopes of his recovery the next day.
On the fourth day the physicians de-
spaired of his life, and therefore sent for
the queen. She threw herself on her
knees, and asked his pardon for all her
offences. He replied, that she had of-
fended in nothing ; but that he had been

guilty of offences against her, and asked
her pardon. He spoke with great affec-
tion to the duke of York ; and he advised
him to adhere to the laws with strictness,
and invariably to support the church of
England.

Having requested the bishops to with-
draw, as well as several of the lords who
attended his death-bed, he sent for Hud-
dlestone, a catholic priest. In the pre-
sence of the duke, the earl of Bath, and
Trevannion, a captain in the guards,
Huddlestone gave the extreme unction
to the king, and administered to him the
sacrament according to the rites of the
church of Rome. The doors were then
thrown open. Six prelates, who had
before attended the king, were sent for
to give him the sacrament. The bishop
of Bath and Wells read the visitation of
the sick, and, after he had said that
he repented of his sins, the absolution.
The king assisted with seeming devotion
at the service. He professed his appro-
val of the church of England ; and ex-
pired on the 6th of February, 1685,
between eleven and twelve o'clock ; hav-
ing reigned twenty-five years.

The first act of James IPs reign was
to assemble the privy council ; where,
after some praises bestowed on the mem-
ory of his predecessor, he made profes-
sions of his resolution to maintain the
established government both in church
and state ; and stated that as he had
already ventured his life in defence of the
nation, he Avould still go as far as any
man in maintaining all its just rights and
privileges.

The king, however, soon showed,
that he was not sincere in his promises.
All the customs, and the greater part of
the excise, which had been voted to the
late king for his life only, were levied by
James without a new act for that pur-
pose. He went openly to mass with all
the ensigns of royalty, and prepared the
way for the return of Catholicism.

But whilst passive obedience was ob-
tained at home, a storm was gathering
abroad which formed the prelude to that
great revolution which forced James and
his posterity to become exiles and aliens
from their kingdom and home. For a
considerable length of time the prince of

GREAT BRITAIN,

361

Orange had entertained hopes of ascend-
ing the British throne, and had even used
all his endeavors to exchide James from
it. Monmouth, who, aiter his last con-
spiracy, had been pardoned, but ordered
to depart the kingdom, had retired to :
Holland. He was received by the prince
of Orange with the highest marks of
distinction. But when the news of
Charles's death arrived, the prince appa-
rently dismissed Monmouth, though he
still kept up a close correspondence with
him. The duke retired to Brussels, and
resolved to invade England, and seize
upon the crown for himself. He was
seconded by the duke of Argyle, who
intended to form an insurrection in Scot-
land ; and while Monmouth attempted to
make a rising in the west of England, it
was resolved that x^rg^yde should also use
his endeavors in the north. The gen- 1
erosity of the prince of Orange, however,
did not correspond with the warmth of
his professions, as the unfortunate duke j
derived from his own plate and jewels
his whole supply for the war. I

Arg}^'le Avas the first who landed in
Scotland, where he published a manifes-
to, put himself at the head of 2,500 men,
and endeavored to influence the people
in his favor. But a formidable body of
the king's forces coming against him, his
army fell away ; and he himself, after
being wounded in attempting to escape,
was taken prisoner by a peasant who
found him standing up to the neck in
water. He was carried to Edinburgh,
where, after suflfering many indignities,
he was publicly executed.

Monmouth landed in Dorsetshire with
scarce one hundred followers. His
name, however, was so popular, and so
great was the dislike of the people to
James on account of his religion, that in
four days he had assembled a body of
above 2,000 men.

Monmouth continued to make rapid
progress, and in a short time found him-
self at the head of 6,000 men ; but was
daily obliged to dismiss great numbers
for want of arms. The king was not a
little alarmed at his success. Six regi-
ments of British troops were called over
from Holland ; and a body of regulars,
to the number of 3,000, were sent, under
4G

[ the command of the earl of Feversham
and Churchill, to check the progress of
the rebels. They took post at Sedge-
more, a village in the neighborhood of
Bridge water, and were joined by consi-
derable numbers of the country militia.
Here Monmouth made a stand. He
drove the royal infantry from their ground,
and was on the point of gaining a com-
plete victory, when the cowardice of
Gray, who commanded the horse, brought
all to ruin. This nobleman fled at the
first onset ; and the rebels, being charged
in flank, gave way, after three hours'
contest. About three hundred Avere kill-
ed in the engagement, and one thousand
in the pursuit. Monmouth fled aboA^e
twenty miles from the field of battle, till
his horse sunk under him ; he then
alighted, and, exchanging clothes with a
shepherd, fled on foot, attended by a
German count, who had accompanied
him from Holland. He was, however,
taken, and on his way to London, wrote
a submissive letter to the king, promising
discoveries, should he be admitted into
his presence. He also wrote to the
queen dowager ; he sent a letter to the
reigning queen, as well as to the king
himself, and begged his life, when ad-
mitted into his presence. But all his
entreaties and submissions Avere of no
avail. James told him that he was much
adjected with his misfortunes ; but that
his crime A\^as too dangerous in its ex-
ample to be left unpunished. In his last
moments he behaved with a magnanimity
worthy of his former courage. Circum-
stances are said to have attended his
death that created great horror among the
spectators. The executioner missed his
blow, and struck him slightly on the
shoulder. Monmouth raised his head
from the block, and looked him full in the
face, as if reproaching him for his mis-
take. He struck him twice again, but
with feeble strokes ; and then threw the
axe from his hands. The sheriff for-
ced him to renew his attempt ; and the
head of the duke, Avho seemed already
dead, was at last severed from his
body.

Those concerned in the duke of Mon-
mouth's conspiracy were punished with
the greatest severity. Immediately after

362

GREAT BRITAIN

the bsltle of Sedgemore, Fevcrsham hung '
more than twenty prisoners ; and was j
proceeding in his executions, when the j
bishop of Bath and Wells informed him !
that these unhappy men were by law I
entitled to a trial, and that their execu- ;
lion would be deemed a real murder.
Nineteen were put to death in the same
manner at Bridgewater by colonel Kirke, '.
who laid waste the whole country with- \
out making any distinction between
friend or foe. His own regiment had the j
ironical title of Kir/ce''s lambs. It does
not, however, appear, that these cruelties |
were committed I)y the direction, or even
with the approbation, of James ; any
more than the legal slaughters that were
committed by Judge Jefieries, who was
sent down to tr}^ the delinquents. The |
natural brutality of this man's temper
was inflamed by continual intoxication.
No fewer than eighty were executed by
his orders at Dorchester ; and on the
whole, at Exeter, Taunton, and Wells,
two hundred and fifty are computed to
have fallen by his hand ; nor were wo-
men exempted from the general severity,
but sufiered for aflbrding protection to
their nearest relatives. Jefleries on his
return was immediately created a peer,
and soon after vested with the dignity of
chancellor.

James now endeavored to establish
the catholic religion and a more absolute
form of government. He publicly sent
the earl of Castlemaine amljassador ex-
traordinary to Rome, in order to express j
his obedience to the pope, and reconcile |
his kingdoms to the catholic communion, j
This proceeding was too precipitate to
be liked even by the pope himself; and
therefore the oidy return he made to this
embassy was the sending a nimcio to
England. The nuncio made a public
and solemn entry into Windsor, which
did not fail to add to the general discon-
tent ; and because the duke of Somerset
refused to attend the ceremony, he was
dismissed from his employment as one
of the lords of the bedchamber.

Soon after this, the Jesuits were per-
mitted to erect colleges in different parts
of the kingdom, and to exercise the ca-
tholic worship in public.

In 1668, a second declaration for lib-

erty of conscience was published in the
same terms as the former ; but with this
peculiar injunction, that all divines should
read it after service in their churches.
The clergy disobeyed this order ; and a
petition was presented to the king by a
conclave of bishops, in which they sta-
ted they could not read his declaration
consistent with their own consciences,
or the respect they owed to the protestant
religion.

As the petition was delivered in pri-
vate, the king summoned the bishops be-
fore the council, and there questioned
them as to whether they would aclinow-
ledge it, which they did ; and on their
refusal to give bail, an order was imme-
diately signed for their commitment to
the Tower, and the crown lawyers re-
ceived directions to prosecute them for a
seditious libel. The king gave orders
that they shoidd be conveyed to the Tow-
er by water. The people Avere no soon-
er informed of their danger, than they
ran to the river, and imploring their bless-
ing, and calling upon heaven to protect
them, &LC. The very soldiers by whom
they were guarded knelt down before
them, and asked their forgiveness.

The 29th of June, 1688, was fixed for
the trial of the bishops ; and their return
was still more splendidlj'- attended than
their imprisonment. Twenty-nine peers,
a great number of gentlemen, and an im-
mense crowd of people, waited upon
them to Westminster-hall. The dispute
was learnedly managed by the lawyers
on both sides. The jury withdrew into
a chamber where they passed the whole
night ; but next morning they returned
into court, and pronounced the bishops
not guilty. Westminster-hall instantly
rang with loud acclamations, which were
communicated to the whole extent of the
city. They even reached the camp at
Hounslow, where the king was at dinner
in lord Feversham's tent.

As the king found the clergymen eve-
ry where avjerse to his measures, he next
tried the army. He thought that if one
regiment should promise implicit obe-
dience, their example would induce oth-
ers to comply. He therefore ordered
one of the regiments to be drawn up in
his presence, and desired such as were

GREAT BRITAIN.

363

against his late declaration of liberty of
conscience should lay down their arms.
He was surprised to see the whole bat-
talion ground their arms, except two
officers and a few catholic soldiers.

The birth of the prince of Wales in-
creased the fears of his subjects in pro-
portion as it raised his security and hopes.
In the reign of a prince to be educated
under the prejudices of such a father,
nothing but a continuance of the same
unconstitutional measures could be ex-
pected. The prince of Orange was at this
time in constant communication with the
disafl'ected portion of the gentry, and he
sent an envoy with instructions to apply in
his name to every religious sect in the
kingdom. To the church-party he sent
assurances of favor and regard ; and pro-
tested that his education in Holland
had in no way prejudiced him against
episcopacy. To the non-conformists he
sent exhortations, not to be deceived by
the insidious caresses of their known ene-
my, but to wait for a real and sincere
protector, &c. In consequence of these
insinuations, the prii»ce soon received in-
vitations from the most considerable per-
sons in the kingdom. The prince had a
lleet ready to sail, and troops provided for
action, before the beginning of June, 1688

The king of France was the first who
gave James any intimation of his danger,
and oftered to assist him in repelling it.

James having thus declined the assist-
ance of his friends, was struck with as-
tonishment to find that the states of Hol-
land not only intended to declare war,
but were rapidly preparing a fleet to in-
vade England.

To avoid this storm, James oftered to
enter into any alliance with the Dutch
for their common security. He replaced,
in all the counties of England, all the de-
puty-lieutenants and justices who had
been deprived of their commissions for
their adherence to the test and penal laws.

All these concessions, however, were
too late ; they were regarded as the ef-
fects of fear, and not of repentance.
Indeed, it is said, he very soon gave
proofs of his insincerity ; for hearing
that the Dutch fleet was dispersed, iie
recalled some concessions he had made
in favor of Magdalen college ; and to

] show his attachment to the catholic

I church, at the baptism of the prince of

i Wales, he appointed the pope one of the

' sponsors.

j In the mean time, William set sail
from Helvoetsluys with a fleet of near
five hundred vessels, and an army of
above fourteen thousand men. He was
driven back by a dreadful storm ; but he

' soon refitted his fleet, and again set
sail for England, and, after a voyage
of two days, landed at Broxholme, in
Torbay, on the 5th of November, and

' the prince was quickly joined by the

I gentry of the counties of Devon and

j Somerset.

These were followed by the defection
of the army. Lord Colchester, son to the
earl of Rivers, first deserted to the
prince. Lord Cornbury, son to the earl

j of Clarendon, carried off' three regiments
of cavalry at once ; and several officers
of distinction informed Eeversham, their
general, that they could not in honor fight
against the prince of Orange. Soon af-
ter this the uidiappy monarch found him-
self deserted by his own servants. Lord
Churchill had been raised from the rank
of a page, and had been invested with
a high command in the army ; he had
been created a peer, and owed his whole
fortune to the king's bounty, yet even
he deserted among the rest, and carried
with him the duke of Grafton, natural
son to the late king, colonel Berkely, and
others. Even the prince of Denmark,
and Anne, James' favorite daughter, re-
solved to take part with the prince of
Orange. When the king was informed
of this, he was stung with bitter anguish.

j " God help me," cried he, "my own

, children have forsaken me."

On the 30th of November, 1688,

j James sent three noblemen to treat with

I the prince of Orange. But though the
latter knew that the king's commission-
ers were in his interests, his conduct
showed plainly that he now thought the

', time of treating was past. For some
time he would not admit them to an au-
dience ; and when he did, would give
no satisfactory answer. James now be-
gan to fear for his personal safety. But
what most aflfected him was the terrors
of the queen for herself and her infant

364

GREAT BRITAIN.

son. He therefore resolved to send
fftiein abroad. They crossed the river in
a boat, at Whitehall, in a stormy and
rainy day. They wore carried to Graves-
end in a coach, under the conduct of the
count de Lauzun ; and a yacht, com-
manded by captain Gray, which lay there
ready for the purpose, soon transported
them in safety to Calais.

The king was now resolved to leave
the kingdom at once. He threw the
great seal into the Thames ; he left none
with any authority to conduct affairs in
his absence ; and vainly hoped to derive
advantage to his affairs from anarchy and
disorder. Notwithstanding all the en-
treaties and remonstrances of his parti-
zans to have him remain, he effected his
escape into France.

James having thus abandoned his domin-
ions, the prince of Orange, by the desire
of the house of lords, the only member of
the legislature remaining, summoned a
parliament by circular letters ; but the
prince, unwilling to act upon so imper-
fect an authority, convened all the mem-
bers who had sat in the house of com-
mons during any parliament of Charles
II, and to these were added the mayor,
aldermen, and fifty of the common coun-
cil of the city of London ; and the prince,
being thus supported by an assembly de-
riving its authority from himself, wrote
circular letters to the counties and cor-
porations of Great Britain to call a new
parliament.

The house was principally composed
of the whig party, and thanks were given
to the prince of Orange for the deliver-
ance he had brought them ; after which
they proceeded to settle the kingdom.
A bill was passed by both houses, that
king James II, having endeavored to sub-
vert the constitution of the kingdom, by
breaking the original contract between
the king and his people, and having, by
the advice of Jesuits and other persons,
violated the fundamental laws, and with-
drawn himself out of the kingdom, had
abdicated the government, and that the
throne was thereby vacant.

It was agreed that the prince and prin-
cess of Orange should reign jointly as
king and queen of England ; while the
administration of government should be

placed in the hands of the prince only.
The marquis of Halifax, as speaker of
the house of lords, made a solemn tender
of the crown to their highnesses, in the
name of the peers and commons of Eng-
land. The prince accepted the ofl'er ;
and on that very day, February 13th,
1689, William and Mary were proclaim
ed king and queen of England.

During the troubles in England, which
had terminated in placing William on the
throne, the two parties in Ireland were
kept in tranquillity by their mutual fears.
The protestants were alarmed at the
prospect of another massacre ; and the
catholics expected every day to be in-
vaded by the joint force of the English
and Dutch. Their terrors, however, were
ill formded ; for though Tyrconnel sent
several messages to the prince, that he
was ready to deliver up the kingdom to
any force that might make a surrender ap-
parently necessary, his off'ers were al-
ways rejected. William was persuaded
by the marquis of Halifax that, should
Ireland yield, no pretence could remain
for keeing an army in pay. These argu-
ments induced William to so utterly ne-
glect Ireland, that it may be considered
one of the greatest blemishes in his
whole reign.

The whole military force of Ireland at
that time amounted only to 4,000 men,
and of these only 600 were in Dublin.
Having no pay from the king, they sub-
sisted by depredation, and regarded no
discipline. The protestants in the north
armed themselves in their own defence ;
and the city of Londonderry, relying on
its situation and a slight wall, shut its
gates against the new-raised army. Prot-
estant parties in the mean time rose every
where, declaring their resolution to unite
in self-defence, to preserve the protestant
religion, to continue their dependence on
England, and to promote the meeting of
a free parliament.

To preserve appearances, William now
sent general Hamilton, an Irishman, ac-
companied by a catholic nobleman, to treat
with Tyrconnel ; but instead of persua-
ding that lord to yield to William, this
messenger advised him to adhere to
James. In the mean time, James him-
self assured the lord deputy that he was

GREAT BRITAIN.

365

ready to sail from Brest with a powerful j
armament. Hamilton, from the hopes of
this aid, marched against the northern
insurgents. They were routed with con-
siderable slaughter at Dromore ; and
Hillsborough, where they had fixed their
head-quarters, was taken without resist-
ance ; the city of Londonderry, however,
resolved to hold out to the last extremity.

The cause of James was sustained in
Scotland, for a short period, by the gallant
earl of Dundee ; his death, however, was
fatal to the hopes of James in Scotland.

On the 7th of March, 1689,7ames em-
barked at Brest. The whole force of his
expedition consisted of fourteen ships of
war, six frigates, and three fire-ships.
Twelve hundred of his native subjects in
the pay of France, and 100 French offi-
cers, composed the whole army of James.
He landed at Kinsale, without opposition,
on the 12th of the month, where he was
received with the greatest joy.

Being received at Dublin with the ap-
pearance of universal joy, James imme-
diately ordered, by proclamation, all pro-
testants who had abandoned the kingdom
to return. He commanded, in a second
proclamation, all catholics, except those
in his army, to lay up their arms, and put
an end to the robberies and depredations
which they had committed in the violence
of their zeal. He raised the value of the
currency by a proclamation ; and he
summoned a parliament to meet on the
7th of May, to settle the affairs of the
kingdom. The protestant clergy repre-
sented their grievances in an address ;
and the university of Dublin appeared
with complaints and congratulations. He
assured the first, of his absolute protec-
tion and a full redress ; and he promised
the latter, not only to defend, but even to
enlarge their privileges.

On the 8th of April, James left Dublin,
resolving to lead his army against the in-
surgents in person. They retired before
him, and the king laid siege to London-
derry. The besieged made a vigorous
resistance ; but being reduced to the last
extremity, they would have been obliged
to surrender, had not they been relieved,
on the 28th of July, by seven ships laden
with provisions, upon which the siege
was immediately raised.

The bad success of the early part of
the campaign, and the unhappy situation
of the protestants in Ireland, at length
induced William to attempt their reUef in
person. Accordingly, he left London on
the 4th of June, 1690, and arrived at
Carrickfergus on the 14th of that month.
From thence he passed to Lisburn, the
head-quarters of the duke of Schomberg.
He reviewed at Lough-Britland his army,
which consisted of 36,000 men, and was
composed of English, Dutch, Germans,
Danes, and French. Being supplied with
every necessary, they seemed absolutely
certain of victory. The Irish army, hav-
ing abandoned Ardee at their approach,
fell back to the south of the Boyne, where
was fought the celebrated battle of the
Boyne, July 1st, 1690, in which the forces
of William were victorious. .

In the beginning of the year 1692, an
action of unexampled cruelty disgraced
the government of William in Scotland,
namely, the murder of the clan of Mac-
don aid. Macdonald and his followers
had delayed to take the oaths of allegi-
ance till the very last day allowed was
come. He on that day went to fort Wil-
liam, but he found no officer empowered
to administer them ; another day there-
fore necessarily elapsed, before they
could reach the sheriff of the county.
They then took them, one day beyond
the prescribed time, and returned to
their homes, as they thought, in perfect
safety.

By the representation, however, of the
earl of Breadalbane, the king, " whose
chief virtue," says SmoUet, " was not
humanity," signed the warrant for their
deaths, and captain Campbell, with a
party of soldiers, was sent to the glen ;
and, on declaring upon his honor, that
his views were friendly, he was enter-
tained there in a most hospitable manner
for fifteen days ; when, after passing the
evening with the Macdonalds, he, in the
midst of the night, ordered the dreadful
deed to commence, and thirty-eight per-
sons were surprised in their beds, and
basely murdered by him, who had been
their guest, and his soldiers. It was the
intention to murder all the males under
seventy, but as some portion of the troops
did not secure the passes in time, the rest

366

GREAT BRITAIN

Baltic of La Hogiic.

escaped. The women and children, in-
deed, were spared the bayonet ; but in
the midst of a cokl wintry night, and in
a waste covered with snow, they were
all turned naked from their ho*ises, and
left to perish.

The total reduction of Ireland, and the
dispersion of the Highland chieftains who
favored his cause, did not entirely put an
end to the hopes of James. His princi-
pal expectations were founded on a con-
spiracy among his English adherents,
and in the succors promised him by the
French king. A plot was first formed in
Scotland by sir James Montgomery ; but
it was discovered.

The French resolved to make a de-
scent upon England in favor of James.
In pursuance of this scheme, the French
king supplied James with an army con-
sisting of a body of French troops, some
English and Scotch refugees, and the Irish
regiments which had been transported
into France from Limerick, and were
now become excellent soldiers by long
discipline and severe duty. This army
was assembled between Cherbourg and
La Hogue, and was commanded by king
James in person. More than 300 trans-
ports were provided for landing it on the

opposite coast ; and Tourville, the French
admiral, at the head of 63 ships of the
! line, was appointed to favor the descent.
i Llis orders were, at all events, to attack
j the enemy, in case they should oppose
I him ; so that every thing promised the
I banished king a change of fortune.

These preparations on the side of
i France were soon known at the English
I comt, and everv precaution taken for a
! vigorous opposition. All the secret
I machinations of the banished king's ad-
herents were discovered to the English
' ministry by spies ; and by these, they
found that the tories were more faithful
than even the whigs, Avho had placed
king William on the throne. The duke
of Marlborough, lord Godolphin, and
even the princess Anne herself, were vio-
1 lently suspected of disaffection. Prepa-
} rations, however, were made with great
i tranquillity and resolution, to resist the
' growing storm. Admiral Russel was
' ordered to put to sea with all possible
i expedition ; and he soon appeared with
j ninety-nine ships of the line, besides
I frigates and fire-ships. At the head of
' this formidable fleet he set sail for the
! coast of France ; and, near La Hogue,
, he discovered the enemy under Tourville,

GREAT BRITAIN.

367

who prepared to give him battle. The
engagement began between the two ad-
mirals with great bravery, and the rest
of the fleet soon followed their example.
The battle lasted for ten hours ; but at
last victory declared on the side of num-
bers : the French lied for Couquet road,
having lost four ships in the first day's
action. The pursuit continued for two
(lays following : three French ships of
the line were destroyed the next day,
and eighteen more, which had taken re-
fuge in the bay of La Hogue, were burnt
by sir George Rooke. This engagement,
which happened on the 21st of May,
1692, put a final period to the hopes of
James.

William died, March, 1701, aged 52,
having reigned thirteen years. He was
succeeded by the princess Amie, who
had married George prince of Denmark.
She ascended the throne in the 38th year
of her age, to the general satisfaction of
all parties. William had died on the
eve of a war with France ; and the pre-
sent queen, who generally took the ad-
vice of her ministry on every important
occasion, was now urged by opposite
councils ; a part of her ministry being
inclined to ^war, and another to peace.
At the head of those who opposed a war
with France was the earl of Rochester,
lord lieutenant of Ireland, first cousin to
the queen, and the chief of the tory fac-
tion ; at the head of the opposite party
was the earl, afterwards duke of Marlbo-
rough, and so well known for his victo-
ries over the French. After giving the
reasons for both their opinions, that of
Marlborough preponderated : the queen
resolved to declare war ; and communi-
cating her intentions to the house of com-
mons, by whom it was approved, Avar
was proclaimed accordingly. In this
declaration of war, Ivouis Avas taxed Avith
having taken possession of a great part
of the Spanish dominions ; with design-
ing to invade the liberties of Europe, to
obstruct the freedom of navigation and
commerce ; and with having offered an
unpardonable insvdt to the queen and her
throne, by acknowledging the title of the
pretender ; he was accused of attempt-
ing to imite the crown of Spain to his
own dominions, by placing his grandson

upon the throne of that kingdom, and thus,
of endeavoring to destroy the equality of
power that subsisted among the states of
Europe. This declaration of Avar on the
part of England was seconded by simi-
lar declarations by the Dutch and Ger-
mans, all on the same day.

The first attempt that Marll)orough
made to deviate from the general prac-
tices of the army was to advance the
subaltern officers, Avhose merits had been
hitherto neglected. Regardless of se-
niority, wherever he found abilities, he
Avas sure to promote them ; and thus he
had all the upper raidis of commanders
rather remarkable for their skill and
talents than for their age and experience.
In his first campaign, in the beginning
of July, 1702, he repaired to the camp at
Nimeguen, where he found himself at
the head of 60,000 men, Avell provided
with all necessaries, and long disciplined
by the best officers of the age. He was
opposed on the part of France by the
duke of Burgundy, a youth of very little
experience in the art of Avar ; but the
acting general Avas the marshal Boufllers,
an officer of courage and activity. But
Avherever Marlborough adA'anced, the
French Avere obliged to retire before him,
leaAdng all Spanish Guelderland at his
discretion.

The duke of Burgimdy finding himself
obliged to retreat before the allied army,
returned to Versailles, leaving Boufflers
to command alone. Boufflers retired to
Brabant : and Marlborough ended the
campaign by taking the city of Liege, in
Avhich was found an immense sum of
money and a great number of prisoners.

At the commencement of the campaign
of 1704, the duke of Marlborough in-
formed the Dutch, that it Avas his inten-
tion to march to the relief of the empire,
Avhich had been for some time oppressed
by the French forces ; and the states
gave him full powers to march as he
thought proper, Avith assurances of their
assistance in all his endeavors. The
French king, finding Boufffers no longer
capable of opposing Marlborough, ap-
pointed the marshal de Villeroy to com-
mand in his place. But Marlborough,
Avith about 13,000 troops, advanced by
hasty marches to the banks of the Da-

368

GREAT BRITAIN.

nube ; he defeated a body of French and
Bavarians stationed at Donauert to op-
pose him ; then passed the river, and
laid under contribution the dukedom of
Bavaria, which had sided with the ene-
my. Villeroy, wlw at first attempted to
follow his motions, seemed all at once to
have lost sight of the enemy ; nor was
he apprised of his route till informed of
his successes. But, in the mean time,
marshal Tallard prepared by another
route to obstruct Marlborough's retreat
with an army of 30,000 men. He was
soon after joined by the duke of Bavaria's
forces ; so that the French army in that
part of the continent amounted to 60,000
veterans, commanded by two of the most
able generals in France.

To oppose these powerful armies, the
duke of Marlborough was joined by a
body of 30,000 men under the celebrated
prince Eugene. The allied army, with
this re-enforcement, amounted to about
52,000. After various marches and
countermarches, the two armies met at
Blenheim. A terrible engagement en-
sued, in which the French were entirely
defeated, with a tremendous loss. Soon
after finishing the campaign, the duke
repaired to Berlin, where he procured a
re-enforcement of 8,000 Prussians to serve
under prince Eugene in Italy. Thence
he proceeded to negotiate for succors at
the court of Hanover ; and soon after
returned to England, where he was re-
ceived with every possible demonstration
of joy.

The most remarkable transaction, how-
ever, of this year, and indeed of this
whole reign, was the union between the
two kingdoms of Scotland and England.
Though governed by one sovereign since
the time of James I, of England, yet
each nation continued to be ruled by its
respective parliament ; and often profess-
ed to pursue opposite interests to those
of its neighbor. The union had often
been unsuccessfully attempted before.
In all the former proposals on that head,
both nations were supposed to remain
free and independent ; each Idngdom
having its own parliament, and subject
only to such taxes and other commercial
regulations as those parliaments should
judge expedient for the benefit of their

respective states. After the destniction
of the Darien colony, William had en-
deavored to allay the national discontent,
by proposing that a union should take
place between the two nations. The
terms now proposed were the same with
those formerly held out, viz, a federal
union, somewhat like that of the states
of Holland. With this view the Scots
were prevailed on to send twenty com-
missioners to London ; who, with twen-
ty-three on the part of England, met at
Whitehall, in the month of October, 1702.
Here they were honored with a visit from
the queen, but the treaty was entirely bro-
ken off, at this time, by the Scottish com-
missioners insisting that the rights and
privileges of their countrymen, trading to
Africa and the Indies, should be preserv-
ed and maintained. It was, however, re-
sumed in the year 1706, when the com-
missioners again met on the 1 6th of April,
in the council-chamber of Whitehall. —
The Scottish commissioners still propos-
ed a federal union ; but the English were
determined on an incorporation, which
should not afterwards be dissolved by a
Scottish parliament. Nothing but this,
they said, could settle a perfect and last-
ing friendship betwixt the two nations. —
The commissioners from Scotland, how-
ever, still continued to resist that article
which subjected their country to the same
customs, excises, and regulations of trade
as England ; but the queen being per-
suaded to pay two visits in person to the
commissioners, exerted herself so effect-
ually, that the majority was at last gained
over ; and all the rest yielded, though
with reluctance, excepting Lochaber of
Carnwath, who could not be persuaded
either to sign or seal the treaty.

The articles of the treaty were ratified
by parliament, with some trifling varia-
tions, on the 25th of March, 1707; when
the duke of Queensberry finally dissolv-
ed that ancient assembly, and Scotland
ceased to be a separate and independent
kingdom.

On the conclusion of the treaty, the
queen informed both houses of the Eng-
lish parliament, that the treaty of union,
with some additions and alterations, was
ratified by an act of the parliament of
Scotland : that she had ordered it to be

GREAT BRITAIN.

369

laid before them, and hoped it would
meet their approbation. She observed,
that they had now an opportunity of put-
ting the last hand to a happy union of
the two kingdoms : and that she should
look upon it as a particular happiness if
this great work, so often attempted be-
fore without success, could be brought to
perfection in her reign. Objections,
however, were raised by the tory par-
ty; but they were too weak to be heard
with any attention, and the union was
finally completed on the 1st of May,
1707, when the island took the name
of " The United Kingdom of Great
Britain."

The last campaign of the duke of
Marlborough, which happened in the
year 1711, was equally successful. He
was opposed by marshal Villars, who had
commanded the French in the battle of
Malplaquet; and, by marching and coun-
termarching, induced the enemy to quit a
strong line of entrenchments without
striking a blow, which he came after-
wards and took possession of. This
enterprise was followed by the taking of
Bouchain, which was the last military
achievement of this great general. From
the beginning of the war, which had
now continued nine years, he had per-
petually advanced, and scarcely ever
retreated before his enemies, nor lost an
advantage he had obtained over them.
He most frequently gained the enemy's
posts without fighting ; but where he was
obliged to attack, no fortifications were
able to resist him. He had never be-
sieged a city which he did not take, nor
engaged in a battle in which he did not
come off victorious. Thus the allies had
reduced under their command Spanish
Guelderland, Limbourg, Brabant, Flan-
ders, and Hainault ; they were masters
of the Scarpe, the capture of Bouchain
had opened for them a passage into the
heart of France, and another campaign
might have made them masters of Paris ;
but on the duke's return from this cam-
paign, he was accused of having taken a
bribe of 6,000Z. a year from a Jew, who
had contracted to supply the army with
bread ; and the queen on that account
dismissed him from all his employments.
On the removal of this great general, the
47

command of the British forces was given
to the duke of Ormond.

But little was effected by that general,
and a peace was concluded in 1713. In
this treaty it was stipulated that Philip,
now acknowledged king of Spain, should
renounce all right to the crown of
France, the union of two such powerful
kingdoms being thought dangerous to the
liberties of Europe. It was agreed that
the duke of Berry, Philip's brother, and
after him in succession, should also re-
nounce his right to the crown of Spain,
in case he became king of France. It
was stipulated that the duke of Savoy
should possess the island of Sicily with
the title of king, together with Fenes-
trelles, and several other places on the
continent; which increase of dominion
was in some measure made out of the
spoils of the French monarchy. The
Dutch had the barrier granted them
which they so much desired ; and if the
crown of France was deprived of some
dominions to enrich the duke of Savoy,
on the other hand, the house of Austria
was taxed to supply the Avants of the
Hollanders, who were put in possession
of the strongest towns in Flanders. The
fortifications of Dunkirk were demolish-
ed. Spain gave up Gibraltar and the
island of Minorca. France resigned her
pretensions to Hudson's Bay, Nova Sco-
tia, and Newfoundland, but was left in
possession of Cape Breton, and the lib-
erty of drying fish upon the shore. The
British stipulated that the French pro-
testants, confined in the prisons and gal-
leys for their religion, should be released.
For the emperor it was stipulated, that
he should possess the kingdom of Na-
ples, the duchy of Milan, and the Spanish
Netherlands. The king of Prussia was
to have Upper Guelderland ; and a time
was fixed for the emperor's acceding to
these articles, as he had for some time
obstinately refused to assist at the nego-
tiation. This celebrated treaty was
signed at Utrecht on the last day of
March, 1713.

This year was also remarkable for an
attempt of the Scottish peers and com-
mons to dissolve the union. This mo-
tion was overruled in the house, but the
discontent of the people still continued ;

370

GREAT BRITAIN.

addresses were prepared, and matters
were in danger of coming to extremities,
when the attempt of Charles Stuart to
regain his kingdom, in 1715, so divided
the minds of the people, that no unani-
mous effort could afterwards be made.

The history of the latter part of this
reign consists entirely of the intrigues of
the whigs and tories against each other.
The violent dissensions between these
two parties, their unbounded licentious-
ness, cabals, and tumults, made the
queen's situation very disagreeable, her
health declined, and on the 28lh of July,
1714, she fell into a state of insensibili-
ty. Notwhhstanding all the efforts of
the physicians, the distemper gained
ground so fast, that next day they de-
spaired of her life. All the members of
the privy council, without distinction,
were now summoned from the different
parts of the kingdom. A letter was sent
to the elector of Hanover, informing him
of the queen's situation, and desiring
him to repair to Holland, where he would
be attended by a British squadron to con-
vey him to England. At the same time
they despatched instructions to the earl
of Strafford, at the Hague, to desire the
states-general to be ready to perform the
giiarantee of the protestant succession.

On the 30th of .Tuly the queen seemed
to be somewhat relieved by the medi-
cines which had been given her. She
rose from her bed about eight in the
morning and walked a little. She was
soon after seized with an apoplectic fit,
from which, however, she somewhat re-
covered, but expired the following morn-
ing a little after seven o'clock, in the
forty-ninth year of her age. This prin-
cess, like all the rest of her family,
seemed rather fitted for the duties of
private life than a public station ; being
a pattern of conjugal fidelity, a good
mother, a warm friend, and an indulgent
mistress ; and to her honor it certainly
must be recorded, that during her reign
none suflered on the scaffold for treason.

The queen had no sooner resigned her
breath than the privy council met, and
three instruments were produced, by
which the elector of Hanover appointed
several of his known adherents to be
added as lords justices to the seven great

officers of the kingdom. Orders also
were immediately issued out for pro-
claiming George king of England, Scot-
land, and Ireland. The regency ap-
pointed the earl of Dorset to carry him
the intimation of his accession to the
crown, and to attend him in his journey
to England. They sent the general of-
ficers, in whom they could confide, to
their posts ; they re-enforced the garrison
of Portsmouth, and appointed the cele-
brated Mr. Addison secretary of state.

The king first landed at Greeenwich ;
where he was received by the duke of
Northumberland, captain of the life-guard,
and the lords of the regency. From the
landing place he walked to his house in
the park, accompanied by a great number
of the nobility and other persons of dis-
tinction. George I was fifty-four years
old when he ascended the British throne.
His mature age and experience, his nu-
merous alliances, and the general tranquil-
lity of Europe, all contributed to establish
his interests, and promise him a peaceable
and happy reign. His virtues, though not
shining, were solid. To firmness, reso-
lution, and perseverance, he joined great
application to business.

A rebellion now commenced in Scot-
land. The earl of Mar, assembling 300
of his vassals in the Highlands, pro-
claimed the pretender at Castleton ; and
setting up his standard at Braemar, as-
sumed the title of lieutenant-general of
his majesty's forces. To second these
attempts, two vessels arrived from France,
with arms, ammunition, and a number of
officers, together with assurances to the
earl that the pretender himself would
shortly come over to head his own forces.
In consequence of this promise, the earl
soon found himself at the head of 10,000
men, well armed and provided. He se-
cured the pass of Tay at Perth, where
his head-quarters were established ; and
made himself master of the whole prov-
ince of Fife, and all the sea-coast on
that side of the frith of Forth. He
marched from thence to Dumblain, as if
he intended to cross the Forth at Stirling
bridge ; but there he was informed that
the duke of Argyle, who on this occasion
was appointed commander-in-chief of all
the forces in North Britain, was advanc-

GRE AT BRITAIN.

371

ing against him from Stirling with all
his own clans, assisted by some troops
from Ireland. Upon being soon joined
by some of the clans under the earl of
Seaforth, and others under general Gor-
don, an experienced officer, he resolved
to oppose the enemy, and directed his
march towards the south.

The duke of Argyle, apprised of his
intentions, and to prove his attachment to
the present government, resolved to give
him battle in the neighborhood of Dum-
blain. In the morning he drew up his
army, which did not exceed 3500 men in
order of battle ; but he found himself
greatly outflanked by the insurgents. The
duke, therefore, perceiving, the earl mak-
ing attempts to surroundhim, was obliged
to alter his dispositions, which on ac-
count of the scarcity of general officers,
was not done so expeditiously as to be
finished before the rebels began the at-
tack. The left wing of the duke's army
received the centre of the enemy, and
supported the first charge without shrink-
ing. It seemed even for a while victo-
rious, and the earl of Clanronald was
killed. But Glengarr)', who was second
in command, led on the troops with such
determined bravery that they obtained a
complete victory over that wing of the
royal army. In the mean time, the duke
of Argyle, who commanded in person on
the right, attacked the left of the enemy,
and having entirely broken that wing,
and driven them over the river Allan, he
returned to the field of battle ; where, to
his great mortification, he found the ene-
my victorious, and patiently waiting for
the assault. However, instead of renew-
ing the engagement in the evening both
parties drew oft', and both claimed the
victory. All the advantages of a victory,
however, belonged to Argyle. He had
interrupted the progress of the enemy ;
and in their circumstances delay was de-
feat. In fact, the earl of Mar soon found
his losses and disappointments increase.
The castle of Inverness, of which he
was in possession, was delivered up by
lord Lovat, who had hitherto professed to j
act in the interest of the pretender ; and j
many of the clans, seeing no likelihood |
of coming to a second engagement, re-
turned quietly home. I

In the mean time, the rebellion was
still more unsuccessfully prosecuted in
England. Upon the first rumor of an
insurrection, government imprisoned sev-
eral lords and gentlemen of whom they
had a suspicion. But these precautions
were not able to stop the insurrection in
the western counties, where it was already
begun. All their preparations, however,
were weak and ill conducted ; every
measure was betrayed to government as
soon as projected, and many revolts were
repressed in the very outset. The uni-
versity of Oxford was treated with great
severity on this occasion. Major-gener-
al Pepper, with a strong detachment of
dragoons, took possession of the city at
day-break, declaring that he would in-
stantly shoot any of the students who
should presume to appear without the
limits of their respective colleges.

The insurrection in the northern coun-
ties came to greater maturity. In the
month of October, 1715, the earl of Der-
wentwater and Mr. Forster took the field
with a body of horse, and being joined
by some gentlemen from the borders
of Scotland, proclaimed the pretender.
Their first attempt was to seize upon
Newcastle, in which they had many
friends ; but finding the gates shut against
them, they retired to Hexham. To op-
pose these, general Carpenter was de-
tached by government with a body of
nine hundred men, and an engagement
was hourly expected. The rebels had
two methods by which they might have
conducted themselves with prudence and
safety. The one was to march directly
into the western parts of Scotland, and
there join general Gordon, who com-
manded a strong body of Highlanders.
The other was to cross the Tweed, and
boldly attack general Carpenter, whose
forces did not exceed their own. From
the infatuation attendant on the measures
of that party, neither of these counsels
were pursued. They took the route to
Jedburgh, where they hoped to leave
Carpenter on one side, and to penetrate
into England by the western border.
This was the efl^ectual means to cut
themselves oflf either from retreat or as-
sistance. A party of Highlanders who
had joined them by this time, at first re-

372

GREAT BRITAIN

fused to accompany them in such a des-
perate incursion, and one half of them
actually returned to their own country.
At Brampton, Mr. Forster opened his
commission of general, which had been
sent him by the earl of Mar, and there
he proclaimed the pretender. They con-
tinued their march to Penrith, where the
body of the militia that was assembled
to oppose them fled at their appearance.
From Penrith they proceeded by the way
of Kendal and Lancaster to Preston, of
which place they took possession with-
out any resistance. But this was the
last stage of their ill-advised excursion ;
for general Wills, at the head of seven
thousand men, came up to attack them,
and from his activity there was no esca-
ping. They now, therefore, began to
raise barricades about the town, and to
put the place in a posture of defence, re-
pulsing the first attacks of the royal army
with success. Next day, however, Willis
was re-enforced by Carpenter, and the
town was invested on all sides. In this
situation Forster hoped to capitualate
with the general ; and accordingly sent
Colonel Oxburg, who had been taken
prisoner, with a trumpeter to propose a
capitulation. This, however. Wills re-
fused ; alleging that he would not treat
with rebels, and that the only favor they
had to expect was to be spared from im-
mediate slaughter. They accordingly
laid down their arms and were put under
a strong guard. All the noblemen and
leaders were secured, and a few of their
officers tried for deserting from the royal
army, and shot by order of a court-mar-
tial ; the noblemen and considerable offi-
cers were sent to London, and led through
the streets pinioned and bound together,
to intimidate their party.

The pretender, as a last effort, resolved
to hazard his person among his friends in
Scotland. Passing, therefore, through
France in disguise, and embarking in a
small vessel at Dunkirk, he arrived, after
a voyage of a few days, on the coast of
Scotland, with only six gentlemen in his
train. He passed vmknown through Ab-
erdeen to Feteresso, where he was met
by the earl of Mar, and about thirty no-
blemen and gentlemen of the first quali-
ity. There he was solemnly proclaimed ;

and his declaration, dated at Comercy,
was printed and dispersed. He went
from thence to Dundee, where he made
a public entry ; and in two days more he
arrived at Scoon, where he intended to
have the ceremony of his coronation per-
formed. He ordered thanksgivings to be
made for his safe arrival ; he enjoined
the ministers to pray for him in their
churches ; and, without the smallest
share of power, went through all the cere-
monies of royalty. Having thus spent
some time in unimportant parade, he re-
solved to abandon the enterprise with the
same levity with which it was underta-
ken. Having made a speech to his
grand council, he informed them of his
want of money, arms, and ammunition,
for undertaking a campaign, and therefore
deplored that he was obliged to leave
them. He once more embarked on board
a small French ship that lay in the har-
bor of Montrose, accompanied by several
lords, his adherents ; and in five days ar-
rived at Gravelines.

The rebellion being ended, the law
was put in force with all its terrors ; and
the commons, in their address to the
crown, declared they would prosecute in
the most rigorous manner the authors of
the late rebellion ; and their measures
were as vindictive as their resolutions
were speedy. The earls of Derwent-
water, Nithisdale, Carnwarth, and Win-
town, the lords Widerington, Kenmuir,
and Narine, were impeached ; and, upon
pleading guilty, all but lord Wintown re-
ceived sentence of death. No entreaties
could prevail upon the ministry to spare
these unhappy men. The house of lords
even presented an address to the throne
for mercy, but without effect ; for the
king only answered, that on this, as on
all other occasions, he would act as he
thought most consistent with the dignity
of the crown and the safety of the peo-
ple. Orders were accordingly despatched
for executing the lords Dernwentwater,
Nithisdale, and Kenmuir, immediately ;
the rest were respited. Nithisdale, how-
ever, had the good fortune to escape.
Derwentwater and Kenmuir were brought
to the scaffold on Tower-hill at the time
appointed. Both underwent their sen-
tence with calm intrepidity, and seem-

GREAT BRITAIN.

373

ingly less moved than those who beheld
them.

In 1721 was formed the celebrated
South Sea Company, better known as
the " South Sea bubble," which resulted
similarly to that formed by John Law, in
France, termed the " Mississippi Com-
pany," in 1716. In a few months the
bubble burst, — the people awaked from
their dreams of riches, and found that all
the advantages they expected were mere-
ly imaginary, while thousands of families
were involved in one common ruin.*

♦Ever since the revolution, government had
been accustomed to borrow from mercantile bod-
ies, and among the rest, from the South Sea Com-
pany. Sir Robert Walpole having conceived a
design of lessening the interest paid to those
companies, from 6 to 5 per cent., the several
companies agreed to receive it ; and the South
Sea Company accordingly, to whom the govern-
ment owed 10 millions, were satisfied to lend it
for 500,000/. a year. While the public was reap-
ing this obvious advantage, Sir John Blount, a
man who had been born a scrivener, proposed, in
the name of the South Sea Company, to lessen
the national burthen still further, by permitting
the South Sea Company to buy up the debts of
the other companies. The South Sea Company
was to redeem the debts of the nation, out of
the hands of the private proprietors, who were
creditors to the government, on whatever terms
they could make ; and for the interest of this
money, which they had thus redeemed, and tak-
en into their own hands, they would be content-
ed, to be allowed for 6 years, 5 per cent., and
then the interest should be reduced to 4 per cent.,
and be redeemable by parliament. For these
purposes, a bill passed both houses, and, as the
directors of the South Sea Company could not,
of themselves alone, be supposed to be possess-
ed of money sufficient to buy up these debts of
the government, they were empowered to raise
it, by opening a subscription, and granting annui-
ties to such proprietors as should think proper to
exchange their security, namely, the crown, for
the South Sea Company. The bait held out to
adopt the latter security, was the chimerical pros-
pect of having their money turned to great ad-
vantage, by a commerce to South America, where
it was pretended, that settlements were to be
granted to the English by Spain. The directors'
subscription books were immediately crowded ;
the delusion spread, and the subscriptions soon
sold at a prodigious increase of price. But the
multitude, who had paid so dearly for a stock of
visionary value, soon awoke from their dreams of
opulence, and thousands found themselves involv-
ed in ruin. Parliament, however, was determin-
ed, as far as they could, to strip the directors of
their ill-gotten gains. All directors of the com-
pany were removed from their seats in the House
of Commons, or offices of state ; and after pun-

Soon after the breaking up of the par-
hament in 1727, the king resolved to
visit his electoral dominions of Hanover.
Having appointed a regency in his ab-
sence, he embarked for Holland, and
stopped on his first landing at a small
town called Voet. Next day he proceed-
ed on his journey ; and in two days more
arrived at Delden, to all appearance in
perfect health. He supped there very
heartily, and continued his journey early
the next morning ; but between eight and
nine ordered his coach to stop. It being
perceived that one of his hands lay mo-
tionless, his attendants attempted to quick-
en the circulation by chafing it between
their own. As this had no effect, the
surgeon who followed on horseback was
called, and he rubbed it with spirits. —
Soon after, the king's tongue began to
swell, and he had just strength enough
to bid them hasten to Osnaburgh, and
then fell into a state of insensibility, from
which he never recovered, but expired
about eleven o'clock, June 10, 1727, in
the sixty-eighth year of his age. His
body was conveyed to Hanover, and in-
terred with those of his ancestors.

On the accession of George II, the
two great parties into which the nation
had so long been divided, again changed
their names, and were now called the
court and country parties. Through the
principal part of this reign, there seems
to have been two objects of controver.sy
which rose up in debate at every session,
and tried the strength of the opponents ;■
these were the national debt and the num-
ber of forces to be kept in pay. The
government, on the present king's acces-
sion, owed more than 30,000,000/ of
money ; and though there was a long
continuance of profoimd peace, yet this
sum was found constantly increasing. —
Demands for new supplies were made
every session of parliament, either for
the purposes of securing friends upon the
continent, or guarding the kingdom from
internal conspiracies, or of enabling the
ministry to act vigorously in conjunction

ishing the delinquents, the legislature allotted,
out of the profits of the South Sea scheme, seven
millions to the ancient proprietors, while the re-
maining capital stock was divided among all the
proprietors, at the rate of 33/. per cent.

374

GREAT BRITAIN.

with the powers in alliance abroad. It
was A'ainly alleged that those expenses
were incurred without prescience or ne-
cessity ; and that the increase of the na-
tional debt, by multiplying and increasing
taxes, would at last become an intolerable
burden. These arguments were offered,
canvassed, and rejected ; the court party
was constantly victorious, and every de-
mand was granted with cheerfulness and
profusion.

In 1739 war was declared with Spain ;
and soon after, admiral Vernon, with six
ships only, destroyed all the fortifications
of Porto Bello, and came away victori-
ous with scarcely the loss of a man.

As the war was thus successfully com-
menced, supplies were cheerfully granted
for its prosecution. Commodore Anson
was sent with a squadron of ships to op-
pose the enemy in the South Sea, and to
co-operate with admiral Vernon across
the isthmus of Darien. This squadron
was to act a subordinate part to a formi-
dable armament that was to be sent to
New Spain ; but through the mismanage-
ment of the ministry both these schemes
were frustrated. The other expedition
ended still more unfortunately. The ar-
mament consisted of twenty ships of the
line, and almost an equal number of frig-
ates. The most sanguine hopes of suc-
cess were still entertained ; but the min-
istry kept back the fleet without any rea-
son, till the season for action, in Ameri-
ca, was almost over. At last, however,
they arrived before the city of Carthage-
na, and became masters of the strong
forts which defended the harbor. But
the rainy season commenced with such
violence, that it was impossible for the
troops to continue their encampment. —
To these calamities was added the dis-
sension, between the sea and land com-
manders, who blamed each other, and
could be only brought to agree, in one
measure, viz, to re-embark the troops, and
withdraw them as quick as possible.

In the spring of 1745, prince Charles,
the grandson of James II, took leave of
his father at Rome. Having made a
vow, in the presence of the pope, and
his cardinals, that he would never for-
sake his religion, he, with Patrick Gra-
ham, his confessor, the marquis of TuUi- 1

bardine, general Macdonald, and a few
attendants, passed through France, by
land, and vi.sited Louis in his camp. —
He obtained from the king, four thousand
pounds in money, and two thousand
stand of arms, for the use of Scotland ;
and, accompanied by the duke de Boque-
feuille, with twenty ships of the line, was
proceeding towards Brest, in order to
land at the nearest English port, when
the appearance of a superior fleet, com-
manded by Admiral Norris, caused them
to turn back, and a violent gale dispersed,
and greatly damaged their shipping, so
as entirely to frustrate the intended inva-
sion. The prince and his friends were
in a small vessel, in which they reached
the western side of Scotland, and stand-
ing for the coast of Lochaber, landed be-
tween the isles of Mull and Skye, on the
10th of August, 1745.

Charles knelt down to kiss the earth
on his landing, upon which the confessor
cut a turf, and presenting it to him, in-
stalled him, by authority of the pope,
regent for his father, whom he styled
James III. Charles was at this time
twenty-five years of age. His appear-
ance was prepossessing ; and to a great
share of manly beauty he added a most
enterprising spirit.

When the young adventurer arrived
at Perth, he performed the ceremony of
proclaiming his father king of Great
Britain. From thence proceeding tow-
ards Edinburgh, his forces continually
increased, and he entered the capital
without opposition ; but was unable, from
want of cannon, to reduce the castle.
Here he again proclaimed his father, and
promised to dissolve the union, Avhich
was considered one of the great national
grievances. In the mean time, sir John
Cope resolved to give the enemy battle.
The rebels attacked him near Preston-
pans, and in a short time put him and his
troops to flight, with the loss of 500 men.

This victory gave the Stuart party
great influence ; and had the prince
marched directly to England, he might
have accomplished his object ; but he
was amused by the promise of succors
which never came, and thus induced to
remain in Edinburgh till the season for
action was lost. He was joined, how-

GREAT BRITAIN.

375

ever, by the earl of Kilmarnock, lord
BalmerinOjlords Cromarty, Elcho, Ogilvy,
Pitsligo, and the eldest son of lord Lovat,
who, with their vassals, considerably in-
creased his army. While Charles was
thus trifling away his time at Edinburgh,
the British ministry were taking effectual
methods to oppose him. Six thousand
Dutch troops, that had come over to the
assistance of the crown, were despatched
northward under the command of general
Wade. The duke of Cumberland soon
after arrived from Flanders, and was
followed by another detachment of dra-
goons and infantry, well disciplined and
inured to action ; and besides these,
volunteers offered themselves in every
part of the kingdom.

At last, Charles resolved upon entering
England. He crossed the western bor-
der, and took the town of Carlisle ; after
which he continued his march south-
ward, having received assurance that a
considerable body of forces would be
landed on the southern coasts to make a
diversion in his favor. He established
his head-quarters at Manchester, where
he was joined by about 200 English
formed into a regiment, under the com-
mand of colonel Townley. From thence
he pursued his march to Derby, intending
to go by the way of Chester into Wales,
where he hoped to be joined by a great
number of malcontents ; but this was
prevented by the factions among his
followers.

Being now advanced within 100 miles
of London, that capital was in the utmost
consternation ; and had he proceeded
with the same expedition he had hitherto
used, perhaps he might have made him-
self master of it. But he was rendered
incapable of pursuing this or any other
rational plan, by the discontents which
began to prevail in his army. In fact,
the young prince was but the nominal
leader of his forces ; his generals, the
Highland chiefs, being averse to subor-
dination, and ignorant of command. —
They were now unanimous in their reso-
lution to return to their own country, and
Charles was forced to comply. They
retreated to Carlisle without any loss ; and
from thence crossing the rivers Eden and
Solway, entered Scotland. They next

marched to Glasgow, which was laid
under severe contributions. Near Stir-
Ung, they were joined by lord Lewis
Gordon, at the head of some forces which
had been assembled in his absence. —
Other clans likewise came in ; and from
some supplies of money received from
Spain, and some skirmishes with the
royalists, in which he was victorious,
the young prince's affairs began to wear
a more promising aspect. Being joined
by lord Drummond, he invested the
castle of Stirling, in the siege of which
much time was consumed to no purpose.
General Hawley, who commanded a
considerable body of forces near Edin-
burgh, undertook to raise this siege, and
advanced towards the rebel army as far
as Falkirk. After two days spent in
mutually examining each other's strength,
an engagement ensued, in which the
king's forces were entirely defeated,
with the loss of their tents and artillery.

The duke of Cumberland having arri-
ved, was put at the head of the troops
at Edinburgh, which amounted to about
14,000 men. With these he advanced
to Aberdeen, where he was joined by
several of the nobility attached to the
house of Hanover ; the enemy in the
mean time retreating before him. He
next advanced to the banks of the Spey,
a deep and rapid river, where the rebels
might have disputed his passage ; but
their contentions with one another were
now risen to such a height, that they
could scarce agree in any thing. At last
they resolved to wait their pursuers. —
An engagement ensued at Culloden, near
Inverness, in which the troops of Charles
were defeated with great slaughter, and
a final period was put to all the hopes
of the young adventurer. The con-
querors behaved with the greatest cru-
elty, refusing quarter to the wounded,
the unarmed, and the defenceless. The
duke immediately after the action order-
ed thirty-six deserters to be executed :
the conquerors spread terror wherever
they came ; and after a short space, the
whole country round was one dreadful
scene of plunder, slaughter, and deso-
lation.

Immediately after the engagement, the
young prince escaped with a captain of

376

GREAT BRITAIN.

Fitzjames's cavalry ; and when their
horses were fatigued, they both alighted,
and separately sought for safety. There
is a striking resemblance between the
adventures of Charles II, after the battle
of Worcester, and those of the young
prince after the battle of Culloden. He
was continually pursued by the troops of
the conqueror, there being a reward of
30,000/ offered for taking him either
dead or alive. In the course of his ad-
ventures, he had occasion to trust his
life to the fidelity of above fifty individ-
uals, not one of whom could be prevailed
upon to betray him.

For six months the unfortunate Charles
continued to wander in the wilds of
Glengary, often hemmed round by his
pursuers, but still rescued by some pro-
vidential accident from the impending
danger. At length a privateer belonging
to St. Maloes, hired by his adherents,
arrived in Loch Nanach, in which he
embarked with Cameron of Lochiel, his
brother, and a few other exiles. They
set sail for France, and after having
been chased by two English men-of-war,
arrived in safety near Morlaix in Bre-
tagne.

In the year 1749, a scheme was en-
tered upon, which the nation in general
imagined would be very advantageous.
This was the encouraging those who
had been discharged from the army or
navy to become settlers in Nova Scotia.
The English and French renewed the
war, for the possession of this tract of
country, which soon after spread with
such terrible devastation over every part
of the globe.

Negotiations, followed by active hos-
tilities, again commenced in 1756 ; four
operations were undertaken by the Brit-
ish in America at once. Colonel Monk- j
ton had orders to drive the French from j
their encroachments upon the province
of Nova Scotia ; general Johnson was
sent against Crown Point ; general Shir-
ley against Niagara, to secure the forts
on the river ; and general Braddock
against Fort du Quesne. In these expe-
ditions, Monkton was successful ; John- j
son also was victorious, though he failed
in taking the fort against which he was
sent ; Shirley was thought to have lost

the season for operation by delay ; and
Braddock was defeated and killed.

The British, however, made reprisals
at sea ; and in this they were so suc-
cessful, that the French navy was unable
to recover itself during the continuance
of the war.

The British about this period achieved
several splendid victories both in the eas-
tern and western part of the world, which
were generally ascribed to the vigorous
administration of William Pitt, who about
this time came into power. An expedi-
tion was set on foot, in the American
colonies, against Cape Breton, under
general Amherst and admiral Boscawen ;
another, under general Abercrombie,
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga ;
and a third, under brigadier-general
Forbes, against Fort du Quesne. The
fortress of Louisbourg, which defended
the island of Cape Breton, was very
strong both by nature and art. But the
activity of the British surmounted every
obstacle, the place was surrendered by
capitulation, and its fortifications were
demolished. The expedition against
Fort du Quesne was equally successful ;
but that against Crown Point once more
miscarried. General Abercrombie at-
tacked the French in their entrenchments,
was repulsed with great slaughter, and
obliged to retire to his camp on Lake
George. But though in this respect the
British arms were unsuccessful, yet, upon
the whole, the campaign of 1758 was
greatly in their favor. The taking of
Fort du Quesne served to remove from
the colonies the terror of the incursions
of the Indians, while it interrupted the
correspondence along a chain of forts
with which the French had environed
the British settlements in America ; so
that the succeeding campaign promised
great success.

In 1759, it was resolved to attack the
French in several parts of their empire
at once. General Amherst with a body
of 12,000 men was commanded to attack
Crown Point ; general Wolfe was to un-
dertake the siege of Quebec ; while gene-
ral Prideaux and sir William Johnson
were to attack a French fort near the cata-
racts of Niagara. This last expedition
was the first that succeeded. The siege

GREAT BRITAIN.

377

was commenced with every appearance of
success ; but general Prideaux was killed
in the trenches by the bursting of a mor-
tar, so that the whole command devolved
on general Johnson. A body of French
troops, sensible of the importance of the
place, attempted to relieve it, but were
utterly defeated and dispersed ; soon after
which, the garrison surrendered prison-
ers of war. On his arrival at the forts
of Crown Point and Ticonderoga, gene-
ral Amherst found them deserted and
destroyed. There now remained, there-
fore, but one decisive blow to reduce all
North America under the British domin-
ion ; and this was by the taking of Que-
bec, the capital of Canada. This expe-
dition was commanded by admiral Saun-
ders and general Wolfe. The enterprise
was attended with difficulties which ap-
peared insurmountable ; but general Wolfe
engaged and put to flight the French un-
der Montcalm ; though, to the great re-
gret of the British, their general was
killed in the action. {See Canada.)

The surrender of Quebec was the con-
sequence of this victory, which was soon
followed by the subjugation of all Canada.
The following season, indeed, the French
made an effort to recover the city ; but
by the resolution of governor Murray, and
the appearance of a British fleet under
the command of lord Colville, they Avere
obliged to abandon the enterprise. The
whole province was soon after reduced
by the prudence and activity of general
Amherst, who obliged the French army
to capitulate ; and it has since remained
annexed to the British empire. About
the same time also the island of Gauda-
loupe was reduced by commodore More.

After some inconsiderable successes at
Crevelt, the duke of Marlborough dying,
the command of the British forces de-
volved on lord George Sackville. Amis-
understanding arose between him and
prince Ferdinand, which appeared at the
battle of Minden that was fought shortly
after. Lord George pretended that he
did not understand the orders sent by the
prince, and in consequence did not obey
them. The allies gained the victory,
which would have been more decisive
had the British commander obeyed his
orders.

After this victory it was imagined that
one re-enforcement more of British troops
would terminate the war in favor of the
allies ; and that re-enforcement Avas
quickly sent. The British army in Ger-
many was increased to thirty-thousand
men, and sanguine hopes of conquest
were generally entertained. These hopes,
however, were ill-founded. The allies
were defeated at Corbach, but retrieved
their honor at Exdorf. A victory at
Warberg followed shortly after, and ano-
ther at Zierenberg ; after which both
sides retired into winter quarters.

On the 25th of October, 1760, George
II died suddenly. He had risen at his
usual hour, and observed to his attend-
ants, that as the weather was fine, he
would take a walk into the gardens at
Kensington, where he then resided. In
a few minutes after his return, being left
alone, he was heard to fall heavily. As
soon as he was placed on a bed, he de-
sired that the princess Amelia might be
sent for ; but before she could reach the
apartment he expired, in the seventy-
seventh year of his age, and thirty-third
of his reign. An attempt was made to
bleed him, but without effect ; and after-
wards, the surgeons, upon opening him,
discovered that the right ventricle of the
heart was ruptured, and a great quantity
of blood discharged through the aperture.

No prince ever ascended the throne of
Great Britain under happier auspices
than those which attended the elevation
of George III. He had long lived se-
questered from all participation in the
measures of government, and in retire-
ment, surrounded only by a few friends
and dependents.

One of the most remarkable transac-
tions about this period, was the renewal
of the charter of the bank of England,*
in 1763, for which the latter paid the
sum of 1,100,000/ into the exchequer as
a present to the public, besides the ad-
vancing a million to government upon
exchequer bills. Another, and still more
momentous affair, however, was the con-
sideration of a variety of methods to raise
a revenue upon the American colonies.

* The bank of England was chartered in 1693,
in the reign of William and Mary.

578

GREAT BRITAIN.

The reason assigned was the defraying
the necessary expenses of defending
them. The colonies contained upwards
of two millions of inhabitants, and it was
considered that a large revenue might
be raised from such a numerous body.

In 1772, the parliament was principally
employed in considering the affairs of
the East India Company, whose servants
had assumed the power of forming a com-
mercial intercourse with each other ; by
which they exclusively maintained the
right of traffic in inland produce. They
bought and sold at their own prices, and
exercised such arbitrary measures as im-
poverished the natives, and exhausted
their resources. They even extended
this combination so far as to deprive the
landed proprietors of their leases, and
dispose of the land for their own profit.
The soil became consequently neglect-
ed, a scarcity of food was the result of
British avarice ; pestilence and disease
succeeded to famine, and the company
became embarrassed, through the rapacity
of their agents and servants. A loan
was granted them by government ; but
general Burgoyne, who had been chair-
man of the committee of inquiry, pro-
posed the examination of lord Clive, res-
pecting the manner in which he had ac-
quired the sum of two hundred and thir-
ty-four thousand pounds, during his short
residence in India.

The attention of government was, in
1774, directed to certain documents and
papers, relating to what was termed the
republican spiritof the Bostonians, arising
from the very measure which had been
adopted to relieve the East India Com-
pany— the permission for them to export
a quantity of tea free of duly to Ameri-
ca ; and which excited general dissatis-
faction among the colonists, who were
previously resolved to prevent the impor-
tation of the article, a quantity of which
had been thrown into the sea. In dis-
cussing this subject, the opposition said
that the disturbances in America had
arisen in taxation ; and suggested a mo-
tion for inquiry into the conduct of min-
isters, respecting the degree of violence
which had provoked this resistance. In-
quiry was instituted only in regard to
the misconduct of the Americans. The

ministers, in taking this partial view of
the case, considered only two points as
essential ; to satisfy the East India Com-
pany for their tea, and to resent the in-
sult oflered to Britain ; for which pur-
pose they proposed a bill to shut up the
port of Boston. This was opposed by
Fox, as unjust and inexpedient, without
hearing the accused party. But this ve-
ry obvious piece of justice was not con-
ceded ; and the bill for closing the port of
Boston passed the house, and another bill
for changing the government of Massa-
chusetts. A fleet of seA^eral ships of war
was sent to Boston, and general Gage
appointed governor.

When the order of the English to
close the port of Boston reached Ameri-
ca, a copy of the act was circulated
through all the provinces, and they re-
solved to spend the first of June, the day
appointed to put the act into execution,
in fasting and prayer. While each pro-
vince was framing resolutions, the other
bills reached Massachusetts. These
raised their irritated feelings to the high-
est pitch, and they formed an association,
in which they bound themselves, by a
solemn league and covenant, to break off
all commercial intercourse with Great
Britain, until the Boston port bill, and
other acts, should be repealed, and the
colony restored to its ancient rights.
General Gage took the precaution to
place some regiments at Boston. All
the colonies, except Georgia, united in
their resolves to resist taxation. A gen-
eral meeting of congress was fixed for
the 15th of September, at Philadelphia,
in which they declared their willing alle-
giance to his majesty, and most explicitly
explained their wish not to separate from
the mother country ; but they maintained
that they had a mutual right to partici-
pate in all the rights and privileges of
British free-born subjects. Lastly, they
drew up a petition to the king in most
respectful language, in which they firmly,
but humbly, implored his majesty that
they might enjoy liberty, and disclaimed
all pretensions to any new privileges,
but earnestly praying to be restored to
their former rights, on an equality with
other British subjects. This was sub-
scribed by all the delegates.

GREAT BRITAIN.

379

A petition from America M-^as refused
acceptance by the king, who referred it
to the house. The earl of Chatham, who
had absented himself in consequence of
declining health, now left his sick cham-
ber to try the effect of his eloquence in
averting the evils which threatened the
country. He proposed a petition to his
majesty to recall the troops from Boston ;
but all attempts to frustrate the minister's
favorite measure were ineffectual ; and
on the 3rd of February, Massachusetts
Bay was declared in the house to be in
a state of rebellion.

Re-enforcements were forthwith sent
from England, under the command of
generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton.
The first battle was fought on the 17th
of June, on Bunker's Hill, near Charles-
town. Here, though the English were
victorious, the Americans, without pecu-
niary resources or military discipline,
showed a degree of courage and devoted-
ness to the cause of liberty which must
entitle them to the admiration of posterity.

Great dissatisfaction was expressed in
parliament at a motion for increasing the
number of soldiers in America, it having
been stated by ministers that the Ameri-
cans were cowards, who would not stand
the fire of the English army, and that
only a small number of our regular troops
would be sufficient to intimidate them
into submission ; whereas they found
they were opposed by men equally brave,
and enthusiastically devoted to the cause
of independence.

The direction of the campaign in
America had devolved on general Howe,
from the return of general Gage to Eng-
land. Owing to the perseverance of
Washington, the English troops evacua-
ted Boston in March, and sailed for Ha-
lifax. Sir Henry Clinton, and sir Peter
Parker, brought fresh troops, with which
they proceeded to the Carolinas ; but
from their lateness in leaving England,
and other causes, did not gain the ex-
pected advantages. The congress, which
continued to sit and enact laws, still
courted conciliation, and waited the re-
sult of their petition to the king. When
it was ascertained that nothing short of
abject submission would satisfy the moth-
er country, it declared the allegiance of

America was forfeited by the deprivation
of the king's protection, and they resolv-
ed to form a constitution which should
secure their rights. This resolution was
followed by a solemn renunciation of
their union with the British crown, and
a declaration that they were now free
and independent states. This took place
July 4th, 1776.

General Howe was joined by his
brother, lord Howe, and the campaign
opened with the battle of Long Island,
on the 26th of August, from which the
Americans effected a retreat to New
York, without losing a man, and the Brit-
ish troops took possession of Long Island.
This was followed by the capture of
New York on the 21st of September.

In England, the attention of parliament
was called from the state of America to
the consideration of a conspiracy formed
in the East Indies, against lord Pigot,
governor of Madras, which ended in his
recall, as also that of the members of the
council who opposed him.

On the 30th of May, the earl of Chat-
ham once more appeared in the house,
to try anew his endeavors to save his
country. He moved an address to the
throne, in which he stated the insidious
conduct of France, in silently assisting
the views of America ; and he strongly
recommended a cessation of hostilities,
and a removal of the grievances which
had been practised on the Americans.
His admonitory advice was, as before,
disregarded.

This session of parliament opened
with an account of general Howe's suc-
cess, accompanied with anticipations of
new victories. In one month after, in-
telligence was brought that general Bur-
goyne and his army were prisoners of
war at Saratoga. At the same time it
was represented that France had signed
a treaty with America.

Lord Chatham, aware that it would be
derogatory to England freely to acknow-
ledge the independence of America,
came to the house to perform his duty in
delivering his sentiments on the subject ;
he had spoken with energy, and had risen
to speak a second time, when pressing
his hand on his heart, he fell down in a
convulsive fit, from which he never re-

380

GREAT BRITAIN.

covered, and died a few days after, in
his seventieth year.

The king of Spain now followed the
example of the French monarch, and ac-
knowledged the independence of the
American colonies. The ruinous ten-
dency of the war was now so strik-
ingly apparent, that it became neces-
sary for those who had a just sense of
the dangerous situation of their country,
who wished well to its interests or even
to prevent its destruction, to exert their
most powerful efforts to put an end to so
fatal a contest. Accordingly, on the
meeting of the commons, several mo-
tions were made to bring about a recon-
ciliation between the two countries.
During the debates which followed, lord
John Cavendish remarked, that " The
American war had been a Avar of malice
and resentment ; without either dignity
in its conduct, probability in its object, or
justice in its origin." These motions
Avere strongly opposed by the ministry,
and every exertion made to reduce the
colonies again to obedience. The mea-
sures, however, that they pursued, at
length, became unpopular with all par-
ties, and consequently the administration
of lord North was dissolved, and a new
one formed, at the head of which was
the marquis of Rockingham. Peace
was as strongly advocated by the new
ministry as war was by the preceding one ;
but, before we give the result of the
negotiations between this coimtry and
America, a brief account of the military
and naval events will best explain the re-
lative situation in which the other Euro-
pean powers stood with regard to Great
Britain and America. The advantage
hitherto gained by the French in their
naval engagements with the British fleet,
had proceeded from their keeping at a
great distance during the time of action,
and from their good fortune and dexteri-
ty in gaining the wind. At last, the
French admiral, de Grasse, probably
prompted by his natural courage, deter-
mined, after an indecisive action on the
9th of April, 1782, to risk a close en-
gagement with his formidable antagonist
Rodney. The result of this action was
the entire defeat of the French fleet, but
it was universally allowed that in this

engagement the French behaved with
the greatest valor. De Grasse himself
did not surrender till 400 of his men
were killed, and only himself and two
others remained without a wound. The
captain of the Cssar, after his ensign
staflf was shot away, and the ship almost
battered to pieces, caused his colors to
be nailed to the mast, and thus continued
fighting till he was killed. The vessel,
when taken, was a mere wreck. Other
French oflicers behaved in the same
manner.

A great disaster befel the Spaniards,
before Gibraltar, which happened in the
month of September, 1782. Thus all
parties were taught that it was high time
to put an end to their contests. The af-
fair of Cornwallis had shown that it was
impossible for Britain to conquer Ameri-
ca ; the defeat of De Grasse had ren-
dered the reduction of the British pos-
sessions in the West Indies impracticable
by the French ; the final attack on Gib-
raltar, and its relief afterwards by the
British fleet, put an end to that favorite
enterprise, in which almost the whole
strength of Spain was employed. {See
Spain.)

Immediately after the change of min-
istry, negotiations for a general peace
were commenced at Paris. Mr. Gren-
ville was invested with full powers to
treat with all the parties at war ; and
was also directed to propose the inde-
pendence of the thirteen United Provin-
ces of America, in the first instance,
instead of making it a condition of a
general treaty. Admiral Digby and
general Carleton were also directed to
acquaint the American congress with the
pacific views of the British court, and
with the off'er to acknowledge the inde-
pendence of the United States. The
independence of the United vStates was
acknowledged by Great Britain, and pre-
liminary articles of peace were signed,
Novemijer 30, 1782, which were ratified
by the two governments, January 20,
1783. At the same time peace was
concluded between Great Britain, France
and Spain.

In the year 1785, Mr. Pitt introduced
a plan of parliamentary reform, which
bid fair to be successful. It proposed

GREAT BRITAIN.

381

that one Imndred members should be
added to the popular interest, and the
right of election extended to 100,000
persons who were previously disqualified.
But as the majority of the house were
averse to this plan, the bill was not per-
mitted to be formally brought in. In the
month of June of this year, Mr. Pitt laid
before the house the amount of the claims
of the American loyalists who had been
reduced to poverty by their adherence to
Great Britain during the American war ;
they amounted to 471,000/, and Mr.
Pitt proposed that 150,000/ should be
granted to the claimants for present re-
lief, and a future and permanent provision
to be made by lottery.

In the ensuing spring Mr. Pitt propo-
sed a plan of financial regulation, which
had long engaged his attention, and which
has since been a fruitful source of spec-
ulation and argument with statesmen and
pohticians. The outline of this plan was
to establish a sinking fund for the grad-
ual liquidation of the national debt. One
million was the sum annually to be placed
in the hands of the commissioners, in
quarterly instalments of 250,000/ each.
This fund was not to be alienated to any
other purpose. The debates on the sub-
ject were long, and conducted with great
ability by both parties, but at length it
was adopted.

A remarkable event took place on the
2nd of August, 1786, which might have
been attended with very serious conse-
quences. As the king was alighting from
his carriage at the gate of St. James's
palace, a woman named Margaret Nich-
olson, who was waiting there under pre-
tence of presenting a petition, struck at
him with a knife, but without inflicting
any injury. The woman was immedi-
ately taken into custody, and appearing,
on several examinations, to be insane,
was sent to Bethlehem hospital. This
affair excited a very general expression
of loyalty ; the city of London address-
ed the throne in terms of congratulation,
and the example was followed by all the
corporations and public bodies of the
kingdom.

This year the prosecution against
Warren Hastings, for his misconduct
while governor in India, was commen-

ced, which terminated in an impeach-
ment of that gentleman. The conductor
of this prosecution was Edmund Burke.

The French revolution produced great
excitement in England, but little, how-
ever, of historical interest occurred until
the declaration of the war between the
two nations.

England, at the commencement of her
long contest with France, took into her
pay a large body of German troops, and
the duke of York joined the allies, who
confided to him the care of the army,
which in the summer of 1793 besieged
Valenciennes. The trenches were open-
ed on the 14th of June, 1793. The in-
habitants wished to surrender ; but the
violence of the bombardment prevented
their assembling. Much of the labor of
the siege consisted of mines and coun-
termines. Some of these having been
successfully sprung by the allies, the
town surrendered on the 27th of July by
capitulation to the Duke of York, who
took possession of it in the name of the
emperor. The siege of Mentz was going
on, but it suffered so much from famine,
at last, that, after an unsuccessful attempt
by the French for its relief, it surrendered
on the 22nd of July.

The leading people of Toulon, in the
south of France, now entered into a ne-
gotiation, and submitted to Lord Hood,
under condition that he should preserve
the town and shipping for Louis XVII,
and assist in restoring the constitution of
1789. The siege of Toulon was com-
menced by general Cartaux, in Septem-
ber. Neapolitan, Spanish, and English
troops, were brought by sea to assist in
its defence. In November, Cartaux was
removed to the army in Italy, and Dugom-
mier succeeded him. General O'Hara
arrived with re-enforcements from Gibral-
tar, and took upon him the command of
the town under a British Commission.
On the 30th of November, the garrison
made a powerful sally to destroy some
batteries erecting upon the heights. The
allies succeeded in their object ; but,
elated by the facility of their conquest,
rushed forward in pursuit of the flying
enemy, and were met by a strong French
force that was drawn out to protect the
fugitives. O'Hara now came from the

382

GREAT BRITAIN.

city to bring off his troops ; but was
wounded and taken prisoner. The total
loss of the allies in this affair was esti-
mated at nearly 1 ,000 men. The French
had now mustered in full force around
Toulon, and prepared for the attack. It
was begun on the 19th of December, and
was chiefly directed against Fort Mul-
grave, defended by the British. This fort
was protected by an entrenched camp,
thirteen pieces of cannon, ihirty-six and
twenty-four pounders, &c, five mortars,
and 3,000 troops. Such was the ardor
of the assault, that it was carried in an
hour, and the whole garrison destroyed
or taken. The allies, finding it impossi-
ble to defend the place, in the course of
the day embarked their troops, after hav-
ing set on fire the arsenal and ships. A
scene of confusion ensued, unparalleled
in the history of modern wars. Crowds
of the inhabitants, of every rank and age,
hurried on board the ships, to avoid the
vengeance of their enraged countrymen.
Some of the inhabitants began to fire upon
their late aUies ; others in despair plunged
into the sea, making a vain effort to reach
the ships ; thirty-one ships of the line
were found by the British at Toulon ;
thirteen were left behind, ten were burnt;
four had been previously sent to the
French ports of Brest and Rochefort,
with 5,000 republicans who could not be
trusted ; and Great Britain obtained by
this expedition three ships of the line
and five frigates.

At this siege first appeared in com-
mand, as lieutenant of artillery, Napoleon
Bonaparte, who was destined to form so
prominent a figure in the future direction
of the kingdom of France.

After this, the seat of war was princi-
pally in the Netherlands. The British
forces under the command of the Duke
of York, the Austrian and Dutch armies,
opposed the French forces, under the
command of Pichegru and Jourdan. —
The allied armies experienced a series
of defeats, and the duke of York escap-
ed being made prisoner only by the
fleetness of his horse. On the Rhine,
the war was equally successful on the
part of the French.

During the course of this summer,
Corsica was subdued by Great Britain :

and the whole of the French West India
islands, except a part of Gaudaloupe,
yielded to the British troops, under sir
Charles Grey and sir John Jervis. On
the 1st of June, 1794, the British fleet,
under earl Howe, gained a most splendid
victory over the French fleet, to the west
of Ushant. The French committee of
safety had purchased, in America, im-
mense quantities of grain and other stores.
These were embarked on board 160 sail
of merchantmen, convoyed by six sail of
the line. Lord Howe sailed to intercept
this valuable convoy. The French fleet
sailed to protect it. On the morning of
the 28th of May, the fleets came in sight
of each other. Lord Howe had prev-
iously despatched six ships of the line,
under admiral Montague, to intercept the
French convoy, M'hile he should engage
and detain the grand fleet. The French
despatched eight sail to compete with
the British, in this attempt. In the course
of the 29th, lord Howe got to windward
of the French fleet. His force was
twenty-five, and theirs twenty-six sail of
the line. The following day he bore
down upon them and broke their line. —
The engagement was one of the sever-
est ever fought. The French admiral,
in less than an hour after the close ac-
tion commenced in the centre, crowded
off with twelve of his ships. The Brit-
ish fleet was so much disabled, or sepa-
rated, that several of the French disman-
tled ships got away under sails raised
on the stump of their foremast. Seven
sail of the line, however, remained in
possession of the British, and two were
sunk. In the mean time, admiral Mon-
tague fell in with the French convoy,
but it was now guarded by fourteen sail
of the line. As he could not encounter
such a force, he returned home, and it
was safely conveyed into port. Thus,
by one of those contradictions which of-
ten occur in human affairs, the British
fleet was victorious, and yet the French
were left masters of the sea, and obtain-
ed their great object — provisions.

The French towards the close of 1796,
attempted an invasion of Ireland ; but
the plan was ill-concerted, and conse-
quently failed. At the opening of the
session, in the end of 1796, his majesty

GREAT BRITAIN.

383

took notice of the invasion which the
enemy had projected against England. —
Mr. Pitt brought forward the business in
the house of commons, and pointed out
the means by which he proposed to raise
15,000 men, to be divided between the
land and sea service ; to raise a supple-
mentary number, or levy, of 60,000 for
the militia, and 20,000 cavalry, which,
with a few alterations and amendments,
were agreed to. But, in mentioning the
supplies for the year, which amounted to
27,647,000/, and explaining the different
articles of expenditure, the minister al-
luded to an expense of a particular na-
ture, which had been incurred during the
interval of parliament. As it would have
been a matter of very great delicacy, to
have brought forward a public discussion
on the propriety of advancing a sum to a
foreign court in the critical situation of
the country, ministry had granted to the
emperor, without a public discussion,
the sum of 1 ,200,000Z. This transaction
was canvassed soon after, and the popu-
lar party reprobated it with the utmost
acrimony. While the parliament were
thus divided, an alarming mutiny broke
out in the navy, which has ever been the
pride and glory of the British nation. —
The seamen had addressed several let-
ters to earl Howe, soliciting a redress of
grievances, particularly as to provisions,
in which, it seems, they had been impos-
ed upon, both as to quantity and quality ;
but as these letters were anonymous, his
lordship paid no attention to them. This
apparent neglect, produced a general cor-
respondence by letter, through the whole
fleet; and on the 14th of April, when
the signal was made to prepare for sea,
a general revolt ensued ; and, instead of
weighing anchor, the seamen of the ad-
miral's ship gave three cheers, which
were echoed by the other ships. Dele-
gates were then appointed for each ship,
to represent the whole fleet ; and the
cabin of the admiral's ship was appoint-
ed as the place of their deliberation. —
Petitions were drawn up and presented
to the admirals upon the spot, stating
their demand of an increase of wages,
and of some regulations for their benefit
with respect to the ratio of provisions.
On the 18th, a committee of the admiral-

ty arrived at Portsmouth, who made sev-
eral propositions to reduce the men to
obedience ; the lords of the admiralty
next conferred with the delegates, who
assured their lordships, that no arrange-
ment would be considered as final, until
it should be sanctioned by the king and
parliament, and guarantied by a procla-
mation for a general pardon. Matters
remained in this situation till the 23rd,
when earl Howe returned to his ship,
hoisted his flag, and, after a short address
to his crew, informed them that he had
brought a redress of all their grievances,
and his majesty's pardon for the off'end-
ders : after some deliberation, these offers
were accepted, and every man returned
to his duty.

All disputes seemed now to be settled,
but it was quickly circulated among the
sailors that the government deluded them
with vain hopes. The flame of mutiny
was rekindled ; and on the 7th of May,
when lord Bridport made the signal to
weigh anchor, every ship at St. Helen's
refused to obey. A meeting of the dele-
gates was ordered on board the London ;
which vice-admiral Colpoys opposed,
and gave orders to the marines to level
their pieces at them ; a skirmish ensued,
in which five of the seamen were killed.
The whole crew of the London now
turned their guns towards the stern, and
threatened to blow all aft into the water,
unless their commanders surrendered ;
which they reluctantly did, and admiral
Colpoys and captain Grifliths were con-
fined for several hours. The seamen
continued in this mutinous state till the
14th of May, when lord Howe at length
arrived from the admiralty with plenary
powers to inquire into and settle the
matters in dispute ; he was also the wel-
come bearer of an act of parliament,
which had been passed on the 9lh, grant-
ing an additional allowance, as well as
his majesty's proclamation of pardon for
all who should immediately return to
their duty. Matters being thus adjusted,
the sailors appeared satisfied ; the offi-
cers were generally reinstated in their
commands, the flag of disaffection was
struck, and the fleet prepared to put to
sea to encounter the enemy. Such,
however, is the propensity of the human

384

GREAT BRITAIN.

mind, when gratified in one point, to
entertain new desires, that the success
of the seamen on this occasion encour-
aged another part of their body to make
farther claims. The sailors at the Nore
insisted on a more punctual discharge of
arrears, a more equal distribution of
prize-money, and a general abatement of
the severity of discipline. They chose
delegates from every ship, one of whom,
a seaman named Richard Parker, being
appointed president, assumed the com-
mand of the fleet. The flag of admiral
Buckner Avas struck on the 23rd of May,
and the red flag, the symbol of mutiny,
hoisted in its stead, while they transmit-
ted a statement of their demands to the
admiralty. At this alarming height of
the mutiny, a deputation of the lords,
with earl Spencer at their head, pro-
ceeded to Sheerness ; but finding the
sailors rather increasing in disobedience
than inclined to submission, they depart-
ed, after stating that they need expect no
concessions whatever further than what
had been already made by the legislature.
The mutineers now proceeded to force
a compliance with their demands, by
blocking up the Thames, and refusing a
free passage up and down the river to
the London trade. Two merchantmen
ships were robbed of provisions, and
some ships of war, that refused to accede
to the combination, were fired upon. —
Ships of neutral nations, however, col-
liers, and a few small craft, were allowed
a passport, signed by Richard Parker,
president of the delegates. No hopes
of accommodation appearing, every ne-
cessary measure was taken to compel
the seamen to return to their duty. An
act of parliament was passed for prevent-
ing all intercourse with the mutinous
ships, and government ordered all the
buoys to be removed from the river
Thames and the neighboring coasts. —
Preparations were also made at Sheer-
ness against an attack from the mutineers,
who seemed to meditate the bombard-
ment of the place ; and, after the rejection
of the last attempt at a reconciliation
through the medium of lord Northesk,
measures were taken by lord Keith and
sir C. Grey to attack the fleet from the
works with gun-boats. Happily, how-

ever, the defection of some of the ships,
with other strong s^miptoms of disunion,
rendered the application of force unne-
cessary ; and on the 10th of June, several
ships having pulled down the red flag,
the rest followed their example within a
few days, and went under the guns of
the fort. Admiral Buckner's boat was
then sent to the Sandwich, with a picket
guard of soldiers, to arrest Parker, who
was very peaceably surrendered to them,
with about thirty other delegates. They
were soon after brought to trial ; several
were executed, but the greater part re-
mained under sentence till the signal
victory of admiral Duncan, in the month
of October, when they were pardoned.

In the beginning of this year the pub-
lic mind was considerably agitated also
by another event, which at first threaten-
ed to overwhelm in ruin the pecuniary
resources and commerce of the country :
the bank of England stated that it must
suspend its payments in specie. Though,
doubtless, the large sums of money sent
abroad as subsidies to foreign princes by
government had diminished the quantity
of gold and silver in Great Britain, one
powerful cause for this event seems to
have been the terror of invasion : this
induced persons at a distance from the
metropolis, to withdraw their money from
the hands of those bankers with whom it
was deposited; and from the country
bankers the demand for specie soon
reached the capital. In this alarming
state government found themselves com-
pelled to interfere, and an order of the
privy council was issued on the 26th of
February, prohibiting the directors from
issuing any cash in payment till the
sense of parliament could be taken on
that subject. The business was imme-
diately laid before parliament, when the
most violent debates ensued. Measures
were adopted for maintaining the means
of circulation, and supporting and main-
taining the public and commercial spirit
of the kingdom ; and the ferment and
alarm which had been raised by this
unexpected event was soon allayed. —
During this year the war on the part of
Great Britain was almost exclusively
confined to naval operations, in which
the skill and activity of her seamen were

GREAT BRITAIN.

385

displayed to great advantage, and was in-
variably crowned with victory. Through
the influence of the French, Spain had
been induced to declare war against
England, and a Spanish fleet of twenty-
seven sail of the line, while attempting
to join a French armament, was attacked
by sir John Jervis with fifteen sail ; the
issue of which obtained for the English
commander the title of earl St. Vincent,
and the thanks of the parliament.

At no period of British history were
there so much zeal and courage displayed
by all ranks of the British nation. Be-
fore the spring the enemy finally aban-
doned the threat of invasion, and directed
their fleet to sail for Egypt, accompanied
by a great number of transports. This
formidable armament was closely pur-
sued by admiral Nelson, and though the
French troops had eff'ected a landing
before he came up with it, he overtook
their fleet in the bay of Aboukir, and
obtained, 1st August, 1798, tlie menaora-
ble victory of the Nile.

About this time an extensive and dan-
gerous conspiracy was formed for erect-
ing Ireland into an independent republic.
About this time, also, the French fitted
out an expedition for the invasion of Ire-
land. Their forces consisted of one ship
of eighty guns, eight frigates, a schooner,
and a brig. Being discovered by the
squadron under sir J. B. Warren, after
an action of nearly four hours, the La
Hoche with three other ships struck to
the British. They were full of men, and
every thing necessary for the establish-
ment of a formidable force in Ireland.
Parliament assembled on the 20th of
November, 1798, when his majesty, in a
speech from the throne, noticed particu-
larly the late victory obtained by the fleet
under admiral Nelson. Scarcely any
victory ever produced consequences of
such importance. The grand seignior,
who had paid little attention to the first
invasion of Egypt, now declared war, in
the name of all mussulmans, against "the
host of infidels who had invaded the land
from whence the sacred territory of
Mecca is supplied with bread." The
powers on the continent were inspired
with fresh vigor ; and a coalition was
formed between the emperors of Russia
49

and Germany and the king of Great
Britain. On the Rhine the French were
j repeatedly defeated and pursued by the
j Austrians ; g:eneral Suwarrow drove them
from all their conquests in Italy.
I About the end of this year a niisunder-
standing took place between the Austrians
and Russians, in consequence of which
' the emperor Paul abandoned the coali-
j tion. About the same time Bonaparte,
j hearing of the reverse of fortune which
I the French armies had suffered in Eu-
rope, left his army in Egypt, returned to
j France, and, abolishing the directory,
obtained the appointment of an executive
commission of three consuls, of which he
I himself was the chief or first. To ren-
j der himself popular in this high station,
{ and to cast the odium of continuing the
war upon others, he addressed a letter
to the king of Great Britain on the sub-
ject of a general peace ; but the British
cabinet conceiving that the new French
government could as yet give no security
for terms of peace, refused to enter into
any negotiation for that purpose. This
refusal occasioned several violent debates
in the British parliament ; but the minis-
try had still a great majority, and prepa-
rations were made for prosecuting the
war. Austria also continued the contest ;
but Bonaparte was now ( 1 800) at the
head of the French army, Avhich quickly
retrieved the losses of the preceding
campaigns, and, after the decisive battle
of iyiarengo, in the month of June, Aus-
tria was obliged to sue for peace ; while
the northern powers, in consequence of
Bonaparte's victorious career, seemed
eager to court his favor by forming de-
signs against Britain. The emperor
Paul, naturally fickle and hasty, formed
a close alliance with him ; and, in con-
junction with the Danes, Swedes, and
Prussians, began to renew their former
engagements for establishing a new code
of maritime laws, inconsistent with the
rights, and hostile to the interests of Bri-
tain. Towards the end of this year a
scarcity of provisions pressed heavily
on all ranks of people in Britain. By a
long and almost constant series of rainy
weather, the crop of 1799 was materially
injured, and the harvest retarded. The
crop of 1800 was nearly as deficient.

386

GREAT BRITAIN.

The people, who had now expected re-
lief, felt persuaded that the scarcity was
not altogether occasioned by the failure
of the crops, but by artful combinations,
so that a general odium was raised
against all who traded in grain, or any of
the necessaries of life ; they were held
up to popular obloquy as monopolists and
forestallers ; the sole authors of the mis-
eries of the people ; men for whose
crimes it was impossible to devise an
adequate punishment. Parliament was
summoned, principally for the purpose of
taking the subject into consideration ;
and by prohibiting the exportation of
grain, and granting a bounty on imported
corn, &LC, the dread of famine was averted.

Although a change had now taken
place in the British cabinet, the new
ministry, who had always given their
most decided and strenuous support to
the measures pursued by Mr. Pitt, pro-
fessed to have the same views, and to
act upon the same principles. They re-
peatedly affirmed that the dispute with
the northern powers was so important to
the prosperity and glory of Britain, that
it could neither be relinquished nor com-
promised ; that, since the combined pow-
ers were determined to persist in their
unwarrantable pretensions, it became
necessary for Britain to assert her rights
by force of arms. A formidable fleet
was assembled at Yarmouth, which was
entrusted to sir Hyde Parker, and under
him to lord Nelson, and rear-admiral
Greaves. They sailed from Yarmouth
on the 20th of March, and, forcing the
passage of the Soimd, anchored before
Copenhagen on the 30lh of the same
month. The Danes had made very for-
midable preparations for their reception :
the battle commenced at ten o'clock on
the 2nd of April, and continued with
great fury for four hours. The result
was the capture or destruction of eighteen
sail of Danish ships. This victory struck
the members of the confederacy with
terror, and they were further weakened
by the death of the emperor Paul, as his
successor, Alexander, refused to join in
the league against Britain.

While the British arms were thus em-
ployed before Copenhagen, accounts of
the final success of her troops in Egypt

reached England the day after the pre-
liminary articles of peace had been sign-
ed in London, by M. Otto on the part of
the French republic, and lord Hawkes-
bury on that of his Britannic majesty.
By these. Great Britain agreed to restore
all her conquests except the island of
Trinidad, and the possession of Ceylon :
the Cape of Good Hope was to be a free
port to all the contracting parties ; the
island of Malta was to be restored to the
order of St. John of Jerusalem ; Egypt
was given back to the Ottoman Porte,
and Portugal was to be maintained in its
integrity ; the territory of Rome and
Naples was to be evacuated by the
French, and France was to recognise the
republic of the Seven Islands ; the fishery
of Newfoundland was to be established
on its former footing ; and, lastly, the
contracting parties were to name the
plenipotentiaries to meet at Amiens, for
the formation of a definitive treaty. The
definitive treaty was ratified in March,
1 802, and in the meanwhile the first con-
sul displayed his restless ambition by
sending a large armament to St. Domin-
go, which obliged the British to send a
powerful fleet to watch its motions.

Towards the conclusion of this year,
the subjugation of Switzerland by the
consular armies of France, attracted gen-
eral attention. Britain loudly remonstra-
ted with the rider of France on his con-
duct towards the brave Swiss. These
remonstrances, however, as they were
unaccompanied by any Avarlike disposi-
tions, produced no efl^'ect ; and Switzer-
land was placed in the hands of the first
consul's dependents. About this time
the French nation declared Bonaparte
consul for life, with the power of nomi-
nating his successor.

On the 23rd of July, 1803, an insur-
rection broke out in Ireland, which, from
its supposed connection with the projects
of the enemy, created considerable, and,
as it appeared afterwards, undue alarm.
Its instigators were a band of political
enthusiasts, whose director and principal
mover was Robert Emmett, a young man
of distinguished talents. They had form-
ed the design of establishing an inde-
pendent Irish republic ; and hoped to
accomplish it by striking a decisive blow

GREAT BRITAIN.

387

in the capital, possessing themselves of
the seat of government, and proclaiming
a new constitution which they had pre-
pared. An armed mob collected for this
purpose, which marched through the
principal streets of Dublin, unresisted,
on their way to the Castle. They, how-
ever, soon lost all sense of subordination
to their leaders, and meeting a carriage
in which were lord Kilwarden and his
nephew Mr. Wolfe, they dragged them
from it, and butchered them on the spot.
One circumstance attended this act of
atrocity which showed that the infatua-
tion of popular fury could not wholly
extinguish the inherent generosity of the
Irish character. The daughter of the
venerable and ill-fated nobleman was
likewise in the carriage, and, to his
earnest appeal to their humanity, they
replied, that they would sacrifice him and
his male companion, but they would spare
the lady. They then allowed her to pass
through their entire column without in-
jury or interruption. The insurgents
were at length dispersed, and the whole
insurrection was speedily extinguished.
On the communication of this event to
parliament, a bill was passed for trying
the rebels by martial law, and another
for suspending the habeas corpus act in
Ireland. Several of the leaders of the
insurrection, among whom was Emmett,
having been apprehended, were tried for
high treason in Dublin, by a special
commission, and underwent the sentence
of the law.

In consequence of the seizure of Han-
over by the French armies, and the in-
terruption of British commerce on the
Elbe and Weser, a squadron now block-
aded the mouths of these rivers ; and af-
terwards compelled the French to aban-
don the once important colony of St. Do-
mingo. The negro chiefs, on this, issued
a proclamation declaring the indepen-
dence of the island.

In the East Indies, under the able
management of the marquis of Wellesley,
Great Britain triumphed still more deci-
dedly. To counteract any danger from a
possible union of the Mahratta against
the British interest, the marquis Corn-
wallis, as early as 1789, had concluded
the treaty of Poonah, which was after-

wards frustrated by the ambition and ra-
pacity of Dowlut Rao Scindia, who had
succeeded Madhagee Scindia, in 1794,
and whose conduct tended to favor the de-
signs of France against the British em-
pire in India.

After a brilliant campaign of five
months, a powerful confederacy was dis-
solved by a treaty which extended and
consolidated the dominions of the British,
while it annihilated the influence of the
French in India.

The king, early in February, 1804,
became seriously indisposed, and the
country was agitated and alarmed at the
sudden incompetency of the sovereign.
His illness continued avowedly from the
14th of February to the 14th of March,
when the lord chancellor declared that
" the king was in such a state as to warrant
the lords commissioners in giving the royal
assent to several bills." A further proof
of his convalescence was given by his
appearance in public, and by the change
of his ministers early in May, by which
Mr. Pitt was placed at the head of the
administration.

Napoleon had for a considerable time
been making extensive preparations for
the invasion of Great Britain. But the
result of the battle of Trafalgar, one of the
most brilliant achievements in the annals
of naval war, soon rendered his designs
on that island almost hopeless. The
commencement of hostilities with Spain,
at the close of 1804, extended the circle
of maritime war and victory to the Brit-
ish navy. The French admiral, Ville-
neuve, commanding the combined French
and Spanish fleets, early in 1805, was
pursued by lord Nelson, from the Medi-
terranean to the West Indies. Villeneuve
on his return to Europe, fell in with the
British squadron commanded by sir R.
Calder, oft' Cape Finisterre ; and after an
engagement in which he lost two ships,
made his way unmolested to Cadiz. On
the 19th of October admiral Villeneuve
came out of Cadiz with the combined
French and Spanish fleets, and on the
21st was defeated by Nelson in a gen-
eral engagement off" Trafalgar. This
victory cost England the life of her
greatest admiral, but utterly ruined the
naval power of France and Spain. After

388

GREAT BRITAIN.

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Death of lord Nelson.

the battle, the body of Nelson was brought
home in the Victory, which he had com-
manded in person, and in which he died.
His funeral was solemnized at the public
expense.

The victory of Trafalgar, momentous
as it was, only destroyed the weaker arm
of France. It was not a coimterpoise
to the triumph of Napoleon over Mr.
Pitt's third and last coalition. He quit-
ted Paris on the 24th of September,
1805, to join his army ; took Ulm on the
17th of October, with its artillery, maga-
zines, and garrison of 30,000 men, and
entered the capital of Austria, without
resistance, on the 15th of November ;
pursued the fugitive court of Vienna,
and the allied armies of Austria and
Russia, into Moravia ; and on the 2nd
of December obtained the decisive A'ic-
tory of Austerlitz, which put an end
both to the campaign and the coalition,
and made Napoleon the dictator of con-
tinental Europe. These events are said
to have hastened the death of Mr. Pitt,
who expired a short time after the vic-
tory of Trafalgar. A new administra-
tion was in consequence formed, and Mr.
Fox and lord Grenville were placed at

the head of it. After this the prince of
Wales took a more prominent station in
the political events of the period.

England and France now negotiated,
for the first time since the revolution, in
a tone of mutual conciliation and courtesy.
Mr. Fox's hopes were not sanguine. His
blended firmness and mildness, however,
did much and might have done more, if
his health had not given way before he
had been four months in the ministry.
The late hours and fatigue to which he
was subjected as leader in the house of
commons may be said to have proved
fatal to him. A system of vexatious de-
bate was organized against him in that
house. Lord Castlereagh rose to debate
"the princijjle" of the clause for limited
service in the mutiny bill, after the prin-
ciple had been already under discussion
for eleven hours ; and between frivolous
divisions and speaking against time, the
house was kept sitting from four till seven
in the morning. The ministers were
released, even then, only by a sort of
capitulation. Sheridan, when this sys-
tem became apparent, proposed that the
ministerial members, distributed into par-
ties of twenty, should go home to rest,

GREAT BRITAIN.

389

and come back to relieve guard after they
had slept and breakfasted.

Notwithstanding the severe illness of
Mr. Fox, he continued to direct the ne-
gotiations and dictate the despatches from
his couch, until the progress of his disease
rendered all application to business not
only dangerous but impossible. On the
13th of September, 1806, he expired.

The British campaigns of the penin-
sular war, one of the most memorable in
the annals of mutual destruction among
nations, and decidedly the most memora-
ble and glorious in the annals of Eng-
land, began in the summer of this year.
It is necessary, however, to recur for a
moment to Napoleon's army, which was
under the command of his favorite gene-
ral, Junot, who at this period was in pos-
session of Portugal, and had, by a master
stroke of policy, obtained complete pos-
session of Portugal without firing a single
gim. The insurrection in Spain, how-
ever, soon communicated itself across the
frontier to his Spanish auxiliaries. Six-
teen Spanish battalions revolted at Opor-
to, and were disarmed by him, with the
rest of their countrymen. His force was
thus reduced to about 25,000 men. In-
surrections now broke out in the north of
Portugal ; he was threatened in his com-
munications with France. The Spanish
insurrection of Andalusia and Estrema-
dura,and the appearance of a British force
at Ayamonte, disturbed the province of
the Algarves in the south. The French
garrisons and detachments were, after a
short time, generally enveloped in insur-
rection, and in some minor conflicts over-
powered by numbers ; Junot's position,
already critical, seemed desperate upon
the appearance of a British fleet in the
Tagus, with general Spencer and his
division on board. He called a council
of officers ; the result of this and a second
military council was, that Junot should
concentrate his force upon Lisbon, with
a view to defend the capital and left bank
of the Tagus to the last extremity ; se-
curing, at the same time, his retreat by
Elvas, on Madrid, Segovia, or Valladolid.
Whilst general Spencer, who had aban-
doned Portugal, very opportunely for the
French, was seeking, but not meeting,
adventures in the south, and sir Arthur

Wellesley, who had sailed from Cork on
his first peninsular expedition, with from
9,000 to 10,000 men, was conferring with
the junta of Gallicia and the Bishop of
Oporto, Junot had time to execute the
essential, and by far the most difficult
part of his design — that of concentrating
his forces towards Lisbon. Sir Arthur
Wellesley began the landing of his troops
on the 1st, at the little fortress of Figueira,
but did not complete it until the 8th, and,
being re-enforced by general Spencer,
commenced his first movement on the 9th
of August. The French general Laborde,
with a force short of 3,000 men, advanced
from Lisbon to watch and retard, rather
than resist, the march of the British, gave
battle on the 17th, at the village of Roli-
ca, signalised himself in this unequal
contest, and fell back in good order. On
the 1 9th the British commander took a
position in advance at the village of Vi-
miera, where he halted twenty-four hours.
On the night of the 20th, or rather at
day-break on the 21st, a stafli'-officer has-
tily announced to him the advance of
Junot with his main army. Tlie British
general would not believe it ; day-light,
however, convinced him of the fact. An
advanced guard of French cavalry was
seen moving from Torres Vedras. The
surprise of sir Arthur Wellesley was natu-
ral; Junot's disposable force was scarcely
half sir Arthur's, now further re-enforced
by the divisions which had just landed
under generals Acland and Anstruther ;
but with extraordinary activity and bold-
ness he had left Lisbon, concentrated his
disposable forces at Torres Vedras, and,
at the head of only 9,200 men, tried the
hazard of a battle with 16,000 British
troops, supported by Portuguese auxil-
iaries. The French charged impetuously
at several points, were foiled in the first
shock by the steadiness and numbers of
the British, and after a short but gallant
conflict retreated on Torres Vedras, with
the loss of ten pieces of cannon, and 2,000
killed, wounded, and prisoners.

Sir Harry Burrard had arrived to take
the chief command on the 20th ; witness-
ed the battle of the 21st as a spectator;
took the command after the engagement,
and overruled sir Arthur Wellesley's pro-
posal for an immediate pursuit. He had

390

GREAT BRITAIN.

also checked the advance of Sir Arthur
the preceding day. The still formidable
organization of the French in their re-
treat, their great superiority in cavalry,
the expectation of re-enforcements under
sir John Moore, and the utter deficiency
of the British in cavalry, cavalry and
artillery horses, vv^ere the grounds of his
opinion. The question between the two
British commanders is speculative, un-
certain, and purely military ; but the tide
of opinion has run in favor of the great
captain.

Junot halted at a short distance from
the field of battle, before the defile of
Torres Vedras, re-formed his battalions
with quickness and facility, and called a
council of war. He held a second coun-
cil next morning (the 22nd). Upon a
comparison of his resources with those
of the British, his position was judged
untenable. It was resolved that nothing
remained but to fall back upon Lisbon,
and defend it to the last extremity, or
obtain "an honorable capitulation." Ac-
cordingly general Kellerman, son of the
marshal, was sent to the British head-
quarters, under pretence of conferring
respecting the prisoners and wounded,
with written terms of capitulation.

Sir Harry Burrard, who had superseded
sir Arthur Wellesley on the evening of the
21st, was himself superseded by sir Hew
Dalrymple on the 22nd. The folly of
such arrangements is obvious ; but it was
ascribed to the ministers at home, who
unwisely dictated points of attack, and
the plan of the campaign, without an ade-
quate knowledge of the country. Sir Hew
had hardly assumed the command, when
Kellerman was seen approaching with an
escort of cavalry, and a flag of truce ;
the result was the conclusion of an ar-
mistice, and of the celebrated convention
of Cintra, in pursuance of which the
French were to be conveyed with their
arms, baggage, and military honors, in
British ships to France.

Sir Hew Dalrymple was recalled, sir
Arthur Wellesley returned on leave of ab-
sence ; and after some time sir Harry Bur-
rard resigned his command, and also came
to England, and was succeeded by sir
John Moore, who was now elevated to the
chief command of the troops in Portugal.

On the 6th of October sir John Moore
received orders from England to advance
with 25,000 men, into Spain, where he
should be joined by 10,000 more, ac-
tually on their way from England to
Corunna, under the command of sir Da-
vid Baird. It was left to his discretion
whether he should enter Spain by sea or
land. He chose the latter, set out on the
26th of October upon his fatal, but not in-
glorious, expedition, reached the frontier
at Almeida on the 8th, and occupied
Salamanca with his advanced posts on
the 13th of November. Supposing this
direct route impossible by gun carriages
and cavalry, he sent his artillery and
cavalry with an escort by the circuitous
route of Elvas, Badajos, Merida, and
Talavera, to fall into and rejoin him by
the great road of Madrid and Valladolid.
This division of his force, and the addi-
tional march of 150 leagues, has been
severely judged by French military wri-
ters ; not, however, as the fault of sir
John Moore, but as part of the system
of slow and safe movements adopted by
the British generals. Sir John Moore
ought, perhaps, to have staked the lives
and eflbrts of his men with less caution
and humanity. The French generals
gave more to hazard, and drew more
recklessly upon the stamina of human
effort and endurance. Sir John Moore
halted at Salamanca. His situation was
one of the most discouraging. He found
the course of operations dictated to him
ill-chosen, the Spanish armies with
which he was to co-operate dispersed,
the Spanish junta ignorant, incapable,
perverse, and Napoleon with his lieuten-
ants bearing upon him with an over-
whelming force ; his opinion wavered.
This, in a great emergency, is more fatal
than resolute error ; he determined to fall
back upon Portugal, and sent the neces-
sary orders to sir David Baird in Gallicia.

Intelligence reached him that Madrid
was imitating the resistance of Saragos-
sa ; the junta and Mr. Frere urged upon
him the enthusiasm of the Spaniards,
and the necessity of operating to relieve
" the heroic capital ;" he abandoned his
intention of a retrograde movement, and
formed the design of advancing upon
Valladolid, so as to menace the enemy's

GREAT BRITAIN.

391

communications. An intercepted des-
patch fortunately discovered to him an
error which would have proved fatal, and
the real position of the enemy. Madrid
had held out but a single day ! A French
corps was advancing by Talavera upon
Badajos, under Lefebvre, to cut off his
retreat upon Portugal ; another under
Soult was marching to intercept the route
to Corunna ; and Napoleon himself was
advancing upon Valladolid with the corps
of Ney, and the cavalry of the imperial
guard under Bessieres, to manceuvre ac-
cording to circumstances, with the hope
of making the British lay down their
arras. Moore, thus formidably pressed,
marched upon Toro, formed a junction
with Baird on the 21st of December,
and concerted with the Spanish general,
Romana, an attack upon the corps of
Soult. Lord Paget distinguished him-
self, in passing, by a brilliant affair of
cavalry at Sahagun. The British troops
supposed themselves approaching a de-
cisive battle, and looked with confidence
to the result. Napoleon, on the other
hand, who was aware of the British
movement against Soult, announced in an
order of the day, " that the hour was at
last arrived when the Engli.sh leopard
sliould fly before the French eagles,"
and had his head quarters on the 25th at
Tordesillas.

Intelligence had, in the mean time,
reached sir John Moore, that Soult, re-
enforced by the corps of Junot, which
had capitulated in Portugal, was advanc-
ing upon Astorga, while Napoleon him-
self was moving upon the same point by
the great road of Madrid, with the corps
of Ney and the cavalry of Bessieres.
To risk a battle under such circumstan-
ces could only have been folly. Di-
viding his force, he retreated by two
routes, upon Benevente, where he arrived
on the 26th ; his rear-guard separated
from the advanced-guard of the French
only by the river Esla. The British
had broken down the bridge in their rear.
General Lefebvre Desnouettes forded the
river at the head of three squadrons of
the chasseurs of the imperial guard, at-
tacked the British pickets, whom he
thought unsupported, soon found himself
enveloped by the British cavalry under

Lord Paget and general Charles Stew-
art (lord Londonderry,) retreated, and
was wounded and made prisoner, with
about seventy men, in his attempt to cross
the Esla. The French again formed
themselves on the opposite bank for a
desperate charge to rescue their com-
mander, when they found their return ef-
fectually checked by the advance of five
light field-pieces, which opened upon
them with grape-shot. They fought gal-
lantly, and retreated in good order from
an overwhelming superiority of num-
bers.

Sir John Moore continued his retreat
upon Villa Franca. It was now the end
of December. The weather and roads
were dreadful. Baggage, ammunition,
and guns, were destroyed and abandoned,
and horses shot by their riders, to pre-
vent their falling into the hands of the en-
emy. The army threw aside all discip-
line, and the horrors of the retreat be-
came indescribable. The men deserted
their colors, abandoned themselves to
pillage, and were left behind to perish by
hunger, cold, drunkenness, the sabres of
the enemy, or the rage and vengeance
of the Spanish peasantry, infuriated by
the excesses of the British on their route.
The superior officers lost all control, and
the inferior shared the excesses of the
men. But the chief officers, in the first
instance, had assumed the freedom of
opinion, of a civil democracy ; and the
body of the army, corrupted by their ex-
ample, now committed the excesses of
military anarchy. Sir John Moore un-
happily lost his temper, and issued angry
orders of the day, in a case demanding
the sternness of Roman discipline. After
a march of twenty-five leagues in forty-
eight hours, sir John Moore arrived at
Lugo, on the 6th of January. The en-
cumbered state of the roads, occasioned
by the quantity of baggage, ammunition,
carts, guns, and slain horses, abandoned
by the British, fortunately retarded the
march of the French. Napoleon having
ordered Marshal Soult to " drive the
j English into the sea," bad fallen back
upon Valladolid, whence he reached
Paris on the 23rd of January, to prepare
against the storm which had gathered
I against him in Germany.

392

GREAT BRITAIN.

Sir John halted his troops at Lugo, from |
the 6th to the 9th. On the 8th, both ar-
mies prepared for action. A partial af-
fair took place, and sir John Moore con-
tinued his retreat next morning. On the
11th, the British advanced-guard beheld
the walls of Corunna and the sea with
a cry of joy, like that which burst
from the Greeks in the retreat of the
10,000. From the r2th to the 16th, sir
John Moore was occupied in strengthen-
ing his position and embarking his sick,
wounded, cavalry, and part of his artille-
ry ; ready to give battle, but unmolested
by the French. On the 16th, marshal
Soult, being now joined by the columns
of his rear-guard, attacked the British.
He charged the right with great impetu-
osity ; but w^as repulsed by Moore's ju-
diciously placed reserves. Sir David
Baird, who commanded the right, had
his right arm shot away ; and sir John
Moore himself, Avhilst directing and
cheering a charge of the forty-second,
was mortally wounded by a cannon ball ;
sir John Hope succeeded to the com-
mand. The French were repulsed at
all points. Night separated the combat-
ants ; and next day the British troops
were embarked for England.

After the British army had embarked
from Corunna, the French emperor bent all
his eftbrts to the subjugation of Spain. A
number of fugitives from the army of
Castanos, which was defeated at Tudela
on the 23rd of November, 1809, had re-
treated to Saragossa, and, together with
its martial citizens and armed peasants
from the country, composed a body of
50,000 men, under the command of the
renowned Palafox. The siege was con-
ducted by the duke of Montebello, one of
the ablest of the French generals. On
the 26th of January the French made
their grand attack. About noon on the
following day the breach was practi-
cable, and the assailants entered the
city. General Lacosta, and a great
number of their bravest officers and men,
fell in the assault. The determined re-
solution of the inhabitants, who disputed
every inch of ground, and converted
every house into a fortress, reduced the
French to the necessity of mining and
blowing up the houses. The Spaniards,

on their part, had recourse to counter-
mining ; and the effects of this subter-
ranean war were dreadfully destructive.
During these operations the batteries
kept up an incessant fire ; and, by mining
and blowing up the houses as they pro-
ceeded, the French, on the 17th of Feb-
ruary, at length became masters of the
city. No fewer than 20,000 of its brave
defenders were at this time buried under
its ruins.

A series of disasters now occurred to
the patriot cause. The French army in
Catalonia made three powerful attacks
on that of the Spaniards under general
Reding. In the last of these the Span-
ish general, after an obstinate conflict, in
which he was severely wounded, was on
the 12th of March, driven from his posi-
tion, and compelled to retire to Tan-ago-
na. Soon after general Cuesta was de-
feated on the 29th of March, at Medel-
lin, and obliged to retreat to Monasterio.
The patriots about this time recovered
Vigo ; but their casual advantages were
sunk in the long train of disasters which
followed, and the French made them-
selves masters of the centre of Spain.

On the 22nd of x\pril, sir Arthur Wel-
lesley landed at Lisbon, with large re-en-
forcements. Instantly repairing to Coim-
bra, he put himself at the head of the
allied forces, and advanced against Opor-
to, at the same time detaching marshal
Beresford to occupy the fords of the Up-
per Douro. Here marshal Soult, finding
himself in danger of being attacked,
judged it necessary to retreat into Galli-
cia. Meanwhile, marshal Victor had
made himself master of Alcantara ; upon
which the British commander returned
to the south, and Victor retired to his for-
mer station on the Gaudiana.

Sir Arthur Wellesley, on the 20th of
July, effected his junction with Cuesta at
Oropesa ; but marshal Victor, aware of
his danger, had by this time crossed the
Tagus. The British and Portuguese ar-
my now marched along the banks of the
river towards Olalla, and took an advan-
tageous position near Talavera de la
Reyna. Early, on the morning of the
28th, the enemy attacked the 13ritish in
force, making a demonstration also on
the opposite quarter. The battle contin-

GREAT BRITAIN.

393

ued at intervals during the whole day,
and ended in the final repulse of the
French.

Marshals Ney, Soult, and Mortier, then
advanced in great force upon the rear of
the allies, and it became necessary for
them to retreat to Badajos. On the east-
ern side of the peninsula, general Blake,
after a fruitless attempt to recover Sara-
gossa, was attacked and totally routed by
the duke of Albufera (marshal Suchet)
on the 1 9th of June ; and this disaster
was followed by a much greater : for the
central army, said to consist of 50,000
men, under the marquis Anizaga, advanc-
ing upon Madrid, with the view of pass-
ing the Tagus at Aranjuez, was encoun-
tered on the 19th November, by the
French, under king Joseph, assisted by
the marshals Soult, Mortier and Victor,
at O^ana, near the south bank of that
river, when the action terminated in a
signal victory on the part of the French.
The vanquished army retreated in con-
fusion beyond the mountains. In the
month of December the strong and im-
portant fortress of Gerona, after a long
resistance, surrendered to marshal Au-
gereau.

An undertaking of some moment oc-
cupied the attention of the British min-
istry during the summer of 1 809 : the
memorable Walcheren expedition. To-
wards the end of July an army of 40,000
men was collected under the command
of the earl of Chatham, assisted by a na-
val force, under the direction of sir Rich-
ard Strachan. The principal object of
the expedition was to gain possession of
the islands commanding the entrance of
the Scheldt, and the port of Flushing.

The armament invested Flushing on
the 1st of August. A dreadful cannon-
ade and bombardment commenced on the
13th, which on the 15th produced from
the commander of the garrison, general
Monnet, a request for a suspension of
arms. This was followed by the surren-
der of nearly 6,000 men prisoners of war.
During the sieg-s of this place, a great
number of troops from the Belgic and
nearest French provinces, were assem-
bled for the defence of Antwerp ; so
that an attack upon that important place,
and the fleet lying under its fortifications,
50

whatever might have been its success at
the commencement of the enterprise, was
now thought too hazardous. The troops
Ukewise were becoming sickly, and lord
Chatham was induced to depart for Eng-
land on the 14th of September, with
the greatest part of his army. In the
middle of September, a requisition was
made for a number of the peasantry of
the island to repair and strengthen the
fortifications of Flushing ; and, near the
end of October, a hundred artificers ar-
rived from England with building materi-
als. Towards the middle of November,
however, the demolition of the works
and basin for shipping was begun ; and
on the 23rd of December, Walcheren
was completely evacuated by the British
army, one-half of which were either dead
or on the sick list.

Lord CoUingwood, who had succeed-
ed Nelson in the chief command of the
ships in the Mediterranean, having pro-
posed to general Stuart an expedition
against the islands of Zante, Cephalonia,
and others, whilst the French should be
occupied with the defence of Naples, a
joint force from Messina, Malta, and Cor-
fu, was arranged for this purpose, and on
the first of October, it anchored in the
bay of Zante. On the following day, a
capitulation was agreed on, by which all
that group of islands surrendered to the
British arms, and the old government was
restored.

Mr. Jefferson having been succeeded
in the office of president of the United
States of America, by Mr. Madison, in
1809, the embargo, which had been se-
verely felt from its long continuance, was
repealed, and an act substituted prohibit-
ing all intercourse with France and Eng-
land, with a proviso, that, if either na-
tion rescinded its obnoxious decrees, the
prohibition relative to that nation should
cease. Mr. Erskine, the English envoy
in America, was consequently empower-
ed to promise, that, if the American in-
terdiction of July, 1807, were withdrawn,
the commerce of America with the
French colonies, should be placed on the
same footing as in times of peace, the
British cruisers being allowed to capture
all vessels trading contrary to this re-
striction. But Mr. Erskine ventured also,

394

GREAT BRITAIN.

without proper authority, to declare the
orders in council rescinded from the 10th
• of June, 1809, on the general engage-
ment " that an envoy extraordinary would
be received by the president, with a dis-
position correspondent to that of his
Britannic majesty." The British gov-
ernment, however, refused its ratification
to this agreement.

At the commencement of 1 8 1 0 the cause
of Spanish independence, as far as it de-
pended on the people of Spain, was al-
most hopeless. The most interesting
events of the campaign occurred on the
side of Portugal. I'he great eftbrt of
France was to obtain entire possession of
that country. For this purpose it had
been determined to commence with the
reduction of the fort of Ciudad Rodrigo
and Almeida. As soon, therefore, as
the capture of Oviedo and Astorga had
set at liberty a part of the French troops
employed to keep in check the Spaniards
of the northern provinces, marshal Ney
began to invest the former, and it sur-
rendered July 10th. In the mean time
marshal Massena arrived from France, to
take the command of the army destined
for the conquest of Portugal, and con-
sisting of about 80,000 men.

Almeida was next invested, and the
trenches were opened in the middle of
August. It was garrisoned by 5,000 men,
partly English and partly Portuguese,
commanded by British oihcers, and its
governor was brigadier-general Cox.
The vigor of the defence would proba-
bly have long retarded its fall, had not a
bomb alighted on the principal magazine,
which occasioned a terrible and most
destructive explosion. Massena now
withheld his fire, and sent a flag of truce
offering terms of capitulation, which, on
the 27th of August, were acceded to.
The great contest for the possession of
the country was now to commence. Dur-
ing the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo the prin-
cipal post of the British army was at
Guarda, whence the French lines might
be described, but nothing of consequence
could be undertaken for its relief. After
the surrender of Almeida, lord Welling-
ton concentrated the different divisions of
the allied army, and began his retreat
towards Lisbon. He had formed a de-

fensive plan, to which he steadily ad-
hered. At the same time he put fully
into practice the efficacious though severe
policy of entirely destroying all the re-
sources of the coimtry in the line of
march. On the 21st of September all
the force under Massena was concentra-
ted at Viseu, where he halted for a time ;
during which lord Wellington passed to
the right of the Mondego, and occupied
with his centre and left wing the Si-
erra Busaco, which extends to that river.
Massena, on arriving in front of his po-
sition on the 26th, resolved upon an at-
tack. The French pushed up the
heights with great courage in different
parts, and one division reached the sum-
mit of the ridge ; they were, however,
met with equal resolution at the point of
the bayonet, and were finally repulsed
with great loss, 2,000 men being left on
the field. The loss of the English and
Portuguese was also considerable. Mas-
sena now made a circuitous march upon
Coimbra ; but lord Wellington anticipa-
ted his object, and arrived there before
him. The place, however, affording no
advantages for defence, he continued his
retreat to the strong lines of Torres
Vedras.

The isles of Bourbon and France, in
the Indian Ocean, which had so long
been a great annoyance to the East India
trade, were this year brought under the
dominion of Great Britain. Lord Minto,
governor-general of India, having laid
the plan for their reduction, a body of
Europeans and Sepoys, about 1,600 of
each, sailed from Madras, and, being
joined by about 1 ,000 more from another
settlement, the whole under the command
of lieutenant-colonel Keating, with a fleet
of men-of-war and transports, the expe-
dition arrived early in July off the island
of Bourbon. Dispositions were made for
an attack on the principal town, St.
Denis, but it was prevented, on the 8th,
by an offer to capitulate on honorable
terms, Avhich were granted. The other
town, St. Paul, was taken possession of
on the 10th, and the whole island sub-
mitted.

In the month of November, a body of
troops, consisting of 8,000 or 10,000,
from India and the Cape of Good Hope,

GREAT BRITAIN.

395

commanded by major-general sir John
Abercrombie, and a fleet mider admiral
Bertie, took possession of the Mauritius,
or Isle of France. The garrison was
sent to France, and to be at their own
disposal. This was the most valuable
of the remaining French possessions to
the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope.
Three frigates were afterwards des-
patched to destroy the French batteries
on the coast of Madagascar, which being
eftected, there was not left to France, at
the beginning of the following year, any
portion of land in either the East or West
Indies, nor yet any in the Indian Ocean.

The differences between the govern-
ments of Great Britain and the United
States of America still remained unad-
justed. On the recall of Mr. Erskine,
Mr. Jackson had been sent to succeed
him ; but the firm and unyielding tone
taken by him, with the disavowal of Mr.
Erskine's agreement, contributed to ren-
der him unacceptable ; and the American
plenipotentiary in London was instructed
to demand his recall. Mr. Galatin,
treasurer of the States, now sent letters
to the different collectors of the customs,
announcing the abolition of the restric-
tions with regard to France, she having
revoked her edicts, but declaring that
they would be revived in full force with
regard to Great Britain on the ensuing
2nd day of February, should she not in
like manner have revoked her decrees.
By a second letter he gave his opinion that
in the case above mentioned, all British
goods arriving subsequently to the 2nd
of February would be forfeited.

The princess Amelia expired on the
2nd of November, 1810, and the king's
mind received a shock from the illness
and death of the princess, from which
he never recovered. The Prince of
Wales now took upon himself the execu-
tive duties as regent. The regency par-
liament was opened on the 12th of Feb-
ruary, 1811.

The British campaign of 1812 in the
peninsula was signalised only by the
victory of Salamanca and the retreat of
Burgos. The British troops occupied
the frontier of Portugal, in an attitude
which menaced Ciudad Rodrigo, whilst
the French were disposed in an extended

line from Salamanca to Toledo. Lord
Wellington, taking advantage of the want
of concentration of the French, and the
detachment of two French corps on par-
ticular services, invested Ciudad Rodrigo
on the 8th, took it by assault on the 1 9th
of January, and was created by the cortes
duke of Ciudad Rodrigo, and a grandee
of the first class. Having put this place
in a state of defence, he re-occupied for a
moment his position on the Coa ; and
invested the stronger place of Badajos
on the 16th of March. The garrison
was still commanded by the French gen-
eral Philippon, who had distinguished
himself by his successful defence of the
place in the preceding year. The trench-
es were opened by the British on the
night of the 17th. Part of the works
were destroyed by an impetuous sally of
the garrison on the 1 9 th. On the morn-
ing of the 26th a fort, called La Picurina,
was furiously cannonaded, and taken by
storm in the evening. The garrison
made a desperate, but ineffectual sally to
recover it. On the 6th of April the bat-
teries had effected three practicable
breaches. At ten at night three columns
advanced to the breaches, whilst another
division proceeded to escalade a castle
to the right, on the Giiadiana. The as-
sault at all points was terrible. After
two hours' carnage the castle and the
breaches were carried, and the besieged
driven in from the outworks. The fight-
ing continued nearly two hours more in
the streets, until general Philippon, who
had retreated into a church with what
remained of the garrison, surrendered.
The loss was so dreadful on the side of
the assailants as to render it doubtful
whether the capture was a sufficient
compensation. Marshal Soult was in
the mean time marching from Seville for
the relief of Badajos, and already within
two days' march, when he received news
of its fall. He immediately turned back
upon Andalusia, and was pursued and
harassed in his rear-guard by a division
of British cavalry under sir Stapleton
Cotton.

Lord Wellington, having left the Gua-
diana, proceeded with his main army
against marshal Marmont,who had cross-
ed the frontier into Beira. Marmont

396

GREAT BRITAIN.

having made a demonstration against
Almeida, advanced to Sabugal ; but in-
formed of the movement of Wellington,
repassed the Agiieda on the 23rd of April.
While Marmont w^as engaged in making
corresponding dispositions, general Hill
Avas despatched by lord Wellington to
attack the strong fort and bridge of Alma-
rez, on the Tagus. General Hill exe-
cuted this service by a brilliant coup-de-
main, and having destroyed the bridge
and forts, cut ofl" the communication be-
tween Marmont and Soult.

On the 12th of June, lord Wellington
crossed the Agueda, and encamped on
the 16th within two leagues of Salamanca.
Marshal Marmont at the same time aban-
doned Salamanca, moved upon the Douro,
and crossed it on the 29th at Tordesillas,
where he received a strong re-enforcement.

After various movements and partial
affairs, the two main armies, under Wel-
lington and Marmont, came to a general
engagement, on the 22nd of July, at the
heights called Arapiles, near Salamanca.
The time from day-break to one o'clock
passed in preliminary movements, and
partial attacks. Marmont then opened a
heavy fire upon the allied front, and the
Portuguese gave way. This advantage
was followed on the part of Marmont by
complicated movements, executed with-
out that unison and vivacity which could
alone cover their irregularity and compli-
cation. A French division separated and
committed itself by a rash movement in
advance against the British right. Lord
Wellington perceived both errors, and
took advantage of them by strengthening
his right, and making an impetuous attack.
This masterly movement decided the
battle, and has obtained the praise of all
the French historians of the campaign.

On the 23rd the retreating French met
the advanced guard of king Joseph, on
his way to join Marmont. That general
had precipitated the engagement under
very disadvantageous circumstances, and
it had in consequence failed. Clausel
retreated through Valladolid upon Burgos.
liOrd Wellington having continued in hot
pursuit of the enemy to Valladolid, which
he occupied on the 30th, had his head
quarters on the 4th of August at Cuellar,
where he posted a strong detachment to

observe the line of the Douro, arrived at
Segovia on the 5th, and marched through
the mountain roads and passes to Madrid.

The Spanish capital was evacuated by
king Joseph on the 1 1th ; and entered by
lord Wellington, amidst enthusiastic de-
monstrations of joy, on the 12th of Au-
gust. The army of Marmont was still
disorganised, and that of king Joseph too
weak to make head against lord Welling-
ton. Soult saw that nothing short of a
concentration of the French armies could
compel lord Wellington to fall back upon
Portugal, and accordingly raised the
siege of Cadiz, with the intention of
abandoning Andalusia, on the 25th of
August. This event was more important,
and created a greater sensation, than even
the flight of Joseph from the capital.
The cortes, so long pent up in the Isle
of Leon, were now free, and with a wis-
dom rarely exercised in moments of ex-
ultation, conferred on lord Wellington
the command in chief of the Spanish
armies. The capture of Ciudad Rodrigo
and Badajos had raised him from a vis-
count to an earl ; the victory of Sala-
manca and occupation of Madrid, made
him a marquis.

General Clausel, finding that lord
Wellington no longer pursued him, and
had bent his course upon Madrid, re-oc-
cupied ValladoUd on the 19th of August;
re-organised his army ; was re-enforced
by general Souham, and sent out a strong
detachment, which compelled general
Anson to recross the Douro. Lord Wel-
lington, startled by this offensive attitude
of an army which he had thought wholly
incapacitated, left Madrid on the 1st, and
arrived at Valladolid on the 5th of Sep-
tember. Clausel again retreated upon
Burgos. Souham here took the command
in place of Clausel, who was suflering
from his wound received at the battle of
Salamanca, left a garrison of 1 ,800 or
2,000 men in the castle of Burgos, and
removed his head-quarters to Briviesca.

Lord Wellington had not the neces-
sary battering train for a regular siege ;
but Burgos was the only dep6t which
remained to the French army of Portugal,
and he determined to attempt the capture
of this fortress by breaches, mines, and
assaults. After thirty-five days' siege,

GREAT BRITAIN.

397

during which he sprang four mines, made
five breaches, aud as many assaults, and
encountered two vigorous sallies, he
abandoned the enterprise, and commen-
ced a retreat, which proved nearly as
disastrous as that of sir John Moore, and,
by his own account, still more disorderly.
Lord Wellington threw away time, and
above 2,000 men, upon the castle of Bur-
gos, with a fatal pertinacity ; he found at
last the united armies of king Joseph
and Soult bearing upon him, the army of
Marmont (under Souham) threatening
his communications, and nothing left to
him but a precipitate escape back to the
Douro.

This retreat continued from the 20th
of October to the 24th of November,
when Wellington arrived at his former
head-quarters on the frontier of Portugal.

King Joseph returned once more to
Madrid ; Soult, who took the chief com-
mand of the combined French armies,
established his head-quarters at Toledo,
with his right resting on Salamanca ; and
lord Wellington took up his winter quar-
ters in a strongly protected line upon the
frontier. The campaign was now ended.

Whilst the lieutenants of Napoleon
were thus engaged with the British in
the peninsula, he pursued in person his
career of valor, victory, and military
genius, from Wilna to Moscow, and at
the close of the Spanish campaign was
already surrounded with the horrors of
his Russian retreat.

The campaign of this year in Spain
commenced with an attack of Suchet's
(13th of April) on the line of the allies,
in which, however, he was repulsed.
Before the end of May, lord Wellington
moved in great force by the route of Sal-
amanca towards Madrid ; the new king
once more quitting the capital. On the
approach of the British, the enemy con-
tinued his march towards the Ebro. The
allies, by a sudden movement to the left,
having crossed that river near its source,
found the French encamped in front of
the town of Vittoria, under the command
of Joseph Bonaparte and marshal Jour-
dan ; Soult having been summoned to
the aid of Napoleon. On the 21st of
June, lord Wellington resolved upon at-
tacking them. The battle began with a

severe contest for the heights of Arlan-
zon, on the left of the French. These
being at length carried by general Hill,
he passed a rivulet which ran through
the valley, as did general Picton at the
head of another division. Nearly at the
same time general Graham, on the oppo-
site wing, forced his passage over two
bridges thrown across the stream ; on
which, after a severe contest, the whole
French army retreated in good order on
Vittoria, whence they continued their
march towards Pampeluna. A great
number of cannon, and stores of all kinds
to a vast amount, now fell into the hands
of the allies, and the retreat of the
French became so rapid as not to permit
them to carry off their baggage; 115
pieces of cannon, and 415 wagons of
ammunition, fell into the hands of the
victors.

The centre of the French retreating
army having maintained itself on the
Spanish side of the frontier, general Hill
made an attack upon them with a com-
bined force of British and Portuguese,
and obliged them to withdraw into France.
Marshal Soult joined the army on the
13th of July. On the 24th, he collected
his right and left wings, and a part of
his centre, at St. Jean Pied de Port, to
the amoimt of 30,000 or 40,000 men,
and made an attack on an English post
at Roncevalles, in which he was victo-
rious, and the neighboring posts were
consequently withdrawn. Various ope-
rations of attack and defence were now
carried on. The siege of St. Sebastian
had, in the meantime, been proceeding
under sir Thomas Graham ; and an un-
successful attempt to storm the place had
been made on the 25th of July, which
occasioned severe loss. On the 31st of
August it was again stormed by order of
lord Wellington, and though attended
with peculiar and unforeseen difficulties,
the effort succeeded, at the cost of 2,300
in killed and wounded.

On the 7th of October, lord Welling-
ton entered France, by crossing the Bi-
dassoa at different fords. The strong
fortress of Pampeluna, which had been
blockaded from the time of the battle of
Vittoria, was induced to accept of a ca-
pitulation on the 31st. Lord Wellington

398

GREAT BRITAIN,

now put into execution a plan which he
had projected to force the centre of the
enemy, and estabUsh the alhed army in
the rear of their right. The attack was
made on the 10th of November, and af-
ter a variety of actions, which occupied
the whole day, the purpose was attained.
The French, during the night, quitted all
their works and posts in front of St. Jean
de Leon ; and, being pursued on the
next day, retired to an intrenched camp
in front of Bayonne. On the 9th of De-
cember the river Nive was crossed by a
part of the allied army ; and on the four
following days several desperate attacks
were made by the French during the
completion of this passage, which were
finally repelled, and the enemy, after
great loss, withdrew to his intrench-
ments. The British and Portuguese,
during these days, lost between 4,000
and 5,000 in killed, wounded and miss-
ing. The year closed with lord Wel-
lington's obtaining a firm footing on the
French territory.

In 1812, war was declared by the
United States against Great Britain.
The Americans directed their principal
efforts against Canada. They were,
however, unable to effect any thing of
importance in the way of conquest. On
the ocean they were much more success-
ful. A treaty of peace between the two
powers was signed at Ghent, December
25th, 1814.

The great battle of Waterloo was
fought June 18th, 1815. (See Nether-
lands.) This is one of the most impor-
tant events in British history. It decided
the fate of Napoleon, and gave peace to
Europe. The marriage of the princess
Charlotte, on the 3rd of May, 1816, was
an event which excited the greatest joy.
All the circumstances tended to give un-
alloyed satisfaction. It was a marriage
of choice, in which political calculations
had no weight. The chosen husband
was the third son of a minor German
prince, a captain of cavalry in the Aus-
trian service, with hardly any other for-
tune than his sword. His advantages of
person, the reputation of an amiable
character, and an accomplished mind,
and, above all, his being the choice of
the princess, made him the popular idol

of the hour. At nine in the evening, the
marriage was solemnised with extraor-
dinary magnificence in the apartment
called the crimson chamber, in Carlton
House. The duke of Clarence introdu-
ced the bride, and the prince regent gave
her away. In the course of the ensuing
summer it was observed that the princess
and her father did not meet as frequent-
ly as they had previously done. This
circumstance was ascribed to their hav-
ing again disagreed about the princess
of Wales, it being then the intention of
the regent to separate himself from his
wife by a divorce. But the plan was
abandoned through the spirited conduct
of her daughter, and no open act of hos-
tility was entered into against the prin-
cess of Wales during the life of the
princess Charlotte. The death of the
young princess took place on the 18th
of November, a few hours after having
given birth to a still-born child.

On the 23rd of January, 1820, died the
duke of Kent, fourth son of George III,
a prince of humane and manly character,
leaving behind him an infant princess, a
few months old, since become heir pre-
sumptive to the crown. On the following
28th of the same month died George III,
and it is pleasing to observe that he had
scarcely a moment of physical pain to
disturb his last hour.

George IV went through the usual for-
malities on his accession to the throne ;
and the ministers of the regent, having
resigned their seals of office to the king,
received them back as a matter of course.
The remains of George III were deposit-
ed in that last abode of royalty in Eng-
land, the vauh in St. George's Chapel at
Windsor, on the 16th of February.

Parliament had adjourned from the 2nd
to the 1 7th of February. On that day
lord Castlereagh presented a message
from the crown, announcing a speedy
j dissolution, and recommending an imme-
1 diate provision for the indispensable exi-
gencies of the state, in the interval be-
tween the dissolution of the present and
> the return of a new parliament. A simi-
j lar communication was made by lord Liv-
' erpool to the house of lords. After ad-
j dresses of condolence had been voted to
, the king and the duchess of Kent, some

GREAT BRITAIN.

899

strictures had been passed by the oppo-
sition on the singularity of making parlia-
ment formally acquainted with the period
of its duration beforehand, and the sup-
plies had been brought under discussion,
a topic by far the most marked, not alone
of the year, but of the age, in this coun-
try, was incidentally touched on. The
late princess of Wales, now queen of
George IV, was no longer prayed for in
the liturgy. Mr. Hume condemned this
omission. Lord Castlereagh deprecated
the discussion of so delicate a matter.
The members of the opposition, who
were in the confidence and interest of
the queen, either from want of communi-
cation with her, or the fear of acting
prematurely, maintained a guarded re-
serve.

About this period a conspiracy was
discovered to have been formed by
an individual named Thistlewood, and a
band of about a dozen murderous despe-
radoes. Their plot was to murder the
ministers of the crown whilst sitting at a
cabinet dinner at the house of Lord Har-
rowby, then rush out, raise the standard
of insurrection, and constitute themselves
the heads of a provisional government.
The plot was disclosed to the ministers,
who made arrangements for surprising
the savage criminals in their den, at the
moment when they were to issue from it
for the perpetration of their crime. They
were captured on the 23rd of February,
by the police and military, in Cato-street
near the Edgware road, and after a strict
examination and trial, several of them
were executed.

The public mind was now engaged and
excited by one engrossing topic — the dis-
sensions between George IV and his con-
sort. The queen's movements from the
Alps towards England, during the latter
part of the month of May, were announced
by her friends with menacing triumph, and
watched by her husband and his party
with much bravado, but with manifest
signs of fear. It may here, however, be
expedient, to advert for a moment to some
preceding circumstances.

The degradation of the princess of
Wales had been contemplated two years
before, and abandoned only through the
remonstrances of her daughter. Scarcely

however had the princess Charlotte de-
scended into the grave, when the sub-
ject was secretly revived. In 1818, two
emissaries had been sent to Italy, charged
with a secret commission to collect evi-
dence respecting the conduct of the prin-
cess of Wales. Arrived at Milan, these
persons (Messrs. Coke and Powel) were
joined by two other agents — colonel
Browne, an Englishman well acquainted
with the language and character of the
people, and an Italian named Vimercati.
This commission sat for a considera-
ble time, and collected a great mass of
evidence.

The accession of her husband placed
the princess in a new and curious situa-
tion. She had ceased to be princess of
Wales, and not having been duly an-
nounced, was not recognized as queen of
England. But neither the forms of diplo-
macy abroad, nor the regal power and
hatred of her husband at home, could de-
prive her of the new and important rights
with which she became invested as queen
consort. The accession of George IV,
had but recently taken place when he
proposed to his cabinet to commence
proceedings against her. His object was
a divorce ; but by the process contem-
plated, she would be put upon her trial
for high treason. The ministers had be-
fore them at this time the whole of the
evidence taken by the Milan commission-
ers, but they still declined proceeding ;
and, finding the king intractable, tendered
their resignations. For twenty-four hours
the crown was without responsible min-
isters ; an attempt made to form an ad-
ministration under lord Wellesley failed,
and the former ministers were reinstated.
The first overt act against the queen was
the exclusion of her name from the liturgy
in its new form.

After a fruitless negotiation between
lord Hutchinson and Mr. Brougham, the
queen at once returned to England. She
landed at Dover on the 6th of June. Nei-
ther the king nor his ministers contem-
plated her arrival, and the commandant
received her with a royal salute. Had
this ceremony been omitted, the vast
multitude, the banners, the shouts, and
the real enthusiasm which met her on
the beach, would have consoled her.

400

GREAT BRITAIN.

From Dover to London, her journey was
a continually increasing triumphant pro-
cession. The metropolis poured out her
vast population, as if to give her assu-
rance that she had friends. The proces-
sion w^ent along Pall Mall, — halted for a
moment, accidentally or from design be-
fore Carlton House, and shouted its cla-
morous exultation in the ears of her hus-
band. It was said that he saw her from
one of the upper windows, and remarked
in terms of levity and aversion, how well
she looked. No residence was prepared
for her ; and she proceeded to the house
of alderman Wood, in South Audley-
street.

Parliament was sitting at the time. The
king went in state to give the royal assent
to such bills as had passed both houses ;
and, having gone through this ceremony,
left lord Liverpool charged with the fol-
lowing message, to be immediately on
his departure delivered to the house of
lords : —

" The king thinks it necessary, in con-
sequence of the arrival of the queen, to
communicate to the house of lords certain
papers respecting the conduct of her ma-
jesty since her departure from this king-
dom, which he recommends to the imme-
diate and serious attention of this house.

" The king has felt the most anxious
desire to avert the necessity of disclo-
sures and discussions, which must be as
painful to his people as they can be to
himself; but the step now taken by the
queen leaves him no alternative.

" The king has the fullest confidence
that, in consequence of this communica-
tion, the house of lords will adopt that
course of proceeding which the justice
of the case, and the honor and dignity of
his majesty's crown may require.

" George R."

The papers referred to were laid on
the table under seal, in a green bag. A
similar message and sealed bag were pre-
sented to the house of commons by lord
Castlereagh. Both ministers announced
the intention to move an address to the
king, and the reference of the papers to
a secret committee on the following day.
A solemn silence was observed by the
lords, probably from an impression that

their house would be constituted a high
court to try the queen.

In the house of commons several op-
position members expressed themselves
with great vehemence on the subject.

The proceedings of both houses on the
7th, were looked to with the deepest in-
terest. Lord Liverpool having moved a
ceremonial address, which contained no
pledge or opinion, proposed that the pa-
pers on the table should be submitted to
a secret committee of fifteen peers, to be
appointed by ballot. It was hitherto pre-
sumed, that the course to be pursued
against the queen, was an impeachment
for treasonable conspiracy. Lord Liver-
pool announced that such a course could
not be adopted. The queen's alleged
partner in guilt, Bergami, an alien, was
not amenable as a traitor to the crown
of England : to constitute conspiracy
there must be at least two criminals ;
and the queen, therefore, could not be
accused of having conspired. The pro-
ceeding by impeachment was understood
to have been already adopted in the cab-
inet, when this new and obvious light
fortunately crossed the mind of the chan-
cellor. The address was agreed to with-
out opposition, and the secret committee
appointed by ballot the following day.

On the 26th of June, whilst the secret
committee were still sitting, lord Dacre
presented a petition from the queen, in
which she protested against any secret
inquiry, demanded time to bring her wit-
nesses from abroad, and requested to be
heard by her counsel. Messrs. Brougham,
Denman, and Williams, afterwards pre-
sented themselves at the bar. The first
two spoke with great energy of the hard-
ships of the queen's case, and the neces-
sity of delay. On the 4th of July the
secret committee made its report. Lord
Dacre next day presented a petition from
the queen, to be heard against it by her
coimsel. This was refused; and lord
Liverpool, in pursuance of the report,
brought in a bill of pains and penalties.
It was entitled " An act to deprive her
majesty queen Caroline Amelia Elizabeth
of the title, prerogatives, rights, privileges,
and exemptions of queen consort of this
realm, and to dissolve the marriage be-
tween his majesty and the said Caroline

GREAT BRITAIN.

401

Tnal of Queen Caroline.

Amelia Elizabeth." The bill was read a
first time, and a copy ordered to be sent
to the queen.

The first reading having taken place,
counsel were heard on behalf of the
queen ; but with the restriction that they
should limit themselves to the time and
mode of proceeding. The second read-
ing was fixed for the 17th of August. —
On the 1 1th of July the queen petitioned,
and on the 14th lord Erskine moved that
she should be furnished with a list of the
witnesses against her. This advantage
she would have had of right, in common
with every other British subject, were
the form of proceeding an indictment or
impeachment for high treason. But the
majority of the lords, under the direction
of lord Eldon, took advantage of a legal
technicality to withhold from her the great
aegis of the subject against perjured wit-
nesses and the abuse of the power of the
crown.

A specification of the charges, which
she declared was necessary for enabling
her to produce defensive evidence, was
also refused.

On the 19th of August, lords Grey
and King made successive and ineffec-
tual attempts, by motions, to quash the
51

investigation ; after which the attorney-
general stated his case in support of the
bill. This statement occupied two days,
the 1 9th and 2 1 st of August. The close
of it was drowned by drums, trumpets,
and tumultuous acclamations, which an-
nounced the approach of the queen. The
examination of the witnesses immedi-
ately began, and soon produced a re-
markable incident. The queen upon
hearing the clerk of the house call the
name of Theodore Majocchi, the third
witness, started from her seat with an indis-
tinct cry, and retired from the scene. He
had long been her confidential servant ;
and her cry no doubt originated in surprise
and indignation at his ungrateful treachery.
The limits of this article will not per-
mit us to detail the records of the inves-
tigation. On the 7th of September the
case against the queen was closed. An
adjournment took place, to allow the ne-
cessary time for preparation to the other
side. On the 3rd of October Mr. Broug-
ham stated the queen's defence at great
length, and with surpassing power. He
was ably followed by Mr. Williams on
the same side. The examination of
the queen's witnesses continued to the
24th of October.

402

GREAT BRITAIN.

The evidence against the bill being
closed, Mr. Denman went over the case,
not only with distinguished eloquence,
but with a freedom and fearlessness
which reached the utmost license of
defence.

The kings's attorney and solicitor oc-
cupied four days, the' 27th, 28th, 29th,
and 30th, in replying. All the counsel
on both sides who spoke, eminently dis-
tinguished themselves. The examina-
tion of witnesses and the addresses of
counsel having been brought to a close
the discussion on the second reading of
the bill began on the 2nd, and continued
by adjournment to the 6th of November.
It was then read a second time, by a ma-
jority of 123 to 95. Lord Dacre was
charged by the queen with a protest,
which he presented to the house. The
queen not having appeared in person at
the bar, it was received only as her rep-
resentation of her case. The house
having gone into committee, a discussion
took place on the divorce clause. Some
bishops, and other supporters of the bill,
resisted this clause from religious scru-
ples, or the dread of recrimination by
the queen upon her husband, of which a
significant menace was thrown out at
the commencement of the proceedings
by Mr. Brougham. But the opposition
peers voted for it, and it was carried by
a majority of 120 to 62. This majority,
the result of a parliamentary manoeuvre,
proved fatal on the third reading. Many
peers, who would have voted for the bill
without, voted against it with the divorce
clause ; and, on the 10th of November,
it was read a third time by a dishearten-
ing majority of 108 to 99. The queen
petitioned to be heard by counsel against
its passing. Lord Liverpool, in reply,
declared that, with so small a majority,
in the actual state of the public feeling,
he and his colleagues abandoned the bill.
The house adjourned over to the 26th of
November. In the interval the queen
demanded, and was refused, a royal pal-
ace for her residence. On the 26th, af-
ter the routine business of the house of
commons had been gone through, Mr.
Denman rose to present a message from
the queen on the subject of this refusal.
He h^d but just commenced reading it, !

when the usher of the black rod present-
ed himself at the bar. His appearance
caused an explosion of loud and tumult-
uous murmurs. His lips moved, but not
a word spoken by him could be heard.
The speaker, however, left the chair,
paced the floor amidst cries of shame,
and other exclamations of more distinct
import, proceeded to the house of lords,
with the ministers and their friends in
his train, and was informed that the ses-
sion of parliament was prorogued. Thus
ended, in defeat and disgrace, the do-
mestic war which George IV carried on
for twenty-five years against his consort.

The next session of parliament com-
menced on the 22nd of January, 1821,
and it was opened by the king in person,
with a speech characterized by a great
degree of moderation. In the mean
time the queen enjoyed a protracted tri-
umph over her husband and her enemies,
for days and even weeks after the evi-
dence had been closed against her, per-
sons of rank and character, who had
previously stood aloof, now made her
visits of respectful attention, whilst the
road to her residence at Brandenburgh
House was thronged with processions,
bearing addresses of support and con-
gratulation, and the tables of the houses
of both lords and commons at the same
time were loaded with petitions in her
favor. The pretensions of her majesty
were supported by strong minorities, and
lord Tavistock moved a resolution of
censure on the general system of meas-
ures pursued against her, which, although
not carried, tended to show the power
she still had over the minds of the peo-
ple. On the 11th of July, 1821, the
house of commons was once more, and
for the last time, occupied with the sub-
ject of the queen. Mr. Hume moved an
address to the king, the object of which
was to secure the queen's participation
in the honors of the approaching corona-
tion ; the usher of the black rod knocked
at the door whilst he was reading his
resolution, and the session was immedi-
ately prorogued.

The coronation was fixed to take place
on the 19th of July, and a correspond-
ence took place between the queen and
lord Liverpool, in which she demanded,

GREAT BRITAIN.

403

and the minister refused her, participa-
tion in the ceremony. She next memo-
riahzed the privy council in support of
her claim. A committee of the privy
council, after hearing Mr. Brougham and
Mr. Denman on her side, and the attor-
ney-general on the other, decided against
her. She then demanded, without effect
from lord Sidmouth, the home secretary,
and lord Howard of Effingham, the dep-
uty earl marshal, a suitable place to view
the ceremony ; and her last appeal was
to the archbishop of Canterbury, by whom
she desired to be crowned a day or two
after the king, but the archbishop said
that he could act only in obedience to his
majesty.

The morning of the 19th shone brightly
upon the splendid ceremonial of the cor-
onation, when the queen, unmoved by
the entreaties of her friends, proceeded
to the door of the Abbey, but was refused
admittance by the officers on duty, and
she was compelled to retire amidst ming-
led expressions of disapprobation and
applause. The proud spirit and mascu-
line energy of the queen supported her
but a short time longer ; and on the 30th
of July, whilst at Drury Lane Theatre,
she was taken seriously ill, and on the
17th of August closed her troubled life
at Brandenbiurgh House, having directed
in her will that the words, " Here lies
Caroline the injured queen of England,"
should be her epitaph. On the 14th of
the same month, the officers of the
throne entered into a disgraceful contest
with her majesty's executor for the pos-
session of her mortal remains ; and they
were conveyed fromBrandenburgh House
to Hanover, after having been treated
with every indignity which the govern-
ment could devise.

Whilst these events were carried on,
the king was on his way to visit Ireland,
and the news reached him on board the
Irishpacket. It was said, that on receiving
the intelligence of his wife's death, that he
wished to land privately. He left Ireland
on the 5th of September, arrived in Lon-
don, on the 16th, and, on the 24th, left
England for Hanover, where he made
his public entry on the 11th of October.
On the 5th of May, 1821, Napoleon
Bonaparte departed this life at St. He-

lena? It may be proper to observe that
his confinement on that island — ^the treat-
ment he received — the unsparing rigor
with which he was watched by sir Hud-
son Lowe — and his immoveable firmness
under all his sufferings, have disarmed
the hatred of most of his cotemporaries,
and increased the respect of his adhe-
rents. He maintained his character in
the miseries of exile as in the palace of
the Tuilleries.

The last session of the reign of George
IV was opened by commission, on the
4th of February, 1830. He did not live
to witness its close, or the great political
events which rendered this a memorable
year. For the two previous years, he
had almost wholly secluded himself at
Windsor. His infirmities had been
growing rapidly upon him. He had fre-
quent attacks of gout, tendency to in-
flammation, oppressed breathing, and
depression of spirits ; his person had
also reached a most remarkable degree
of corpulency.

His illness became serious at the be-
ginning of the year, but was studiously
concealed, and, if mentioned in the news-
papers, authoritatively denied. About
the middle of April, however, his state
was such that the court physicians were
called in, and bulletins of his health were
periodically made piiblic. These an-
nouncements were vague and reserved,
and passed, it -was said, under his own
eye. At one period he was declared
convalescent, and the bulletins discon-
tinued, by his authority over the physi-
cians, against their judgment; — such was
the self-delusion with which he clung to
life. But his disease was not merely
dangerous, it was incurable, being gen-
erally considered as an ossification of the
heart. Seized with a fit of coughing, he
burst a blood-vessel, and expired, leaning
on the arm of an attendant, at three
o'clock in the morning of the 26th of
June, 1830.

The close of this monarch's life, af-
forded an apt illustration of the fact that
" kings have no friends," — tLat is to say,
in their regal capacity; and the monarch
whose life we have thus briefly chroni-
cled, was but little likely to excite inter-
est for his real welfare as a man. His

404

GREECE.

manners were admitted by all to be those
of the most finished gentleman ; and yet
•we find him early in life selecting the
very refuse of society for his boon com-
panions. He thus accumulated debts to
an enormous amount, which were after-
wards defrayed by the national purse.
In his father's quiet circle he might have
benefitted by the example of every do-
mestic virtue ; but he commenced the
duties of a wedded life by sending his
own kept mistress to be the companion
of the future queen of England. She
was for a time protected by the straight-
forward right-heartedness of her father-
in-law, and it is not at all singiUar, that
after his death she should have fallen a
victim to a persecution almost unheard of
in the annals of English historj', — if, at
least, we except those originating in the
tender mercies of Henry the Eighth.
But the end of this king furnishes a fear-
ful example to those who imagine that
high rank and station supply an apology
for neglecting the ordinary duties of life.
He who had ruled the sceptre of three
kingdoms, found but one companion to
soothe the pain and agony of his dying
hour, and that companion was one of his
humblest menials, while the titled mis-
tress, who had been for years the inmate
of his palace, and the recipient of his
bounty, was the first to fly from the scene

of horrors which she had assisted in
creating.

William IV, brother of the late king,
came to the throne on the 26th of June,
1830. On the 2nd of November, 1830,
the session of parhament was opened by
the king in person. In the house of
lords, the marquis of Bute moved an ad-
dress in answer to the king's speech, in
the course of which the duke of Welling-
ton took occasion to declare his firm
determination to oppose every species of
parliamentary reform. This uncalled-for
declaration appears to have at once de-
cided the fate of the administration, as
we find his grace and sir Robert Peel,
on the 16th of November, respectively
announcing to the two houses the resig-
nation of the ministry. The new ad-
ministration, which was immediately
formed, illustrated the extraordinary
change which had thus been rapidly
brought about in the government of the
country, by the late ministry's attempt at
resisting reform of every kind. High
tory principles of the most uncompromis-
ing character were at once swept before
the tide of popular indignation, and the
political, literary and scientific knowledge
which took the place of mere rank and
aristocratic pretension, furnishes a new
and splendid era in the history of Great
Britain

GREECE

The early history of Greece, like that
of mo.st other countries, is involved in
obscurity and fable. Its original inhabit-
ants, generally considered as the de-
scendants of Javan, son of Japhet, ap-
pear to have led a migratory and savage
life, sheltering themselves in caves and
huts, feeding upon acorns, clothing them-
selves with skins, and gradually associa-
ting in small bodies for their mutual sup-
port against the wild beasts of the woods
and mountains, by which they were every
where surrounded. Many different wan-
dering hordes, of whom the Greek wri-
ters give no satisfactory account, seem
to have successfully overrun the coun-

try ; sometimes mixing with the ancient
inhabitants, and sometimes driving them
from their possessions. These, in their
turn, expelled and plundered others ; and
a state of petty piratical warfare character-
ized the first ages of every Grecian set-
tlement. These plundering excursions
became so general, that all the shores,
both of the continent and the islands, are
said to have been deserted, and the lands
cultivated only at a considerable distance
from the sea. From this state of barba-
rism, the inhabitants of Greece began to
emerge at an earlier period than those of
any other country in Europe ; and this
advantage they seemed to have owed

GREECE.

405

entirely to their communication with the
civilized nations of the East. Its islands
were visited by the Phenician navigators,
who introduced the knowledge of the
precious metals. A people, named Pe-
lasgi, apparently from Asia, extended
their dominion over all the northern parts
of the country ; and various contempo-
rary colonies from Egypt, (of whose
migration the cause is not known,
but for which the supposition of some
political revolution may easily account,)
appear to have founded the principal
Grecian states. The island of Crete,
which seems to have been occupied, and
its inhabitants enslaved by some of these
adventurers, first attained a considerable
degree of civilization under Minos, about
1 000 years before the christian era ; and
became the general foundation of legisla-
tion and jurisprudence to the other set-
tlements. Of these, Sicyon and Argos
are considered as the most ancient, and
as having been founded nearly at the
same time, about 80 years before the
reign of Minos, and 1080 before the
christisin era.

Of the provinces without the peninsu-
la, Thessaly (next to Crete, the most an-
cient scene of Grecian story,) first be-
came celebrated for the wisdom of its
princes, who extended their sway at an
early period as far as the Corinthian
Isthmus. In that country, always fam-
ous for its horses, the Centaurs were
first known, who are supposed to have
been a band of foreign adventurers of
superior attainments to the more southern
Greeks of their time. From a port in
Thessaly, sailed the expedition of the
Argonauts under Jason, who may be con-
sidered as merely the leader of one of the
most considerable piratical expeditions
which had hitherto been undertaken. Bce-
otia, though a country originally subject to
earthquakes and inundations, yet, from its
great fertility, attracted at an early period
the attention of adventurers ; and a Phe-
necian colony under Cadmus is under-
stood to have founded its principal city
of Thebes. The numerous fabulous sto-
ries relating to its history, comprehending
the adventures of Bacchus, Amphion,
Amphitryon, Hercules, Laius, (Edipus,
Eteocles, and Polynices, serve at least

to prove that it must soon have become
a flourishing and powerful state ; and the
war, which it sustained against seven uni-
ted potentates, the subject of the Thebaid
by Statins, presents the first instance of a
political league, and a regular warfare,
recorded in the annals of Greece. Mio-
lia, though not inferior to the adjoining
countries in early civilization, and though
sufficiently celebratad in the histories of
its heroes Tydeus, Meleager, and others,
yet, from the dangers of its seas, being
much excluded from the intercourse of
more civilized nations, made little compa-
rative progress in political improvement,
and for several centuries, even after the
Trojan war, had little communication
with the rest of Greece. Phocis, Doris,
and Locris, also afford no materials for
history at this early period ; and the only
remaining state, whose origin is worthy
of being narrated from tradition, is that
of Attica. The first king of this coun-
try is said by some to have been Ogyges,
whose name, however, is not mentioned
by the older Greek historians, and who
is conjectured at the utmost to have been
only the leader of a band of Boeotians,
who, having been driven from their own
country by an inundation, had taken re-
fuge in the adjoining districts of Attica.
The first, at least, who introduced regu-
lar government and the arts of civiliza-
tion among the Athenians, was Cecrops,
the leader of a colony from Egypt, who
introduced the worship of the goddess
Athena, or Minerva ; and thus gave a
name, if not also a beginning, to the city
of Athens. He is considered as the
founder of the celebrated court of Areo-
pagus ; and, in consequence of his wise
institutions, aided by the natural security
of the country from invasion, strangers
were attracted, population increased, and
civilization made more rapid progress
than in any other province of Greece.
Of his successors, little is recorded even
by tradition, till the time of iEgeus, con-
temporary with Minos, king of Crete,
and the father of the renowned Theseus,
whose romantic history bears no incon-
siderable resemblance to that of the
Gothic knight-errants, and whose wise
measures as king of Athens laid the foun-
dation of its future greatness. By the

406

GREECE.

united influence of persuasion and au-
thority, he consolidated, in one well re-
gulated government, the independent dis-
tricts in Attica, and endeavored to se-
cure the stability of his improvements,
by procuring the approbation of the Del-
phic oracle. Though well entitled, by
his political regulations, to be ranked
among the most illustrious patriots of
ancient times, he is nevertheless repre-
sented, in his future history, as having
forfeited the esteem of his subjects, and
having at last died in exile. After him
the sovereignty of Attica was held by
Menestheus, a descendant of the royal
family, and the leader of the Athenian
troops in the Trojan war.

These petty states, each of which was
governed by its respective sovereign, and
all of them independent of one another,
were continually at war among them-
selves, and exposed to he incursions of
foreign barbarians. To obviate these
evils, and to secure, as far as possible,
the general tranquillity, an assembly was
formed of deputies from the different
countries of Greece, whose business it
was to decide all disputes between the
states of which the association was com-
posed, and to concert measures of defence
against their common enemies. This was
called the council of the Amphictyons,
from its supposed founder Amphictyon,
one of the sons of Deucalion, and king of
Attica ; but its original constitution, and
the period of its commencement, cannot
be satisfactorily ascertained. It is sup-
posed by sir Isaac Newton to have com-
menced about a century before the Trojan
war. Besides its primary object of es-
tablishing a kind of national law among
the Greeks, its attention was principally
occupied in managing the concerns of
the Delphian oracle. But, though its
decrees were respected, its power was
not very efficacious. It contributed to
restrain the violence of wars, but was not
able to prevent their frequent occurrence.
It derived its greatest consequence from
the increasing fame of the oracle at Del-
phi ; and the superintendence of the
religious institutions of Greece became
ultimately its principal office. It is
not mentioned by Homer ; but its ex-
istence seems to be implied in the ready

union of the Grecian states against
Troy.

Frequent piratical excursions appear
to have been carried on between the in-
habitants of the eastern and western
coasts of the ^Egean sea ; and the rape
of Helen by Paris, the son of Priam,
may be considered, according to Hero-
dotus, as an act of retaliation for some
similar injury received from the Greeks
by the Trojan people. An outrage, how-
ever, so nearly affecting one of the great-
est princes of Greece, and aggravated
by a breach of the rights of hospitality,
was considered as demanding the united
vengeance of the Grecian chiefs ; and
the hope of returning home enriched
with the spoils of Asia, presented no
small incentive to the expedition. The
extensive influence also of Agamemnon
king of Argos, and brother of the injured
Menelaus, urged on the general confed-
eracy; and, under his supreme command,
the chosen warriors of every Grecian
state, from the southern extremity of
Peloponhesus to the northern regions of
Thessaly, assembled at the port of Aulis
in Bceotia. The fleet, consisting of 1200
open vessels, conveyed to the Trojan
coast an army of 100,000 men, who
speedily compelled the enemy to take
refuge within the walls of their city ; but,
unable to surmount its strong and well
defended fortifications, they attempted its
reduction by excluding every kind of
succor and supplies. Obliged, however,
to detach large bodies from their army
to procure subsistence for themselves,
they were unable to prevent the Trojans
from again taking the field, and receiving
every requisite relief to their wants. In
this way the siege was prolonged for the
space often years : and even at the last,
the house of Priam was not overthrown
without the aid of stratagem and treach-
ery. But, while the allied Greeks tri-
umphed over Troy, it was to each of
them a victory dearly purchased. Few
of the princes, who witnessed the suc-
cessful termination of their expedition,
were permitted to enjoy, in their native
country, the renown and repose which
their exertions had earned ; but, having
made no provision for the administration
of their affairs during their absence, were

GREECE.

407

either murdered at their return by some
usurper of their power, or compelled to
re-embark with their adherents, in quest
of distant settlements. The Athenian
state, which seems to have made the
nearest approach to a settled government,
suffered least by the absence of the com-
mander of their army ; and regular mag-
istrates supplied the place of their chief.
In this city, Orestes, the son of Agamem-
non, obtained an asylum ; and, after re-
maining seven years in exile, found
means to avenge his father's death, and
to recover the throne of Argos, which he
held with great power and reputation till
his death.

Here terminates the history contained
in the vsTitings of Homer, who seems to
indicate, that the concluding events which
he records were within the reach of his
own memory ; and whose works, in fact,
contain almost the only materials for an
account of the heroic age. He afibrds
at least the best and most authentic view
of the political and domestic state of the
Greek people, during the period which
preceded his death ; and to his poems
we may refer for a description of the
religion, government, arts, and manners
of the early Greeks. The ancient Pe-
lasgian inhabitants of Greece are said by
Herodotus to have prayed and sacrificed
to gods, to whom they gave no name or
distinguishing appellation; and the works
of Hesiod still more clearly prove tkat
they drew their first notions on the sub-
ject of religion from Oriental traditions.
Their future system of polytheism seems
to have been imported by the Egyptian
colonists ; but to the principal divinities
thus introduced, their own lively fancy
soon added a multitude of other imagin- 1
ary beings, presiding over every mountain
and river, every season and production ;
and these were arranged by Hesiod and
Homer into a kind of system of the most
extravagant and inexplicable description.
There is neither omnipotence nor omni-
presence among the attributes which the
last mentioned poet ascribes even to the
father of the gods ; neither perfect good-
ness nor perfect happiness in the heaven,
which he assigns as their residence. —
An incomprehensible power, denomina-
ted Fate, is represented as directing all

events ; and it seems to have been the
principal office of Jupiter to superintend
the execution of its decrees. Idolatry,
as denoting the worship of visible objects,
was at this period unknown ; and even
temples appear to have been rare. —
Prayers were addressed as to invisible
deities ; and sacrifices, the only duty
which they seem to have been considered
as expecting from their worshippers,
were offered upon altars erected in the
open air. A few crimes are sometimes
denounced as exposing to the vengeance
of the gods, but morality in general finds
very little support in the religion of this
period. Soothsayers, who professed to
foresee future events, were sufficiently
numerous ; but fixed oracles had not yet
attained any extensive celebrity. The
salutary doctrine of the immortality of
the soul, and a future state of rewards
and punishments, was taught in those
days ; but the ridiculoiis absurdities,
with which it was clothed, tended, when
men had learned to despise the fables, to
throw contempt also upon the momentous
truth which they had veiled. The form
of government was monarchical, and in
some degree hereditary; but the authority
of the kings was extremely limited, and
always controlled by established cus-
toms. It was the universal prerogative
of the prince to exercise the judicial
power, to superintend the institutions of
religion, to command the armies, and to
direct the ordinary business of the com-
munity ; but, in any extraordinary or very
important measure, he was required to
consult, not only a council of the princi-
pal men, but also an assembly of the
people ; and a high degree of personal
strength and accomplishments seems to
have been always necessary to maintain
his authority.

It is generally admitted that letters
were introduced into Greece from Phos-
nicia by Cadmus, the founder of Thebes,
at the lowest calculation, 1045 years be-
fore Christ ; but it is equally ascertained,
that the use of writing had not become
common till more than 400 years after
his time ; and nothing, in the whole his-
tory of the ancient Greeks, is more
difficult to be explained than the high
state of excellence, which the language

408

GREECE.

had attained in the days of Hesiod and
Homer, while so Uttle of it could have
been reduced to Meriting. In the absence
of letters, poetry seems to have been in-
vented, or at least to have been originally
employed for the assistance of memory.
Laws, among the early Greeks, were
always promulgated in verse, and fre-
quently sung in public. Morality was
taught, and history related in the same
manner. All, who wished either to in-
struct or amuse their fellow-citizens,
were thus necessarily poets ; and they
who possessed so important a talent,
were considered as sacred characters,
favored and inspired by the gods. The
first poetry of the Greeks was uniformly
accompanied with music, and both string-
ed and wind instruments are mentioned
by Homer. But there are no means of
ascertaining its peculiar features ; and,
however powerful may have been its ef-
fects, it appears to have been extremely
simple and inartificial in its composition.
Their agriculture appears to have been
carried on with considerable regularity ;
and the practice of manuring, as well as
ploughing and sowing, is expressly men-
tioned by Homer. Wine was made from
the vine, and oil from the olive ; but the
principal source of wealth was found in
pasturage ; and cattle were made, in place
of coin, the usual measure of the value
of commodities. Commerce was chiefly
carried on by an exchange of articles ;
and the foreign trade of the Grecian cities
was principally in the hands of the Phoe-
nicians. There were Greeks, indeed,
in the days of Homer, who pursued a
kind of coasting traffic among them-
selves ; but the profession of a merchant
for gain was not held in much estimation,
and was less respected than even that of
pirate. Their navigation was very im-
perfect ; and they used oars more fre-
quently than sails. Their ships had no
decks ; and the largest that went to Troy,
contained only 120 men. Anchors were
unknown ; and the vessels, when in
port, were either moored to large stones
on the shore, or were actually drawn out
of the water upon the beach. The early
Greeks, in short, were rather boatmen
than seamen ; and, indeed, to this day,
the skill of the navigator is of little avail

in their narrow and tempestuous seas.
They had little knowledge of astronomy ;
and marked the length of the year by
twelve revolutions of the moon, reckon-
ing the months to consist of twenty-nine
and thirty days alternately. But, in
progress of time, they learned to fix the
seasons more correctly by the rising and
setting of the stars ; and had arranged
them in constellations, much in the same
manner, and with the same names as at
the present day. They considered in-
ternal diseases as inflicted by the imme-
diate hand of the Deity, and as therefore
beyond the reach of human skill. Their
medical art was thus restricted to the
practice of surgery, which was held in
high esteem ; but which seems to haA'e
extended no farther than the extraction
of a weapon, or any other extraneous
body, from a wound, and the application
of a few simples to stop a hcemorrhage,
or to assuage inflammation. Their archi-
tecture was more improved than most
other arts ; and Homer speaks of houses
built of polished stone, with large and
numerous apartments. Other mechanic
arts were not exercised as distinct trades ;
and even princes were frequently their
own carpenters. Ornamental works,
however, in metals, wood, &c, were not
uncommon in those days ; but the greater
part of the trinkets and more luxurious
utensil's in use among the early Greeks
appear to have been procured from the
Phoenician merchants. Their principal
study, and most constant practice, was
the art of war ; and they seem to have
improved considerably upon that tumult-
uary warfare, which is generally prac-
tised among barbarous nations. Their
infantry were commonly heavily armed
with helmet, breastplates, greaves, and
shield ; and were regularly drawn up in
close ranks or phalanxes, marching in
steady silence under their respective
leaders. Cavalry were not yet employ-
ed in their battles ; but chariots were
generally used by the chiefs, as the
means of conveying them more rapidly
along the line, and of annoying more
eflTectually a flying army. The skirmish-
ing of the commanders, however, in front
of the troops, and their mixing with the
soldiers in the heat of the fight, left little

GREECE.

409

room for the exercise of generalship ;
and their fashion of stopping in the midst
of the action to strip the slain, sufficient-
ly marks their want of military discipline
and skill. They encamped with much
regularity, sleeping under their cloaks,
or sheltering themselves with huts ; and
generally fortified their post, when ex-
posed to the attack of a powerful enemy;
but, though a small guard might be pla-
ced at an outpost, they were unacquaint-
ed with the important precaution of
stationing and relieving a line of sentinels.
In the frequency of war, courage was
regarded as the highest virtue ; and the
manners of the early Greeks were deci-
dedly barbarous. Quarter was rarely
granted to a fallen enemy ; and the cap-
ture of a city was succeeded by the
massacre of all the men who were able
to bear arms, and by the captivity of the
women and children. The spirit of hos-
pitality, however, was generally diffused,
and tended often to alleviate the miseries
of military devastation. Women appear,
as well as men, to have united the high-
est rank with the humblest occupations,
but evidently enjoyed a greater degree of
influence and freedom, than has been
usual in subsequent ages among oriental
nations. There has been supposed to
exist, a striking resemblance between
the manners and sentiments of the
Greeks in the heroic age, and those of
the Gothic nations of Europe, except
that the latter displayed more generosity
in war, and gentleness towards the fe-
male sex, than their ancient prototypes.
The period immediately succeeding
the Trojan war, affords few lights to his-
tory, and is even involved in deeper ob-
scurity than the heroic age. Supposing
Homer to have lived within half a century
of the Trojan war, his works maybe allow-
ed to supply a tolerable record of the
previous events best authenticated by
tradition, and of the most important oc-
currences which took place during his
own life. His history terminates with
the accession of Orestes to the throne of
Argos ; and total darkness thenceforth
rests upon the historian's path, relieved
only by a few uncertain glimmerings, till
the first Persian invasion of Greece.
About 80 years after the destruction of
52

Troy, a great revolution took place,
which dissipated ancient traditions, stop-
ped the progress of civilization, and
changed the governments, and even the
population, of most of the Grecian states.
The descendants and partizans of the
celebrated Hercules had found a refuge
in Doris from the persecutions of Eurys-
theus ; but had never ceased to prefer
their claims to the kingdom of Argos, and
even to the dominion of all Peloponnesus,
Twice had they attempted, without suc-
cess, to make their way through the isth-
mus. But at length, the great grandson of
Hyllus, the oldest son of Hercules, cross-
ed the Corinthian gulf with a powerful
armament, and speedily overran the whole
peninsula, with the exception of Arcadia
and Achaia, where Tisamenus, son of
Orestes, made a resolute and successful
stand. All the rest of the conquered
country was divided among the princes
of the Heraclides, and their allies from
Doris and iEtolia ; and the greater part
of the old inhabitants either emigrated
from the oppressions to which they were
subjected, or were reduced by the inva-
ders to a state of servitude. A new dis-
tinction of the Grecian people was the
consequence of tliis revolution.

The Pelasgian name, which had pre-
vailed on the continent, and the Lelegian
in the islands, had, at an early period but
for reasons not clearly ascertained, given
place to the -^Eolian and Ionian ; the lat-
ter designation being applied principally
to Attica with its colonies, and the former
to all the rest of Greece, both within and
without the peninsula. Out of these two
four distinctions of the Grecian people
arose, after the irruption of the Heracli-
des. In all the immediate establishments
and distant colonies of these invaders,
the Doric name and dialect prevailed.
The Athenians rose to such pre-eminence,
as to give rise to a new designation,
namely, the Attic. Excepting them and
the Megarians, who retained the Doric
name, all the other Greeks, without the
isthmus, claimed ^'Eolic origin ; and the
Ionian name and dialect was retained
only by those lonians who had migrated
to Asia and the Islands. Except in the
rugged province of Arcadia, nothing re-
mained unaltered : and the Dorian inva-

410

GREECE.

ders brought every thing back to that
ruder state, in which they had lived
among their native mountains. Disputes
soon arose among these allied princes,
respecting the partition of the conquered
countries. Internal dissensions, occa-
sioned by their turbulent subjects, were
continually raging in their respective
governments. The enterprising Arca-
dians seldom suffered them to rest from
external hostilities. And, by all these
concurring causes, Peloponnesus was
rapidly falling back into that state of an-
archy and barljarisni, in which it had been
before the time of Pelops and Hercules.
Nothing tended so effectually to resist
this tendency to disunion and turbulence,
as the revival and regular establishment
of the public games, by Iphitus, sovereign
of Elis. These athletic games, as is
evident from the writings of Homer, had
been occasionally celebrated, under the
superintendance of different princes ; and
at the funerals of eminent men, many
traditions prevailed, that Eleia and Pelo-
ponnesus had frequently been the chosen
scene of these contests, and the resort of
princes from various parts of Greece.
Iphitus, therefore, having procured a fa-
vorable response from the oracle at Del-
phi, established a regular festival for that
purpose, to be held every four years at
Olympia, in the territory of Elis. Solemn
sacrifices were to be offered to Jupiter
and Hercules, and games celebrated in
honor of these divinities. In these games,
all Greeks were free to partake ; and for
a certain period, before their commence-
ment, as well as after their conclusion,
a general annistice was ordained to take
place. The territory of Eleia, particu-
larly, was to be at all times counted sa-
cred, and secured from every hostile en-
croachment. This Olympian meeting,
instituted about half a century after the
return of the Heraclides, served as a
common capital to the Grecian people,
and contributed more effectually than
could possibly have been anticipated, to
the advancement of arts, science, and
civilization, in all the different states.
A general revolution in the government
of every state, began about the same pe-
riod to take place, from causes very im-
perfectly known. The republican spirit,

which seems to have existed in all of
them, even under their early monarchical
constitutions, acquired so much strength,
that, in a few ages, monarchy was every
where abolished, and the name of tyrant
applied to all Avho attempted its support,
even under the mildest form.

In the reign of Darius, the son of Hys-
taspes, the power of the Persian arms
was extended on every side of that vast
empire. All was subdued to the west,
as far as Macedonia. Amyntas, the king
of that country, acknowledged subjection
to the Persian monarch ; and the Gre-
cian isles soon began to feel his ambi-
tious and overwhelming influence. Cy-
prus, Samos, Lesbos, Chios, and most
other islands on the Asiatic coast, were
either persuaded or compelled to admit
his supremacy. Most of them, accord-
ing to the uniform policy of the Persians,
were nevertheless allowed to retain their
own magistrates and laws. One of their
own nation was appointed to preside as
governor ; and this person, whatever was
his personal character, was always, from
his official situation, denominated Tyrant
by the Greeks. Athens itself, hard press-
ed by the powerful alliance Avhich the La-
cedemonians had formed against them,
had begun to solicit the protecting aid of
Persia ; but Artaphernes, satrap at Sar-
dis, having patronised the pretensions of
the tyrant Hippias, whom they had driven
from his power, they were filled with de-
testation of the Persian name, and the
more readily consented to assist the lo-
nians in Asia, who had revolted against
the authority of Darius. These, how-
ever, were speedily reduced ; and the
Persian monarch, in order to punish
Athens and Eretria, who had given aid
to the insurgent states of Asia, or rather
prosecution of his ambitious views for
the enlargement of his dominions, sent
a powerful army into Greece, under the
command of his son-in-law Mardonius.
Darius had previously despatched he-
ralds to each of the Grecian States,
demanding earth and water as an ac-
knowledgment of his supremacy ; and,
if wholly independent of each other, the
greater part would probably have soon
submitted to the Asiatic yoke. But, hap-
pily for Greece its little commonwealths

GREECE.

411

were at that time so united together by
reciprocal treaties and obligations, and
especially by a formal confederacy under
the Lacedemonians, that a kind of gen-
eral tribunal existed for the punishment
of treachery or cowardice, which enabled
them, in a great measure, to act as one
nation. Macedonia, which had formerly
paid homage, was more effectually sub-
dued, and compelled to pay tribute to the
Persian king. Thebes, by the influence
of a faction, and a few other cities, par-
ticularly iEgina, made submission to his
demands ; but the Lacedemonians and
Athenians were so indignant at the requi-
sition of Persia, that, forgetting the law
of nations and of humanity, they put the
heralds to death with the utmost ignominy
and barbarity. The Athenians, who had
been at war with the ^gineiae, and were
thus the more excited to adopt opposite
measures to their hostile neighbors, ac-
cused them at Sparta of desertion from
the common cause of Greece ; and the
chief persons of that state were instantly
ordered to be seized as traitors to their
country. Little progress was made by
the invading army. The Persian fleet
lost nearly three hundred vessels by a
storm in doubling the promontory of
Athos ; and the land forces suffered so
severely from the Brygians, a people of
Thrace, that the season for military oper-
ations was lost, and the whole armament
was led back to winter in Asia. A se-
cond army, under the command of Ar-
taphernes, son of the late satrap of that
name, and of Datis, a Median nobleman,
avoiding the circuitous march by Thrace
and Macedonia, sailed from Cilicia in
a numerous fleet, reduced every island
and appurtenance of Greece in their way,
and approached the frontiers of Attica,
with the exiled tyrant Hippias as their
guide, before any measures had been con-
certed by the Greeks for the general
security.

A messenger was now despatched from
the Athenians to Sparta, with the intelli-
gence of the capture of Erelria, and, at
the same time, with a request for assist-
ance to themselves. The Lacedemonians
readily promised their utmost aid ; but, in '
conformity to a superstitious law, unwor-
thy of their boasted political wisdom, j

declared that they could not take the field
before the full moon, of which it then
wanted five days. Lnmediate assistance
from Sparta being thus denied, it became
a question with the ten generals, whom
the Athenians had chosen to command
their army, whether they should venture
to meet the enemy in the field, or apply
their whole exertions to prepare for a
siege. Opinions were equally divided,
and the decision was, by ancient custom,
referred to the polemarch Archon, who
was persuaded by Miltiades to recom-
mend an immediate engagement ; a mea-
sure obviously contrary to all principles
of defensive war, but rendered necessa-
ry by the dread of internal factions in
the city. The Persian army, amounting,
according to the lowest calculation, to
100,000 infantry, and 10,000 cavalry,
accustomed to conquer, and having fre-
quently engaged the Greeks of Asia and
Cyprus, advanced with confidence as to
certain victory. The amount of the
Athenian force has been stated as low as
9,000 heavy-armed infantry, and 1,000
Plataeans, who had bravely hastened to
share the desperate struggle for the free-
dom of their country. Various consid-
erations, however, make it probable, that
the regular Grecian troops, now opposed
to the Persians, were not much less than
20,000, with about an equal number of
armed slaves. With this army, still fear-
fully inferior to the invading host, the
genius of Miltiades, who was well ac-
quainted with the nature of the Persian
troops seconded by the determined brave-
ry of his soldiers, gained, on the plain of
Marathon, a most decisive victory, and
drove the routed Persians to their ships
with great slaughter. But this distin-
guished commander, having failed in a
subsequent expedition against the iEgean
islands, which had submitted to the Per-
sians, was, by the base machinations of
party spirit, condemned to pay a fine of
fifty talents, and died in prison of the
wounds which he had received.

The death of Darius, the revolt of
Egypt, and the disputes which arose
about the right of succession to the throne
of Persia, procured to the Greeks a re-
spite of several years from any farther
attempts against their independence. But

412

GREECE

Xerxes, the young Persian monarch, was
sufficiently ardent to revenge the disgrace
which the arms of his nation had sus-
tained, and to prosecute those schemes
of conquest which his predecessors had
planned. Four years are said to have
been employed in preparations for the
punishment of Athens, and the reduction
of Greece ; and an army was collected,
more numerous than had ever before, or
than has ever since, been known in the
annals of the world. To prevent the dis-
asters, which might attend the convey-
ance of armament by sea, as well as to
provide for the future security of the in-
tended conquest, a canal, navigable for
the largest gallies, was, (according to the
united testimony of all the Greek histo-
rians and geographers,) actually formed
across the isthmus, which joins mount
Athos to the continent of Thrace. Two
bridges of boats also, the one to withstand
the winds and the other the current, were
extended across the Hellespont nearly
between Abydos and Sestos, where the
strait is about seven furlongs in breadth.
Early in the spring, the army moved from
Sardis, the principal place of rendezvous ;
and seven days and nights are said to
have been occupied in passing the bridges
of the Hellespont. The land and sea
forces met at Doriscus, near the mouth
of the Hebrus, where, according to Hero-
dotus., the Persian monarch reviewed his
enormous army, which is said to have
been composed of twenty-nine different
nations. This historian estimates the
effective strength of the infantry at
1,700,000 fighting men, and the cavalry
at 80,000, exclusive of attendants and fol-
lowers, whose number defied calculation.
The fleet consisted of 1 ,207 galleys of
war, carrying about 277,600 men ; be-
sides transports, store-ships, and a variety
of smaller vessels, amounting, at a gross
calculation, to 3,000, and their crews to
240,000. The land forces marched from
Doriscus in three columns, every where
adding to their numbers, by compelling
the youth of the countries through which
they passed, to follow their standards.
They met again at Acanthus, where they
were joined by the fleet, which then pro-
ceeded through the canal of Athos, into
the bay of Therme, where the whole

army coming up, formed an encampment,
extending from Therme and the borders
of Mygdonia to the river Haliacmon, near
the confines of Thessaly. The Greeks,
in the mean time, were slow in concert-
ing any measures for their common de-
fence ; and many of the smaller republics
readily made the required submission to
the Persian monarch, whose sway had
been experienced by many Grecian states
to be much less oppressive than that of
the domineering rule of the Spartan oli-
garchy, to which the greater part of them
had long been subjected. The deter-
mined resistance of the Athenian people
first arrested the progress of the Asiatic
host; and to them chiefly belongs the
honor of having preserved Greece from
a foreign yoke. To this daring resolu-
tion they were prompted, not entirely by
the love of freedom, but by the dread of
certain punishment. The whole arma-
ment was ostensibly prepared for their
destruction, and their courage therefore
was nearly that of despair. Their suc-
cess at Marathon may have thrown a ray
of hope through the gloomy prospect be-
fore them ; and, at this critical moment,
they happily possessed in Themistocles
a leader of extraordinary talents, pecu-
liarly fitted for conducting the arduous
contest. Deputies from the confederated
states at length assembled at Corinth, to
consult respecting the conduct of the war;
and an attempt was at first made to defend
the passes into Thessaly. An army of
10,000 men from the different states,
joined by all the Thessalian cavalry, was
actually sent to occupy the vale of Tempe ;
and was competent to have defended the
pass against any number of assailants.
But the Grecian leaders, alarmed by the
accounts which they received ol' the mul-
titude of their invaders, and understand-
ing that there was another opening into
Thessaly, which they did not think them-
selves strong enough to occupy, were
struck with a sudden panic, and, embark-
ing their troops, returned to the Corin-
thian isthmus; while the Thessalians,
now left to their fate, made an immediate
submission to the demands of Xerxes.
It was next resolved to make a stand at
the pass of Thermopylae, which afforded
every possible advantage to an inferior

GREECE.

413

Leonidas with the Spartan band at Therviojnjla .

force; but their mutual jealousies and
selfish anxiety to reserve their strength
for their proper defence, prevented the
assembling of a sufhcient body of troops ;
and not more than 4000 men, most of
them Arcadian mountaineers, were col-
lected to dispute the passage with the
whole Persian army.

Xerxes having halted several days at
Therme, to procure proper intelligence
and guides, resolved to proceed by Up-
per Macedonia into Thessaly, and reach-
ed the neighborhood of Thermopylae
without opposition. His fleet after suf-
fering an immense loss by a storm in the
bay of Caslhan?e, entered the Pelasgian
gulf ; and the Grecian fleet, which was
stationed off Artemisium to support the
army at Thermopylse, succeeded in cap-
turing fifteen galleys, which had been
dispersed by the tempest. This favora-
ble event at once revived their spirits,
and added greatly to the strength of their
little navy. Xerxes, in the mean time,
having fixed his head quarters at the
town of Traches, in the Malian plain,
waited for four days, in expectation that
the Greeks would yield to his numbers,
and leave him an uninterrupted passage.
A herald also was despatched to Leoni-

das, who commanded at Thermopylae,
requiring him to deliver up his arms ; to
whom the Spartan replied, with laconic
brevity, " Come and talce them." The
Persian monarch, therefore, on the fifth
day, ordered the Medes and Cissians of
his army to bring Leonidas and his Greeks
into his presence. These being quickly
repulsed, the Persian guards, called "the
immortal band," were marched to the at-
tack. Their numbers were unavailing
on so a narrow a field ; their short spears
were very inferior in close fight to the
longer weapons of the Greeks ; and their
repeated and courageous efforts, to which
Herodotus bears ample testimony, made
no impression. The assault was renew-
ed on the following day, in hopes that
wounds and fatigue might exhaust the
little army of the Greeks ; but still with-
out the smallest prospect of success. A
Persian detachment, however, having
penetrated during the night by another
pass, and surprised the Phocians, who
had been intrusted with its defence,
showed themselves, on the morning of
the third day, far in the rear of the Gre-
cian army. Information of this fatal ad-
vantage being conveyed to Leonidas, it
was immediately resolved that they should

414

GREECE,

all retreat to their respectivfe cities, and
preserve their lives for the future wants
of their country. Leonidas, however,
in obedience to a law of Sparta, which
forbade its soldiers, under whatever dis-
advantage, to flee from an enemy, re-
solved to devote his life to the honor and
service of his country. Animated by his
example, every Lacedemonian and Thes-
pian under his command, determined with
him to abide the event. The Thebans
also, on account of the disaffection of
their city to the Grecian cause, were de-
tained, rather indeed as hostages than as
auxiliaries.* Leonidas stationed his lit-
tle band at the wall of Thermopylae,
where the pass was scarcely 50 feet
wide ; and all of them resolved to sell
their lives to the enemy at the dearest
rate. With the fury of men resolved to
die, they rushed against the advance of
the Persian army, and made a dreadful
slaughter of the crowded and ill-discip-
lined multitude. Numbers of them were
forced into the sea, and many of them
expired under the pressure of their own
people. Leonidas fell early in the fight,
at the head of his troops ; but the en-
gagement was continued, with advantage
to the Greeks, till the Persian detach-
ment came in sight of their rear. They
then retreated to the narrowest part of
the pass, where the Thebans began to
sue for mercy, and were most of them
taken prisoners. The surviving Lacede-
monians and Thespians gained a little
rising ground, where they fought in the
midst of a surrounding host, till they
were utterly cut to pieces. In the con-
duct of the Spartan prince, there was
wisdom as well as magnanimity. His
example checked the disposition which
prevailed among the Greeks, to shrink
from the Persian power ; and gave a
convincing proof to the invaders, at how
vast a price of blood they would purchase
their conquest. During the transactions
at Thermopylae, the Grecian fleet gained
several advantages over that of the Per-
sians ; and about two hundred galleys of
the latter, attempting to take the Greeks
in the rear by sailing round Euboea, were

* In the army at Thermopylae there were ori-
ginally 300 Lacedemonians, 700 Thespians, and
400 Thebans.

totally lost in a storm. Having received
intelligence of the fall of Leonidas, and
the retreat of the rest of the army, the
Grecian fleet retreated from Artemisium,
and sought the interior seas of Greece.

The Persian army experienced no op-
position in their march through Doris and
Boeotia, which, excepting the cities of
Thespiae and Plataea, had always been
adverse to the confederacy of the Greeks.
Phocis alone, of all the provinces be-
tween Thessaly and the Isthmus, remain-
ed faithful to the cause of the Grecian
independence. Its territories, therefore,
were ravaged without mercy by detach-
ments of the enemy ; while the main
body advanced in a direct course to the
devoted city of Athens. The Pelopon-
nesian troops having resolved to confine
their operations to the defence of the
peninsula, Attica was completely aban-
doned to the whole weight of the invad-
ing host. Athens was filled with alarm,
and all were convinced that their destruc-
tion was inevitable. The oracle at Del-
phi, however, having recently pronounc-
ed, that " the wooden wall" alone would
afford an impregnable refuge to them-
selves and their children, Themistocles,
who had probably himself suggested the
response, persuaded his countrymen that
they were thus directed to embark on
board their fleet. Their families and ef-
fects were in conformity to his advice,
immediately transported to Salamis, iEgi-
na, and Trsezene ; and all the males who
were able to bear arms repaired to the
ships. A few of the poorer citizens, who
were unable to bear the expense of a re-
moval, and some others, who conceived
the answer of the oracle to point out
their citadel, which is built of wood, as
the place of safety, refused to abandon
the city. The Persian army, advancing
from Thebes, burned the forsaken cities
of Thespiae and Plataja ; and experien-
ced no resistance till they reached the
citadel of Athens, which was immediate-
ly invested ; and, being taken by assault,
all within its gates were put to the sword.
The commanders of the Grecian fleet,
which was now assembled in the bay of
Salamis, alarmed by the intelligence of
the fall of Athens, had resolved in a
council of war to retreat without delay,

GREECE.

415

when Themistocles, addressing Eurybi-
atles the Lacedemonian, who had the
chief command, threatened, if such a re-
solution were adopted, to withdraw the
whole of the Athenian ships, which com-
posed nearly one-half of the allied fleet,
and either to make peace with the ene-
my, or seek some distant settlement for
his deserted people. His advice prevail-
ed, and it was determined to await the
approach of the enemy in the straits of
Salamis. This Athenian chief, however,
still fearful lest some of the squadrons
should depart, is said to have accelerated
the approach of the Persians, by causing
their monarch to be privately informed,
that the Greeks were planning a retreat,
and that he would thus lose the most fa-
vorable opportunity of destroying their
whole navy at one blow. His stratagem
was attended with entire success. The
Persian fleet hastened to make a general
attack ; while their army lined the adja-
cent shores, and their monarch himself
was seated upon an eminence to view the
approaching battle. His fleet amounted
to 1200 galleys, and that of the confede-
rated Greeks to 300 ; but the narrow
strait prevented the numerous ships of
the Persians from being regularly brought
into action, and the crowded situation
rendered it impossible for the Phenician
squadron to avail themselves of the su-
perior swiftness of their galleys, and skill
of their seamen. The very zeal of the
Persian commanders to distinguish them-
selves in the presence of their monarch,
tended to increase the confusion. The
resolute and persevering attacks of the
Greeks, aided by the united talents of
Themistocles and Aristides, allowed not
a moment's respite to the enemy to re-
store order, or recover from alarm. The
confusion soon became so general, that
even flight was impracticable, and the sea
itself (according to the description of the
scene by the poet ^schylus, who fought
on board the Athenian fleet) became
scarcely visible from the quantity of
wreck and corpses floating on its surface.
Forty Grecian galleys are said to have
been sunk or destroyed ; but most of the
crews saved themselves on board of the
other ships, or on the neighboring shore
of Salamis. But the Persians had no

refuge ; and their defeat was attended
with immense loss. Still the remains of
their fleet were so large, that the princi-
pal port of Attica could not admit half
its numbers ; and the Greeks were ex-
pecting a renewal of the action on the
following day. But the Persian com-
manders appear to have concerted no
measures on the supposition of a retreat ;
and a hasty order during the night, di-
rected the whole fleet to steer immedi-
ately for the Hellespont. The army,
thus destitute of the supplies derived
from the ships, and unprovided with suf-
ficient magazines on land, fell back upon
the friendly province of Boeotia, and
speedily retreated into Thessaly. Three
hundred thousand men were chosen to
remain, under the command of Mardoni-
us, to complete the conquest of Greece
in the following summer. Of this num-
ber, 60,000 of the best troops were se-
lected as a royal guard, to accompany
their monarch as far as the Hellespont,
on his return to Persia. The rest of the
immense multitude which he had led into
Greece, left to their own resources, suf-
fered beyond description, from the haste
of their march, and the want of maga-
zines. They subsisted by rapine from
friends as well as foes ; and were reduc-
ed at last to eat the very grass from the
ground, and the bark from the trees. —
Disease destroyed, whom famine had
spared ; and the towns of Thessaly, Ma-
cedonia, and Thrace, were crowded with
the sick and the dying. Upon reaching
the Hellespont, the bridges were found
to have been destroyed by the violence
of the current and the storms ; but the
fleet had arrived to transport the wretch-
ed remains of the Persian host ; and its
discomfited monarch proceeded to Sar-
dis, not indeed entirely unattended, as
some of the Greek historians relate, but
with such a diminished retinue as might
almost be called nothing, when compared
with the incalculable numbers who for-
merly surrounded his person, and obeyed
his command.

Early in the following spring, the Per-
sian fleet assembled at Samos ; and Mar-
donius, having attempted without success,
to detach the Athenians from the Gre-
cian confederacy, compelled them again

416

GREECE.

hastily to abandon their country ; and,
without opposition, regained possession
of Athens. The Athenian people, under
the protection of their fleet, withdrew to
Salamis ; and there, though deprived of
their country, and disappointed of the
timely assistance which they ought to
have received from the Peloponnesian
states, still rejected, with the most en-
thusiastic magnanimity, all the concilia-
tory proposals of Persia. The Lacede-
monians, who were at the head of the
allies, at length ashamed of their ungene-
rous and dastardly delays, despatched an
army of 5,000 Spartans and 35,000 He-
lots, under the command of Pausanias.
These were joined at the isthmus by the
other Peloponnesian troops, and by the
Athenian army under Aristides. Mardo-
nius, secretly apprized of their march,
gave up the city of Athens and its sur-
rounding territories, to be pillaged by his
troops, and fell back upon his magazines
in Boeotia, where he extended his camp
along the course of the Asopus to the
frontiers of Platsea.

The confederated Greeks, animated
by the propitious omens which had been
indicated at their solemn sacrifices, ad-
vanced with confidence to meet the Per-
sians, and pitched their camp at the foot
of Mount Cithasron, on the opposite side
of the river Asopus, composing a force of
110,000 men. Mardonius, who appears
from the account given by Herodotus, to
have been deficient neither in courage
or policy, anxious to draw the Greeks
from their advantageous position, harass-
ed them greatly with incessant charges
by his cavalry ; and more than ten days
were spent in various evolutions, on both
sides, to gain the superiority of the
ground, and to induce each other to com-
mence the attack. In one of these move-
ments, the greater part of the Grecian
troops, excepting only the Tegeans, La-
cedemonians, and Athenians, actually
fled to the walls of Plataea ; and the Per-
sian commander, imagining the retreat to
be general, hastily advanced with his
infantry as to certain victory. A fierce
engagement ensued, in which the Persian
soldiers, though insufficiently armed for
close fight, and unequal to the Greeks in
the practice of war, discovered no inferi-

ority in point of courage and enterprise ;
and were often seen, in their vigorous
assaults, seizing and breaking with their
hands the long spears of their opponents.
Multitudes perished in these vain at-
tempts to penetrate the Spartan phalanx.
Their efforts, after repeated failures, be-
gan to relax. The Greeks advanced in
their turn; and confusion soon became
general among the Persian infantry. —
Their commander Mardonius, while lead-
ing on a chosen body of cavalry to sup-
port his broken troops, received a mortal '
wound ; and his fall was the signal for
flight to the whole Persian army. Arta-
bazus, next in command, who is said to
have dissented from his general in the
conduct of the battle, as soon as he was
assured of the rout of the main body,
retreated with 40,000 men towards Pho-
cis ; but the Persian and Ba30tian cavalry
still kept the field, and afforded consid-
erable protection to the flying infantry.
The Lacedemonians and Athenians, how-
ever, having succeeded in carrying the
Persian camp by assault, a dreadful
slaughter ensued ; and excepting the
detachment which had escaped under
Artabazus, only 3,000 finally survived of
200,000 Asiatics, who composed the rest
of the army of Mardonius. In the mean
time, the Grecian fleet, which had re-
mained during the summer inactive at
Delos, was encouraged, by a private as-
surance of the favorable disposition of
the lonians, to attack the Persian fleet
at Samos. The Persian admiral, having
suffered the Phenician squadron to de-
part, in the idea that the season was too
far advanced for naval operations, as soon
as he received intelligence of the ap-
proach of the Greeks, hastily sailed from
Samos ; and, passing to the opposite
promontory of Mycale, drew his galleys
upon the beach, and prepared to defend
them on shore. The Greeks, resolving
to attack the fortified camp, disembarked
their forces in two divisions, one imder
the command of Xanthippus the Athenian,
and the other led by Leotychides the
Lacedemonian. The former arriving
first at the Persian entrenchments, im-
mediately commenced the assault ; and,
aided by the Greeks in the Persian ser-
vice, had entered the rampart, before the

GREECE.

417

Lacedemonians came up. The other I the greatest benefits from ita effects. —
Asiatics instantly fled from the Athenian | They found their country laid waste, and
assailants ; but the native Persians re- 1 their city in ruins ; but, in consequence
sisted with the utmost bravery, till the chiefly of their naval superiority, and a
arrival of the Lacedemonians, when they succession of great commanders, they
were completely overpowered, and al- : rapidly attained that supremacy in
most entirely cut to pieces. The victo- Greece, which the Lacedemonians had
rious Greeks, after carrying off the most hitherto enjoyed ; and by the able conduct
valuable part of the spoil, set fire to the | of Cimon, the most distinguished of all
camp, and consumed the whole of the their leaders, soon reached the summit of
Persian fleet on the very same day that their political influence and military
their army was annihilated at Plataea. — power. The Lacedemonians had not
This successful resistance of Greece to j been inattentive observers or inactive
the Persian invasion holds out an en- opponents of the growing consequence

couragmg example to all free states, to
maintain their independence against any
power, however formidable ; and clearly
shows, that an obstinate determination
never to submit, accompanied with wise
counsels and steady discipline, will rarely
fail of ultimate success. The Persian
war, indeed, was not yet terminated. —
The Greeks, in their turn, became the
assailants and invaders. They prepared
to protect the lonians, who had thrown
off the Persian yoke, and jiarticularly to
restore freedom to those Grecian cities
in which the Persians had left garrisons.
Under the Spartan general Pausanias,
but especially under Cimon the Athenian,
they carried their victorious arms to
Byzantium, to the island of Cyprus, and
even into Egypt. By a double victory
gained on the river Eurymedon, under

of the rival state ; but, usually slow in
their counsels, (and weakened by an
earthquake which had laid their capital
in ruins, and by a consequent insurrection
of the Helots, which reduced them to
the necessity of requiring aid from their
neighbors,) had long evaded an open
rupture with the Athenian republic. The
latter people, however, accustomed to
war, elated with success, swayed by a
turbulent democracy, and unable longer
to disguise their ambitious designs upon
the liberties of Greece, not satisfied with
repeated interferences and aggressions
against the ancient allies of Lacedemon,
proceeded at length to make a direct and
unjustifiable attack upon its armies, while
returning from the protection of Doris,
against the inroads of the Phocians. —
Aided by the Argians and Thessalians,

the last mentioned commander, both over they met the Lacedemonians and their
the fleet and army of Persia on the same i Peloponnesian allies at Tanagrain Boeo-
day, its naval strength was so broken, tia. After a severe action of two days,
and its land forces so disheartened, that i and great slaughter on both sides, the
offensive operations against Greece were | Athenians were compelled to retreat, and
totally intermitted ; and it became the , the Spartans pursued their march with-
boastof the Grecian states, that no armed out farther obstruction,
ship of Persia was to be seen westward In the view, however, of raising a
of the Chelidonian islands, or the en- state without the peninsula, to balance
trance of the Euxine, and that no Persian the power and curb the ambition of
troops dared to show themselves within I Athens, they formed a close aUiance
a day's journey of the Grecian seas. But with the Thebans, and willingly seconded
the ambitious views and political jealous- their attempt to recover that supremacy

ies which arose among the confederated
states of Greece, during the prosecution
of these successful operations, prepared
greater evils for their country than all
that they had endured, while struggling
under the pressure of the Persian hosts.
The Athenians, though apparently the
greatest sufferers by the invasion, deriyed
53

in Bceotia, which they had been accus-
tomed to claim before the event of the
Persian war. But the Athenians under
Myronides speedily regained the influ-
ence which they had lost by their defeat
at Tanagra ; and all Bceotia, with the
exception of Thebes, was broug:ht either
into their alliance, or under their domin-

418

GREECE.

ion. Burdened at length by the variety
of their military operations, and even by
the extent of their conquests, they were
disposed to enter into negotiations with
their Peloponnesian adversaries ; and by
the good offices of Cimon, whom they
recalled from exile, and who had always
been greatly esteemed at Lacedemon, a
truce of five years was concluded between
the rival powers. But after the death of
that distinguished commander, who had
uniformerly exerted himself to divert the
military spirit of the Greeks from internal
wars, hostilities were again renewed. —
The Athenians, however, being hard
pressed, and even invaded by the Pelo-
ponnesian confederates, as well as en-
cumbered by the numerous islands and
colonies subject to their empire, a second
time sought an accommodation ; and a
truce was concluded for the space of thir-
ty years, upon terms by no means advan-
tageous to their influence. But the con-
stitution of Greece, composed of so many
small and independent states, was unfa-
vorable to a long continuance of general
tranquillity. Its governments were so
distinct, that no common authority could
prevent the occurrence of partial wars ;
and yet so connected, that war in any
part always endangered the peace of the
whole. This was more especially the
consequence of a practice, which had
become universal among the weaker
states, to provide for their protection by
courting the alliance, or rather acknowl-
edging the dominion, of one of the two
leading republics of Lacedemon or
Athens. These two rival powers also
differed considerably in the political
principles which they respectively fa-
vored, the former being generally the
patroness of aristocracy, and the latter of
democracy. Hence their influence was
extended, according as one or other of
these opposite factions prevailed in the
different states ; or rather, according as
their arms were severally crowned with
success, the party to which they were
friendly gained the ascendency, and suc-
ceeded in bringing the state which it
ruled to the side of Sparta or of Athens.
This constant rivalship, never wholly
dormant, and kept in continual excite-
ment by the frequent quarrels of the

minor commonwealths, at length gave
rise to the long and bloody contest of the
Pelopormesian war. The Athenians,
having assisted the Corcyraeans against
the Corinthians, were formally accused
by the latter people, joined by many
other complainants, of having broken the
truce, and insulted the Peloponnesian
confederacy. An assembly of deputies
from the difl'erent states, of which that
confederacy was composed, having met
at Sparta, a great majority decided for
an immediate recourse to arms ; and
even the historian Thucydides admits,
in the most explicit terms, that a general
sentiment of indignation had been excited
among a large portion of the Grecian
people, by the arbitrary and oppressive
sway of the Athenian republic.

The two hostile confederacies, though
very diff'erently composed, divided be-
tween them very equally the force of the
Greek nation. All the Peloponnesian
states, except the Argians, who remained
neutral, joined the Lacedemonians. In
Northern Greece, the Megarians, Boeo-
tians, Locrians, Phocians, &c, formed a
part of the same alliance ; and external
assistance was expected from the king
of Persia, and the Grecian colonies of
Italy and Sicily. The Athenians had a
few allies, and some of them not very
zealously inclined to their cause. The
principal were the Thessalians, and Acar-
nanians, and the islands of Corcyra, Za-
cinthus, Chios, and Lesbos. But all the
other islands of the iEgean Sea, except
Melos and Thera, and all the wealthy
Grecian cities of Thrace, of the Helles-
pont, and of Asia Minor, were tributary
subjects of Athens, and entirely subject
to its control. The Spartan king Archi-
damus, who had the chief command of
the Peloponnesian forces, amounting to
60,000 men, advanced slowly to the in-
vasion of Attica ; but, before actually
commencing hostilities, he once more
proposed the terms of accommodation,
which the Athenians had formerly reject-
ed. The celebrated Pericles, who had
long directed the councils of Athens, and
who is supposed to have plunged bis
country into war, for the purpose of pro-
longing his personal influence in the
state, easily induced Jiis fellow citizens

GREECE.

419

to refuse all farther negotiation ; but all
his extraordinary talents were necessary
to persuade the Athenian people to adopt
measures of defence, to which they were
reduced by the power of their enemies.
Abandoning their country to the ravages
of the hostile army, they were compelled
to secure themselves and their effects
within the walls of the metropolis, filling
the temples, the turrets of the ramparts,
the tombs even, and the lowest hovels,
with their wives and children. Pericles,
reproached and threatened as the princi-
pal author of their calamities, and vehe-
mently urged to meet the invaders in the
field, directed all his attention to the de-
fence of the city and preservation of good
order. The Lacedemonians and their
allies, having exhausted the means of
subsistence, and loaded themselves with
plunder, returned to Peloponnesus, and
dispersed to their respective cities.

The Athenian fleet, in the mean time,
ravaged the coasts of Peloponnesus, tak-
ing, in its return, the island of ^Egina ;
and, towards the end of autumn, Pericles,
with the whole of the land forces, laid
waste the neighboring territory of Me-
gara. At the commencement of the se-
cond summer, the confederates under
Archidamus again entered and ravaged
the country of Attica ; while a more
dreadful scourge, a pestilential fever, re-
sembling the modern disease of the
plague, raged in the crowded streets of
the city. The war, however, was not
arrested by this awful calamity ; and, for
several years, was regularly conducted
in the same manner. The Peloponnesian
states were so superior in land forces,
that they annually invaded the territories
of the Athenians, who could not risk a
general action without exposing them-
selves to certain ruhi ; yet the confede-
rates were, on the other hand, so igno-
rant of the art of attacking fortified places,
that they could make no impression upon
a city like Athens, defended by 30,000
men, and supplied by a powerful fleet.
The war thus continued to rage, for
many years, with nearly the same suc-
cess, and equal losses on both sides. It
consisted in a succession of partial en-
gagements, hasty excursions, and distant
sieges, which never afliected the main

object in view, or brought the contest one
step nearer to a conclusion. Partaking
also in a great degree of the nature of a
civil war, it was carried on with a spirit
of ferocity rarely exemplified among civ-
ilized nations ; and, through the time of
its continuance, the very age of Socrates
himself, was an era, at least in the history
of Athens, characterized by the high per-
fection to which arts and sciences, philo-
sophy and refinement, had been brought ;
yet, in no period of Grecian history, were
more atrocious barbarities committed.
Every transaction has been minutely re-
corded by the Athenian historians, Thu-
cydides and Xenophon, who were con-
temporary with most of the events which
they describe ; and our account must be
greatly compressed, not from the scarcity,
but from the abundance of materials.

The league, headed by the Athenians,
was almost entirely under their command;
while that of Peleponnesus, being com-
posed of independent states, was continu-
ally changing in its component parts,
and liable every instant to be utterly dis-
solved. Had the Athenian people there-
fore steadily adhered to the plan of Peri-
cles, and, renouncing every idea of con-
quest, confined themselves to a defensive
war by land, and offensive operations by
sea, they might ultimately have triumphed
over their numerous opponents ; and, at
least, have inflicted more serious injuries
than they could have received. From
the excessive diversity and disproportion
of the forces engaged in the contest, the
one overrunning the land, and the other
scouring the seas and coasts, the war
was inevitably spun out to an indefinite
length ; and often were both parties,
wearied of their accumulated sufferings,
desirous of peace ; but proposals for ne-
gotiation were as often prevented by the
vain ambition of Cleon, who had suc-
ceeded, at the death of Pericles, to the
direction of the Athenian councils, and
by the warlike spirit of Brasides, the
bravest of the Spartan leaders.

After their death, a truce was concluded
for the space of fifty years ; and every
thing was restored to the same situation
in which it had stood at the commence-
ment of hostilities ; but mutual hatred,
and boundless ambition, had acquired

420

GREECE.

such hold of the minds of the principal
men on all sides, that the appearance of
concord was of short duration. New
leagues and new dissensions arose, which
led to reciprocal recriminations and par-
tial hostilities ; but it was not till the ex-
piration of nearly seven years, that they
again came to an open rupture. Athens
was the aggressor, and the ambition of
Alcibiades was the sole cause of the
renewal of hostilities. This celebrated
character, with all his accomplishments
and talents, was guided by principles so
inveterately vicious, that he alone may
be charged with having accelerated the
ruin of the Athenian state, and completed
the corruption of its citizens. He per-
suaded the people, without any other rea-
son, except that the city Egesta in Sicily
had solicited the assistance of the Athe-
nians, to undertake the conquest of that
island ; but scarcely had the expedition
in which he was appointed a commander,
commenced its operations, when he was
recalled to stand his trial upon a charge
of impiety. Aware of the caprices of
his countrymen, he took refuge in Pelo-
ponnesus; and, enraged by the sentences
pronounced against him in his absence,
he instigated the Lacedemonians to as-
sist the Syracusans, and to attack the
Athenians, while their army was engaged
in the remote and romantic enterprise
whichhimself had planned. The Sicilian
expedition terminated in the most disas-
trous manner ; and almost the whole of
the Athenian army was destroyed or taken
captive. The Lacedemonians, support-
ed by a powerful confederacy, and assist-
ed even by the Persian viceroys, invaded
Attica, blockaded the city of Athens, and
would speedily have terminated the war
by its reduction ; but Alcibiades, having
been expelled from Sparta on account of
his licentious practices, exerted himself
to detach their Persian allies, and to re-
trieve the falling hopes of his country.
Recalled by the army, and raised to the
chief command by the unanimous voice
of the people, he recovered many of the
lost colonies, defeated the fleet of the
confederates, and so alarmed the Lacede-
monians, that they were ready to have
treated for peace ; but the Athenians,
intoxicated with success, prolonged the

war, and, insensible to their interest,
again threw away the instrument of their
victories. Their fleet having sustained a
trifling loss while Alcibiades was absent,
and employed in levying contributions in
Ionia, for the support of his forces, he
was instantly disgraced by the fickle
voice of the populace, and the power of
Peloponnesus again acquired the ascen-
dancy. The confederates, taught by ex-
perience, had exerted themselves to in-
crease the number of their ships, and had
at length succeeded in attaining also a
portion of that maritime skill, which had
hitherto given to the Athenians so deci-
ded a superiority by sea. The Athenian
navy, however, trusting to their long ac-
knowledged eminence, and elated by a
victory which they had gained over the
Spartan fleet at Arginusa, near Lesbos,
despised their enemies and neglected all
ordinary precautions, with unexampled
imprudence. Lysander, the ablest of the
Lacedemonian generals, having succeed-
ed to the command of the allied fleet, and
taken the city of Lampsacus upon the
coast of the Hellespont, resolved to avail
himself of that self-confidence which
guided the councils of the Athenian cap-
tains. In order to increase their insolent
security, he repeatedly declined battle,
which they daily off'ered him, but kept
his own crew prepared for action at a
moment's warning. Having learned that
they regularly drew their fleet ashore on
the open beach at Aigospotami, on the
opposite coast, not more than two miles
from his own station, and then suflered
the soldiers and crews to disperse over
the adjoining country in quest of lodgings
and provisions, he easily found means
to surprise them in this unguarded con-
dition, made himself master of their
whole fleet except nine galleys, and took
prisoners the greater part of their forces,
by which it had been manned. A striking
instance now occurred of that savage
barbarity, with which the diff'erent pow-
ers in the Peloponnesian war were gen-
erally chargeable. The Athenians had
resolved, in their assurance of victory, to
cut ofl" the right hand of every prisoner
whom they should capture ; and this in-
tended cruelty, with many similar acts
which they had perpetrated, was imme-

GREECE.

421

diately requited by a general massacre
of the captives at Aigospotami. Lysan-
der, with his own hand, cut down their
general Philocles, after reproaching him
with having first set the example among
the Greeks of such violations of the laws
of war ; and, upon this signal, about 3,000
Athenian citizens were butchered in cold
blood by the allied troops. The Lace-
demonian commander, now completely
master of the seas, speedily reduced the
principal colonies and dependencies of
Athens ; and then hastened, with a fleet
of 200 galleys, to blockade the port of
that devoted city, while the land forces
of the confederates at the same time sur-
rounded its walls. No assault was at-
tempted, and its reduction was left en-
tirely to the sure operation of famine.
The haughty and turbulent citizens dis-
covered not even the courage of despair
in their defence ; but were solely anxious
to avert the sentence of utter extermina-
tion, with which they were threatened by
some of the allied states.

The Lacedemonians, however, proba-
bly as much from policy as generosity,
secured for them more favorable terms,
and saved their persons from servitude
and slaughter. But it was determined,
as a measure absolutely necessary to the
safety and repose of Greece, that their
tyrannical spirit should be eflectually
humbled, and their power as a state en-
tirely broken. They were spared upon
the following conditions ; that all their
ships of war should be surrendered, ex-
cept twelve ; that the long walls and the
fortifications of Peirseus should be des-
troyed ; that all exiles and fugitives should
be restored to the rights of the city ; that
the Athenians should hold always as
friends or enemies those states, who
were the allies or the adversaries of La-
cedemon ; and should be ready to attend
the Spartan power, by sea or land, as they
might receive orders. These terms being
accepted, the Spartan fleet entered the
Peiraeus, and the army took possession of
the walls. The fortifications, which had
been condemned, were instantly thrown
down, to the sound of military music, and
their demolition celebrated with triumph
as an era of recovered freedom to Greece.
The popular assembly was abolished ;

the government changed from democracy
to oligarchy ; and thirty magistrates were
appointed to form the new administration
of the commonwealth. Such was the
termination of the Peloponnesian war,
in its twenty-seventh year ; and Lacede-
mon, now in alliance with Persia, having
again become the leadingpower in Greece,
the aristocratical interest reigned para-
mount in almost every Grecian state.

Sparta, having recovered her influence
in Greece, acted not less tyrannically
than on former occasions ; and, under
the ambitious projects of Lysander, be-
came daily more corrupted in her princi-
ples of policy. The thirty magistrates,
who had been placed at the head of the
Athenian state, were supported by as-
sistance from Lacedemon, in the most
atrocious acts of cruelty and injustice ;
and the other Grecian cities were pro-
hibited even to afford a refuge to the un-
happy Athenians, who fled from their
oppressors. Not contented with cutting
off their political adversaries, the thirty
tyrants, under the direction of Critias, pro-
ceeded to murder upon frivolous pretences,
all persons whose riches they wished to
seize ; and the slightest murmur against
their oppressions was punished with im-
prisonment, exile, or death. In the space
of eight months, fifteen hundred citizens
were sacrificed to their avarice or ven-
geance ; and Xenophon goes so far as
to afhrra, that their short reign was more
destructive to Athens, than the preceding
war of thirty years. At length, however,
Thrasybulus, at the head of his exiled
countrymen, drove the tyrants from their
seat of abused power, and restored the
ancient democratical form of government
at Athens. By his wise moderation the
spirit of retaliation was restrained, a gen-
eral amnesty proclaimed, and tranquillity
restored to the Athenian state. But what-
ever was the form, tyranny was too gene-
rally the spirit of the Grecian governments,
and especially of the pure democracy at
Athens. Equally unjust and cruel as the
most lawless despots, they were often
much more inconsistent with themselves,
and fickle in their proceedings. While
they allowed their poets, for their amuse-
ment, to ridicule the gods upon the stage,
they punished their sages, who endea-

422

GREECE.

vored, for their instruction, to introduce
worthier sentiments of religion. By their
sentence, the celebrated Socrates, (whom
even the thirty tyrants had spared, though
he often opposed their measures,) was
iniquitously put to death.

The Greeks were again involved in a
contest with Persia, by the attempt of
Cyrus the younger to dethrone his brother
Artaxerxes. That ambitious prince be-
ing governor of Asia Minor, and friendly
to the Spartans, persuaded them to join
his standard with 13,000 Grecian troops ;
but, excepting their leader Clearchus,
they are said to have been entirely ig-
norant of his views upon the Persian
crown. The celebrated retreat of the
remains of this army, after the death
of Cyrus, generally called the retreat of
the ten thousand, is considered as one of
the most extraordinary exploits recorded
in the annals of the military art ; and by
proving the weakness of Persia, is sup-
posed to have had considerable influence
in promoting the Macedonian invasion,
and conquest of that extensive but feeble
empire. It had the more immediate eff"ect
of encouraging an expedition, under Ages-
ilaus, king of Sparta, to recover the liberty
of the Grecian colonies in Asia. Assist-
ed by 30 captains, with Lysander at their
head, he fdled all Asia with a dread of
his arms ; and was preparing to carry the
war into the heart of the empire, when
he was suddenly recalled for the protec-
tion of his own country. The Persian
monarchs had discovered a more easy
and effectual defence against Grecian
valor than their most numerous armies
had been able to provide ; and, by a sea-
sonable distribution of bribes among the
leading men of the different states, suc-
ceeded in turning the arms of these war-
like republics against one another. The
Thebans were first gained to their inter-
ests, who easily succeeded in persuading
the Athenians. Even Argos and Corinth,
two Peloponnesian states, joined the con-
federacy, to which were added Acarna-
nia, Ambracia, Leucadia, Eubcea, part of
Thessaly, and Chalcidice in Thrace. —
The haughty tyranny of Lacedemon fur-
nished sufficiently ostensible reasons for
the union ; and Persian gold readily sup-
plied the arguments which were wanting.

The confederates sustained a severe
check in the vicinity of Corinth, and
were afterwards defeated by Agesilaus
at Coroneia, with great loss on both sides ;
but Phamabazus, assisted by the Athe-
nian commander Conon, having defeated
the Lacedemonian fleet, completely de-
stroyed their influence in Asiatic Greece.
They proceeded even to ravage the coasts
of Laconia ; and, assisting the Athenians
to rebuild their long walls, which con-
nected the Peirajus with the city, again
laid the foundation of their naval power.
After various vicissitudes and intrigues, all
parties became tired of war, and disposed
to peace. The Lacedemonians, though
still superior in the field, yet destitute of
the aid which they had formerly derived
from the Persian treasury, were straitened
in their pecuniary resources ; and Phar-
nabazus, the friend of Athens, having been
succeeded in Lydia by Teribazus, the
new Satrap, became favorable to the in-
terests of Sparta. By the able negotia-
tions of Antalcidas, the Lacedemonian,
the Persian monarch was brought in as
mediator, or rather dictator, for a general
pacification among the states of Greece,
of which the conditions were simply
these; "that all cities on the continent of
Asia, together with the islands of Clazo-
mene and Cyprus, should belong to the
Persian empire ; and that all other Gre-
cian cities, small and great, should be
completely independent, except that the
islands of Lemnos, Imbros, and Sciros,
should remain as formerly under the do-
minion of Athens." Against all who
should refuse these terms, the court of
Persia declared itself ready to unite with
those who accepted them, and to render
every assistance by land and sea, to re-
duce the refractory. The weaker states
were well pleased to be secured in their
independence. The Athenians were gra-
tified by the exception in their favor.
The Thebans, anxious to preserve their
authority over the smaller towns of Bceo-
tia, wished to stipulate for that superior-
ity ; but were compelled to concur in the
terms. And the Lacedemonians, while
they lost nothing by abandoning the
Asiatic Greeks, whom they had already
been obliged to desert, gained the great
object of the war, — the separation of the

GREECE.

423

states which had combined against them,
and the emancipation, especially, of the
Bosotians from the growing power of
Thebes. They soon showed that they
accounted themselves to have established
their supremacy, and were the first to
disturb the general tranquillity. They de-
molished the fortifications of Mantinaea,
as a punishment for the disaffection of its
citizens to the Lacedemonian interests,
during the preceding wars. They march-
ed against Olynthus, a Grecian city of
Thrace, because, by associating the
smaller towns in its vicinity under one
government, it was considered as in-
fringing the conditions of the late treaty;
though its only offence was the increase
of its strength by a wise and liberal poli-
cy, which ought to have been emulated,
rather than opposed by the other Greeks.
They interfered also, in the most unjus-
tifiable manner, in the political contests
which agitated the Theban state ; and,
by this rash measure, gave rise to a long
and complicated struggle, which ended
only with the general overthrow of Gre-
cian independence. Their general Phae-
bidas, returning from an expedition against
the Olynthians, was persuaded to join the
leader of the aristocratical party in
Thebes, and to occupy the citadel with a
Lacedemonian garrison. This unauthor-
ized step, though at first disapproved by
the government of Sparta, was finally
sanctioned, by their retaining possession
of the fortress thus treacherously seized,
and by their bringing to trial and pun-
ishment the chief of the adverse fac-
tion, as if they had been the constituted
judges of Thebes. For the space of
four years, they succeeded in holding
the Thebans under the most humiliating
subjection ; but suddenly the Theban
exiles, with the assistance of the Athe-
nians, by one of the boldest and best
conducted exploits recorded in history,
recovered possession of their power in
the city, and compelled the Lacedemo-
nians to evacuate the citadel.

With difficulty the Thebans at first
withstood the armies of Sparta, by act-
ing on the defensive ; but gradually im-
proving in military skill, they learned to
face in the field, and to combat, even with
inferior numbers, the experienced troops

of their powerful adversary. Under the
able direction of Epaminondas and Pelo-
pidas, they ventured, though then without
an ally, to persevere in the unequal con-
test; and, in the famous battle of Leuc-
tra, the bloodiest action hitherto known
in Greece, these distinguished command-
ers, by their skilful dispositions, and the
enthusiastic courage with which they in-
spired their troops, defeated an army
nearly four times the number of their
own. Never had the Lacedemonians,
before that day, retreated from an inferior
force, or lost in any one engagement so
many of their citizens. Another of their
boasts, "that never had the women of
Sparta beheld the smoke of an enemy's
camp," was now also done away.

The victorious Thebans, headed by
Epaminondas, and joined by many of the
Grecian states, ravaged the Lacedemo-
nian territories to the very suburbs of the
capital ; and on their return reinstated
the Messenians, whom the Spartans had
driven from their country. The Lacede-
monians, alarmed not merely for their
supremacy but their safety, secured as-
sistance from Athens, from Syracuse,
and even from Persia, while the The-
bans were hard pressed by a war in Thes-
saly, against Alexander, tyrant of Pherae.
Pelopidas, however, having been des-
patched to the Persian court, succeeded
in recommending himself to the esteem
of the monarch, and in turning his friend-
ship to a state which had never been at
war with Persia. Thebes, intoxicated
with her rising power, which she owed
chiefly to the abilities of her leaders, ob-
stinate in maintaining her authority over
the cities of Boeotia, which was perhaps
necessary for her resistance to Lacede-
mon, and aiming to become the arbitress
of Greece, which her sudden elevation
provoked many of the states to regard as
unpardonable presumption, may be con-
sidered as at this period the cause of the
continuation of hostilities among the
Greeks. Sparta, however, was equally
obstinate in refusing to acknowledge the
independence of the Messenians, and war
was prolonged for some time with little
effect, chiefly between the confederates
of the two principal powers. The The-
bans, having at length terminated the war

424

GREECE.

with Thessaly, with the loss of their able
general Pelopidas, were at liberty to take
part more effectually in the transactions
of Peloponnesus.

A civil war having broken out in Ar-
cadia between the cities of Mantinaea and
Tegea, the Thebans supported the cause
of the latter, while the Athenians and
Lacedemonians declared for the former.
The very existence of Sparta was threat-
ened by the bold and enterprising mea-
sures of Epaminondas, who had nearly
taken the city by surprise ; but, frustrated
in his plan by the activity of Agesilaus,
he returned and gave battle to the Lace-
demonians and their allies at Mantinsea,
where he was mortally wounded in the
moment of victory, and where with him
the power of the Theban state expired.
A general pacification succeeded, upon
the basis of the former treaties prescribed
by Persia, that every city should be in-
dependent ; but the Lacedemonians still
persisting in their wish to reduce the
emancipated Messenians, were excluded
from the treaty, and remained nominally
at war with the confederates of Thebes.
Exasperated by the friendly dispositions
which the Persian court had manifested
to the Thebans, and perhaps expecting
to acquire some pecuniary resources for
the recovery of their power in Greece,
they sent an army to aid the insurgents
in Egypt. After the death of Agesilaus,
on his return from Africa, little occurs in
the history of Greece deserving of notice,
till the appearance of Philip of Macedon.
A great change had taken place in Gre-
cian poUtics. There was now no lead-
ing state, either of the aristocratical or
democratical interests; and, though every
city exercised a jealous watchfulness to
prevent any overbearing superiority in
another, there were no extensive confed-
eracies or hostilities; but lassitude, in-
decision, and divisions, pervaded the
nation, and paved the way for the uni-
versal subjugation of their liberties by the
Macedonian monarchy.

In consequence of the blow given to
the Spartan power in the battle of Man-
tinaea, and the decline of Thebes after the
loss of Epaminondas, Athens remained
the most prominent and respected of the
Grecian republics. In want, however, of

any salutary check from a powerful rival,
its government became extravagant and
irregular in the most extraordinary de-
gree ; the inconsiderate voice of the mul-
titude deciding every measure, frequently
ratifying at night what they had rejected
in the morning, and ready to follow every
varying scheme of every flattering orator.
The citizens also, sinking into unbounded
luxury, declined all military service, and
resorting to the aid of mercenaries, en-
gaged in hostilities chiefly for the pur-
pose of collecting plunder, or of extort-
ing tribute. Every marauding expedition
was approved, provided the leaders
brought home a sufliciency of treasure
to provide amusements for the people,
and to bribe the orators to silence. The
official men, in short, inadequately re-
warded by their regular salaries, learned,
as is almost uniformly the case, to re-
compense themselves ; and the people,
either becoming necessitous by their idle
attendance on political matters, or injudi-
ciously supported by the public funds as
an encouragement to population, actually
depended for their subsistence upon the
sacrifices, feasts, and spoils, connected
with their military expeditions. While
Athens was in this situation, strangely
feeble in the whole constitution of its
government and population, yet by means
of its naval force still the principal repub-
lic in Greece, a rival to its power arose
in a quarter, which had hitherto attracted
little attention, and had even been regard-
ed by the Grecian states as undeserving
of their notice. Though the kings of
Macedonia pretended to be the descend-
ants of Hercules, the Greeks considered
them as no part of their nation, but always
treated them as barbarians. This king-
dom had existed more than four hundred
years, but had generally stood in need of
protection from Athens or from Sparta ;
and had never risen to a capacity of par-
taking in the eminence of these republics.
But it now furnished an example, similar
to that of Thebes, of the power of one
distinguished individual to accomplish,
in favorable circumstances, the most im-
portant revolutions. It was in Thebes,
indeed, that the new leader of the Mace-
donians had received his best instructions
in the arts of pohcy and war. Philip

GREECE.

425

had been taken to that city as a hostage
when he was only ten years of age, and
had been carefully educated under the
eye of Epaminondas, assisted by the cel-
ebrated Pythagorean philosopher Lysis.
At twenty-four years of age he ascended
the throne of Macedon, and gave early
indication of his talents for government.
At the period of his accession, he found
himself at war with the Athenians, who
supported one of his competitors for the
kingdom. Having defeated his adver-
sary, who was slain in the action, he in-
stantly liberated, and loaded with favors,
all the soldiers of Athens whom he had
taken prisoners. Having discovered that
the Athenians were intent upon the re-
covery of Amphipolis, which they claimed
as one of their colonies, but which he
had seized as the key of his dominions
on that frontier, he was equally reluctant
to put it in their power, or to come to a
rupture for which he was not prepared.
With his usual consummate policy, there-
fore, he declared it in the mean time a
free city, and left the inhabitants to main-
tain their own independence.

A peace and alliance were ratified be-
tween the Macedonian prince and the
city of Athens ; but their agreement was
of short duration. A contest speedily
commenced, which led to the subver-
sion of Grecian freedom by the arts and
arms of Philip ; but which owed its ori-
gin as much to the unprincipled aggres-
sions of the Athenian democracy, as to
the ambitious views of the Macedonian
monarch. While in full alliance and co-
operation with Philip against the Olyn-
thians, they suddenly indicated their hos-
tility to his interests, by detaching the
town of Pydna from his kingdom, and
making a direct attempt to possess them-
selves of Amphipolis. Failing in their
design, it was soon after occupied by
Philip, and rendered a strong barrier be-
tween his dominions and those of the
Grecian states. Before this time had com-
menced " the Sacred War," undertaken
by the Boeotians, Locrians, Thessalians,
&c, in order to punish the Phocians,
who had ploughed a field sacred to Apol-
lo at Delphos, and had refused to dis-
charge the fine which the council of the
Amphictyons had sentenced them to pay,
54

as an atonement for the sacrilegious
deed. They were supported by the La-
cedemonians, Athenians, &c, and Philip,
well pleased to leave the Grecian states
to exhaust their strength against each
other, had employed himself in the mean
time in extending his power in Thrace,
and in attaching Thessaly to his inter-
ests, by delivering its cities from the op-
pressive sway of the tyrants of Pherae.
Irritated, however, by the defection of
Olynthus from the Macedonian to the
Athenian alliance, he laid siege to that
city ; and, having gained possession of
the place by bribing a party of its inhab-
itants, he razed its walls, to the ground,
and sold the people for slaves. The
Sacred War, which was still carried on
by both parties with the most sanguinary
retaliations, next aflbrded him a fair op-
portunity of bringing his power into full
contact with the Grecian states. Pro-
fessing to adjust, as arbitrator, the matter
in dispute, promising to the Phocians
his protection against the fury of their
enemies, and soothing the Athenians by
the reports of his friends, that he was
secretly intending to humble Thebes
rather than Phocis, he marched an army
into Greece ; gained quiet possession of
the Phocian cities ; secured to that peo-
ple, as he had promised, their personal
safety ; but procured, or at least sanc-
tioned, a decree of the Amphictyonic As-
sembly, annihilating their political exist-
ence as a nation, and expelling them
from the number of the Grecian states
represented in the council. He was
himself elected in their place as a mem-
ber of the Assembly ; invested with the
double vote which they had enjoyed ;
and usually denominated in their future
operations the Amphyctonic general.
The Athenians refused to acknowledge
his election ; and manifested, in all their
measures, an ambition even more unprin-
cipled and indefensible than that of the
Macedonian monarch. Guided rather
by the inflammatory eloquence of De-
mosthenes, than by the pacific counsels
of Phocion, they plunged at length into
a destructive contest with their powerful
rival and neighbor. A second Sacred
War again drew Philip into the midst of
Greece. The Locrians of Araphissa

426

GREECE.

having encroached upon the consecrated
ground of Delphos, and having refused
to obey the decrees of the Amphictyonic
council, the Macedonian monarch was
invited, as tlreir general, to vindicate
their authority by force of arms. Many
of the Grecian slates were now alarmed,
and not without reason, by the forward-
ness of Philip to interfere in their poli-
tics, and by the reluctance which he
showed to withdraw his army, after the
punishment of the Amphissians. De-
mosthenes hastened to Thebes, where he
succeeded in rousing the utmost enthusi-
asm for the liberties of Greece, and per-
suaded the Thebans to adopt the imme-
diate resolution of uniting with the Athe-
nians, to resist the dangerous progress of
the Macedonian influence. In vain did
Phocion recommend, and Philip request,
the Athenians to lay aside their measures
for instant hostilities. They excluded
the former from the command of their
army, and marched without delay to join
their Theban allies against the enemy.
The two armies, consisting of about
30,000 on each side, came to a general
engagement at Cheronea. The battle
was long doubtful. Alexander Avho was
only seventeen years of age, at the head
of a chosen body of noble Macedonians,
cut down the Sacred Band of Thebes ;
and the Athenians, for a time successful,
but urging their advantage with impru-
dent impetuosity, were overwhelmed by
the Macedonian phalanx under Philip.
The vanquished Avere treated with a de-
gree of clemency and generosity, of
which there had been few examples in
Grecian warfare. Philip hastened to
stop the slaughter of the flying Greeks,
and dismissed the Athenian prisoners
without ransom, and voluntarily renewed
his former treaty with that republic. To
the Thebans he readily granted peace ;
but stationed a Macedonian garrison in
their citadel. Py this decisive victory,
he secured the most entire ascendency
in Greece ; and, on that side, there was
little farther left for his ambition to desire.
Either, however, with a view to ex-
tend his conquests, or in order to unite
the Greeks more firmly under his power,
he planned the invasion of the Persian
empire, and procured himself to be ap-

pointed generalissimo in the expedition.
No measure could have been conceived
more popular in Greece. A general
council of the states was summoned, and
the quota determined which each of them
was to furnish. Philip exerted himself
with extraordinary activity to complete
his formidable preparations ; and his
whole army, in the most perfect state of
military discipline and equipment, was
in readiness to cross the Hellespont.
But, in the midst of his greatest splen-
dor, while solemnizing, before his de-
parture, the nuptials of his daughter
Cleopatra, surrounded by his guards and
principal officers, and receiving, among
the assembled states of Greece, little
less than divine honors, he was stabbed to
the heart by a desperate assassin.

Upon the accession of Alexander to
the throne of Macedonia, Avhen only
twenty years of age, the different na-
tions whom his father had brought under
his dominion made an attempt to regain
their independence ; and Demosthenes
exerted all his powers of persuasion to
engage the Greeks to unite against the
youthful successor of the formidable
Philip. But Alexander having punished
the Thracians, Illyrians, and other bar-
barians, for their indiscretion, turned,
with the utmost expedition, the whole
weight of his arms upon Greece. The
Thebans, who had massacred the Mace-
donian garrison, which Philip had placed
in their citadel, having refused the offer
of a free pardon made to them by Alex-
ander, upon condition of their surrender-
ing the principal leaders of the insurrec-
tion, were defeated with great slaughter,
their city given up to be pillaged, and the
inhabitants sold as slaves. These dread-
ful acts of severity filled the Athenians
with alarm, and an embassy was instantly
despatched to implore the clemency of
the Macedonian prince. Alexander at
first insisted that ten of their principal
orators should be delivered into his hands ;
but was at length satisfied with the ban-
ishment of Charidemus, and expressed
the highest regard for the republic of
Athens. The other states hastened in
like manner, to make their submission ;
and, in one campaign, the whole nation
of the Greeks acknowledged his supre-

GREECE

427

macy. Having assembled their deputies
at Corinth, and renewed the proposal of
invading the Persian empire, he was ap-
pointed, as his father had been, to the
chief command.

With an army of 30,000 foot, and 5,000
horse, the sum of seventy talents, and
provisions only for a single month, he
crossed the Hellespont, and, in travers-
ing Phrygia, visited the tomb of Achilles.
Darius Codomanus, resolved to crush at
once this inconsiderate youth, met him on
the banks of the Granicus, with 1 00,000
foot, and 10,000 horse. The Greeks
swam the river, their king leading the
van, and attacking the astonished Per-
sians, left 20,000 dead upon the field, and
put to flight their whole army. Drawing
from his first success a presage of con-
tinued victory, Alexander now sent home
his fleet, leaving to his army the sole al-
ternative, that they must subdue Asia or
perish. Prosecuting their course for
some time without resistance, the Greeks
were attacked by the Persians in a nar-
row valley of Cilicia, near the town of
Issus. The Persian host amounted to
400,000 ; but their situation was such
that only a small part could come into
action, and they were defeated with pro-
digious slaughter.

The generosity of Alexander was dis-
played after the battle of Issus, in his at-
tention to his noble prisoners, the mother,
the wife, and family of Darius. To the
credit of Alexander, it must be owned
that humanity, however overpowered, and
at times extinguished by his passions,
certainly formed a part of his natural
character.

The consequence of the battle of Issus
was the submission of all Syria. Da-
mascus, where Darius had deposited his
chief treasures, was betrayed and given
up by its governor. The Phoenicians
were pleased to see themselves thus
avenged for the oppression they had
suffered under the yoke of Persia.

He directed his course towards Tyre
and desired admittance to perform a sa-
crifice to Hercules. The Tyrians shut
their gates, and maintained for seven
months a noble defence. The city was
at length taken by storm ; and the victor
glutted his revenge by the inhuman mas-

sacre of 8,000 of the inhabitants. The
fate of Gaza, gloriously defended by
Baetis, was equally deplorable to its citi-
zens, and more disgraceful to the con-
queror. Ten thousand of the former
were sold into slavery, and its brave de-
fender dragged at the wheels of the vic-
tor's chariot.

The taking of Gaza opened Egypt to
Alexander, and the whole country sub-
mitted without opposition. Amidst the
most incredible fatigues, he now led his
army through the deserts of Lybia, to
visit the temple of his father Jupiter Am-
nion. On his return he built Alexandria,
at the mouth of the Nile, afterwards the
capital of the Lower Egypt, and one of
the most flourishing cities in the world.
Twenty other cities of the same name
were reared by him in the course of his
conquests. It is such works as these
that justly entitle the Macedonian to the
epithet of Great. By rearing in the
midst of deserts those nurseries of pop-
ulation and of industry, he repaired the
waste and havoc of his conquests. But
for those monuments of his glory, he
would have merited no other epithet
than that assigned him by the Brahmins
of India, The Mighty Murderer.

Returning from Egypt, Alexander tra-
versed Assyria, and was met at Arbela by
Darius, at the head of 700,000 men.
The Persian had proffered peace, con-
senting to yield the whole country from
the Euphrates to the Plellespont, to give
Alexander his daughter in marriage, and
the immense sum of 10,000 talents. But
these terms were haughtily rejected, and
peace refused, but upon the unqualified
submission of his enemy. The Persians
were defeated at Arbela, with the loss
of 300,000 men. Darius fled from prov-
ince to province. At length betrayed by
Bessus, one of his own satraps, he was
cruelly murdered ; and the Persian em-
pire, which had substituted for 206 years
from the time of Cyrus the Great, sub-
mitted to the conquerer, 330 B. C.

Alexander now projected the conquest
of India, firmly persuaded that the gods
had decreed him the sovereignty of the
whole habitable globe. He penetrated
to the Ganges, and would have advanced
to the Eastern Ocean, had the spirit of

428

GREECE.

his army kept pace with his ambition.
But his troops, seeing no end to their
toils, refused to proceed. He returned
to the Indus, from whence, sending round
his fleet to the Persian Gulf vmder
Nearchus, he marched his army across
the desert to Persepolis.

Indignant that he had found a limit to
his conquests, he abandoned himself to
every excess of luxury and debauchery.
The arrogance of his nature, and the ar-
dor of his passions, heightened by con-
tinual intemperance, broke out into the
most outrageous excesses of cruelty, for
which, in the few intervals of sober re-
flection, his ingenuous mind suffered the
keenest remorse. From Persepolis he
returned to Babylon, and there died- in a
fit of debauch, in the thirty third year of
his age, and thirteenth of his reig-n,
324 B. C.

Demosthenes once more made a no-
ble attempt to vindicate the national free-
dom, and to rouse his countrymen, the
Athenians, to shake off the yoke of Ma-
cedon. But it was too late. The paci-
fic councils of Phocion suited better the
languid spirit of this once illustrious peo-
ple. After a variety of conflicts and
revolutions, the whole of Greece was re-
duced to the state of a Roman province,
under the name of Achaia.

But Greece, though subject to the Ro-
man arms, soon acquired, by her arts of
peace, a silent superiority over her con-
querors. The victors became the disci-
ples of the vanquished ; and the most
distinguished Romans learned, in the
Grecian schools of philosophy, to regard
the country which they held in subjec-
tion, with the gratitude -and respect due
to a benefactor. These considerations
probably contributed to secure to the in-
habitants of Greece a milder exercise of
authority, and more distinguished marks
of favor, than were enjoyed by any other
province under the yoke of Rome.

After Greece became a Roman prov-
ince, the history of this country has been
more or less mixed and identified with
that of its conquerors. Though the
splendor of Constantinople, during the
time of its prosperity, might have reflect-
ed some lustre upon Greece, yet it gain-
ed scarcely any thing under the various

[emperors who filled the throne, for a
length of time previous to its fall, and
i who were most of them hurled from it
I by the hand of violence. The Latins,
the enemies of the Greek emperors, seiz-
ed on the Morea, and laid it wasteas did
the Sicilians and Normans afterwards.

Towards the end of the seventeenth
century, the Venetians invaded the coun-
try, took Athens, and extended their pow-
er over a great part of the continent and
some of the islands ; but, republicans as
they were, they treated in the most des-
potic manner the serfs of the Morea :
still, as they wished to realize some ad-
vantage from their conquest, they en-
couraged the people to cultivate agricul-
ture, and it is to them that they owe the
numerous plantations of olives, &;c, the
remains of which are still found in vari-
ous parts of the Greek islands. Histori-
ans assure us, they contrived to manage
this country so well, that they realized a
revenue of 300,000 crowns ; and they
rebuilt several ancient fortresses, which
were judged necessary to secure their
dominion in the Archipelago. But Ve-
nice having experienced changes in her
own domains, she consequently lost her
distant possessions ; and, at the begin-
ning of the eighteenth century, the Mo-
rea was wrested from her grasp. The
Turks having again become masters of
the peninstfla, made the inhabitants feel
the weight of their iron sceptre, and im-
posed their karatch, or capitation tax, as
a price at which they consented to spare
the lives of the vanquished. The inter-
ference of christian powers, especially
of Russia, in the year 1770, only tended
to increase the miseries and aggravate
the bondage of the unhappy Greeks. —
Peter the Great had, there is no doubt,
laid the foimdation of a plan for assisting
them, and driving their oppressors out of
Europe ; and the empress Catharine, fol-
lowing the views of her predecessor,
sent a fleet of twenty sail towards the
close of the year 1769, which took pos-
session of several islands, attacked the
Turkish fleet, and finally succeeded in
destroying it. The call to the Greeks
on this occasion to arm themselves, and
shake off the yoke, was instantly obeyed,
and an insurrection took place through-

GREECE.

429

out the Morea, and also in many of the
islands of the Archipelago. The Rus-
sian fleet, however, was recalled, and the
poor Greeks abandoned to their fate. —
The Albanians ravaged the country in
conjunction with the Turks, who carried
off a great multitude of the inhabitants
into slavery.

At the time of the expedition of the
French into Egypt, the Greeks, strongly
incited by the events of the war, which
was thus approaching them, waited for
them as liberators, with the firm resolu-
tion of going to meet them and regaining
their liberty ; but again their hopes were
disappointed, and the succors they ex-
pected from France were removed to a
distance. The brave Rhigas, at once a
poet and a warrior, and the author of the
celebrated national air in imitation of the
Marseillois, which is to this day the war
song of the Greek troops, perished at Bel-
grade by the hands of the oppressors of his
country ; but his blood, and that of other
less celebrated chiefs, only served to in-
crease the national discontent, instead of
discouraging it. Having waited in vain,
in the midst of the great events which,
in several respects, have changed the
whole face of Europe in this century,
the Greeks, taking counsel only of their
despair, and indignant at living always as
Helots in the ruins of Sparta and Athens,
when nations of but yesterday were recov-
ering their rights and recognising their
social relations, rose against their des-
potic masters, perhaps with greater bold-
ness than prudence.

The first decided movement took place
in the year 1800, when the Servians,
provoked by the cruelty of their oppres-
sors the Turks, made a general insurrec-
tion, which was headed by their celebra-
ted chief Czerni George, who had served
as a sergeant in the Austrian service, and
afterwards became a bandit chief. He
was possessed of much energy of charac-
ter and bravery. Under him the Servians
obtained several victories. He blockaded
Belgrade, and one of the gates being sur-
rendered to him, he made his entry into
the city and slaughtered nearly all the
Turks that were found in it. In the
mean time Russia openly declared war
against the Porte in 1807, and carried on

the war until the year 1812, when the
treaty of Bucharest was negotiated ; and
though some efforts were made to obtain
a concession in favor of their Servian al-
lies, yet one difiiculty after another being
stated by the Porte, a peace was at length
concluded, as before, upon such terms as
left the insurgents to their fate.

The Turks and Greeks never became
one nation ; the relation of conquerors
and conquered never ceased. However
abject a large part of the Greeks became
by their continued oppression, they never
forgot that they were a distinct nation ;
and their patriarch at Constantinople re-
mained a visible point of union for their
national feelings. As early as 1809, a
society had been formed at Paris for the
liberation of Greece. In 1814, the He-
taireia was formed in Vienna, but the re-
volution began too early for their plans.
A Walachian, Theodore Wladimiresko,
left Bucharest, January 30th, with sixty
pandoors, and instigated the peasants to
revolt, promising them the protection of
Russia and the restoration of their old
rights. The Arnaouts, who were sent
against him, joined him, and he soon be-
came master of little Walachia, at the
head of 5,000 men. The Greeks in Mol-
davia likewise rose, under prince Alex-
ander Ypsilanti, a major-general in the
Russian service.

The revolution in the Morea began on
the 23rd of March, 1821, at Calavrita,
a small place in Achaia, where eighty
Turks were made prisoners. On the
same day, the Turkish garrison of Patras
fell upon the Greek inhabitants ; but they
were soon relieved. In the ancient La-
conia, Colocotroni and Peter Mavromi-
chalis roused the people to arms. The
archbishop Germanos collected the pea-
sants of Achaia ; and in Patras and oth-
er places the Turks were compelled to
retreat into the fortresses. As early as
April 6th, a Messenian senate assembled
in Calamata ; and the bey of Maina, Pe-
ter Mavromichalis, as commander-in-
chief, proclaimed that the Morea had
shaken off the yoke of Turkey to save
the christian faith, and to restore the an-
cient character of their country. " From
Europe nothing is wanted but money, arms,
and counsel." From that time the suf-

430

GREECE.

fering Greeks found friends in Germany,
France, Switzerland, England, and the
United States of America. The cabinets
of the other European powers, on the con-
trary, threw every impediment in the way
of the Hellenists, until they were finally
obliged against their inclination, to inter-
fere in their favor. Jussuf Selim, pacha
of Lepanto, having received information
of these events from the diplomatic agent
of a European power, hastened to relieve
the citadel of Patras, and the town was
changed into a heap of ruins. The mas-
sacre of the inhabitants was the signal
for a struggle of life and death. Almost
the whole war was thenceforward a suc-
cession of atrocities. It was not a war
prosecuted on any fixed plan, but merely
a series of devastations and murders.
The revolution spread over Attica, Boeo-
tia, Phocis, ^Etolia, and Acarnania. The
ancient names were revived. At the
same time the islands declared them-
selves free. In the beginning of April
the wealthy merchants and ship-owners,
the bold mariners of Hydra, Spezzia, and
Ispara, who had long before been gained
over to the cause of liberty, erected an
independent government in Hydra. They
fitted out their vessels for war, and the
blue and red flag of the Hetaireia soon
waved on nearly two hundred vessels.

While the conduct of the Moreots has
but too often drawn on them the just re-
proach of their compatriots, the former
have gained a name in history, which
be will honored as long as an invincible
love of liberty, and bold and inflexible
courage in an unequal struggle are prized.
The Hydriots cruised in the Turkish wa-
ters, and blockaded the ports. In some isl-
ands the Turks were massacred in revenge
for the murder of the Greeks at Patras ;
and, in retaliation, the Greeks were put
to death at Smyrna, in Asia Minor, and
in those islands which had not yet shak-
en off" the Turkish yoke. The exasper-
ation was raised to the highest pitch by
the cruelties committed against the Greeks
in Constantinople, after the end of March.
On mere suspicion, and often merely to
obtain possession of their property, the
divan caused the richest Greek mer-
chants and bankers to be put to death.
The rage of the Mussulmans was parti-

cularly directed against the Greek cler-
gy. In April, Gregory, the patriarch of
Constantinople, was murdered, with his
bishops, in the metropolis. In Adriano-
ple, the venerable patriarch, Cyrillus,
who had retired to a life of solitude, and
Proesos, archbishop of Adrianople, and
others, met the same fate.

When the first Turkish squadron left
the Dardanelles, May 19th, the Greeks
constantly pursued it with their fire-ships,
avoiding, at the same time, a general en-
gagement ; and, June 8th, they attacked a
vessel of the line, which had got ashore
at Tenedos, burned it, and compelled the
rest of the squadron to put back to the
Dardanelles. June 15th, the Ipsariots
landed on the coast of Asia Minor, and
took possession of the ancient Cydonia,
now the Greek city of Aivali ; but, after
they had retired, the Turks burned the
city, and 35,000 of its inhabitants either
perished or were driven from their homes.
The ill success of their expedition added
fresh fuel to the rage of the Turks. The
Greeks in the island of Candia, who had
avoided all participation in the insurrec-
tion, were disarmed, and their archbish-
op and several clergymen executed. But
the peasants in the mountains, and the
inhabitants of the small island Sphakia,
called the Suliots of Candia, refused to
give up their arms, collected and drove
the Turks back again into the towns.
From that time, the struggle continued,
and the Turks, though supported by sev-
eral thousand men from Egypt, were
never again able to make themselves
masters of the islands. They, however,
maintained themselves in the cities.

On the island of Cyprus, where also
there had been no appearance of an in-
surrection, the Greeks were disarmed in
November, 1821, and almost all the in-
habitants of Larnica, with the archbishop
and other prelates, murdered. The pea-
sants now united for mutual protection ;
as a punishment for which, sixty-two vil-
lages were burned in August, 1822.
Similar atrocities were committed by
the Turks at Scala Nuova, in Rhodes,
and at Pergamos, after the Greeks had
surprised the latter place. In Smyrna,
also, new cruelties were committed ; and
the European consuls did not succeed

GREECE

431

until November, 1821, in inducing the
pacha to put a stop to the enormities of
the Turks. But in the European provin-
ces of Turkey, the cruelties against chris-
tians continued, as the sultan had issued
a new hatti-sheriff, calling upon all Mus-
sulmans to take arms against the Giaours.
This order was not pubhshed in Constan-
tinople, for which the populace, in that
place, revenged themselves by setting
fire to the city, Avhenever news of ill
success exasperated them against the
Greeks.

The great Turkish fleet under the ca-
pudan pacha, Kara Ali, strengthened by
Egyptian, Tunisian and Algerine vessels,
had, indeed, driven away the Greek flo-
tillas, supplied the Turkish garrisons in
the Morea with troops, arms, and provi-
sions, burned the small village of Galax-
idi, in the gulf of Lepanto, and taken some
small Greek fishing craft in the harbor
of this place. Yet the fleet had eflected
nothing decisive. Hardly had it returned
to the Dardanelles, when the Greek fleets
renewed their system of blockade, and
became, as formerly, masters of the
iEgean sea and the gulf of Saloniki.
Meanwhile, Demetrius Ypsilanti had ar-
rived at Hydra, with prince Alexander
Cantacuzeno, with authority from his
brother, Alexander Ypsilanti. In Hydra,
the unfortunate result of the struggle in
Walachia was not yet known. Deme-
trius promised the aid of Russia, and
announced the restoration of the Greek
empire. Yet it was with great difficulty
that he succeeded in being appointed, on
the 24th July, 1821, archistrategos or
commander-in-chief of the Peloponne-
sus, the Archipelago, and all the libera-
ted provinces, and, as such, in being
placed at the head of the Greeks in the
Morea, where the dissensions among the
capitani, and the undisciplined state of
the soldiery, had a most injurious effect.
Soon after, the principal Turkish fortress,
Monembasia, surrendered to prince Can-
tacuzeno, and Navarino to Demetrius
Ypsilanti ; but the rapacious Moreots did
not observe the articles of capitulation.

Demetrius, disgusted at this disorder,
declared his intention to leave Greece,
unless he were invested with power to
put a stop to this licentiousness, which

he received, at least nominally. At the
same time, the senate of Calamata united
with that of Hydra, in order to assemble
a congress of deputies from all Greece,
at Calamata. Whilst Mavrocordato and
others were making these preparations,
Demetrius Ypsilanti was closely besieg-
ing Tripolizza, the chief fortress of the
Turks, situated in the plain of Mantinaea,
in the centre of Greece. The garrison
was on the point of surrendering, when
the appearance of the Turkish fleet, in
the waters of the Peloponnesus, gave
them new courage. But in order to in-
duce the Turkish troops to make an ob-
stinate resistance, from fear of the ven-
geance of the Christians, the Turkish
commanders at Tripolizza ordered eighty
priests and noble Greeks, who had been
brought there, in part, by the treacherous
invitations of the beys, to be all murdered,
excepting two. After two thousand Al-
banians had received permission to de-
part, and the negotiations with the Turks
were broken off, Tripolizza was taken
by storm. The last post was surren-
dered, on terms of capitulation, by the
gallant Kiaja Bey; but the Moreots could
not be restrained, and 8,000 Turks per-
ished. Even the Albanians were at-
tacked, and some of them plundered. In
Tripolizza, the Moreots gained their first
heavy cannon, and the place became the
seat of the soi-disdnt Greek government,
until it was transferred to Argos.

Sixty deputies from all the provinces
of Greece formed the first national assem-
bly in Epidaurus on the 1 0th of January,
1822, under the presidency of Mavrocor-
dato, which, January 13, the Greek new
year's day, proclaimed a provisional con-
stitution. Its principles were the follow-
ing : the annual election of all chief
magistrates of the provinces, districts
and communities ; laws were to be made
by the concurrent votes of the delegative
and executive councils ; the execution
of laws was to rest with the execu-
tive council, which appointed the eight
ministers ; the independence of the judi-
ciary was to be provided for ; this branch
of government was to be exercised by
the district, provincial, and supreme courts.
The congress then elected the thirty -three
members of the legislative and the five

432

GREECE.

members of the executive council ; Mavro-
cordato was elected president ; Theodore
Negris, secretary of state of the executive
council ; Ypsilanti, who had expected this
place, was appointed president of the le-
gislative council, but never discharged
the duties of his office. Finally, the
congress of Epidaurus issued a manifes-
to, January 27, 1 822, in which they pro-
nounced the union of the Greeks under
an independent federative government.

This arrangement at first was not so
beneficial as had been expected. A peo-
ple so long enslaved, and so deficient in
civilization, could not at once establish a
wise and firm government. The central
government fixed its seat at Corinth, and,
at a later period again at Argos.

The numerous Greek population of the
flourishing and defenceless Island of Scio
had declined every invitation to engage in
the revolution; but in March, 1822, a
Greek fleet from Samos, vmder Logotheti,
having appeared on the coast, the pea-
sants, who labored under the greatest
oppressions, took up arms and great dis-
orders occurred. At this moment the
great Turkish fleet made its appearance.
In order to punish Scio, the capudan
pacha abandoned his plan of operations
against the Morea, and landed 15,000 of
the most barbarous of the Asiatic troops,
after the Sciots had rejected the off'er of
amnesty. The islanders were beaten,
and in a few days the beautiful island of
Scio was changed into a scene of fire
and blood. It was with great difficulty,
and at the risk of their own lives, that
the European consuls (among whom the
courageous French consul Digeon was
distinguished,) and the captains of some
European vessels, were able to save a
few hundred Greeks. Part of the people
escaped to their vessels, and others con-
tinued the struggle of despair in the
mountains. Here they carried on a pro-
tracted warfare with the Turkish troops,
and exhibited a devotion to the cause of
liberty worthy of the cause in which they
were engaged.

The European consuls, by means of a
pastoral letter of the archbishop, and by
the written assurance of the surviving
hostages, that the Sciots might trust the
oflered amnesty, if they would deliver up

their leaders and their arms, finally effect-
ed the submission of the peasants. Still
murders, burnings, and pillaging did not
cease. According to the Turkish lists,
down to the 25th of May, 41,000 Sciots,
mostly women and children, were sold
into slavery. A similar fate was prepared
for Ipsara, Tine, and Samos. But the
Ipsariots, having already made prepa-
rations to send their families to the
Morea, hovered round the Turkish fleet
with seventy small vessels, among which
were several fire-ships, called hcphmstia,
which were as ingeniously constructed
as they were skilfully directed. Forty-
three Ipsariots and Hydriots devoted
themselves to death, rowed with their
scampavias (a kind of gun-boats) into the
midst of the fleet of the enemy, which
still lay in the road of Scio ; and in the
night of June 18, 1822, captain George
attached fire-ships to the ship of the cap-
udan pacha and to another vessel of the
line. The former blew up, with 2,286
men ; the latter was saved. The capu-
dan pacha was mortally wounded, and
carried on shore, where he died. The
Turks were at first stupified ; but their
rage soon broke out, and the last traces
of cultivation, the gum mastic villages, so
lucrative to the Porte, were destroyed.
In Constantinople, Turks bought Sciots
merely for the purpose of putting them
to death at pleasure. The merchants of
Scio, resident at Constantinople, and the
hostages which were carried thither,
were executed in secret or in public,
without any kind of legal process. Thus
the Morea and the Archipelago were
taught what fate they were to expect.

Whilst Scio was desolated, and Ma-
cedonia ruined, the central government
at Corinth, under Mavrocordato, presi-
dent of the executive council, was en-
gaged, in connection with the provincial
governments, in organising the adminis-
tration of the country. This was ac-
complished by the law of 1822, the first
year of independence, introducing order
into the army, raising a loan, promising
the soldiers land, and, as there existed
no taxes except customs, in laying a tax
on the productions of the soil ; but they
met with resistance in almost all their
attempts, particularly from the old capi-

GREECE.

433

tani, who had been entirely independent
during the government of the Turks. —
Each desired to command and to fight on
his own account, and for his own profit.
Thus the avaricious and ambitious Colo-
cotroni, the fierce Ulysses, and the
haughty Mavromichalis, and even Ypsi-
lanti, yielded with reluctance to the new
order of things.

Mavrocordato in vain called the peo-
ple to arms ; the other commanders re-
fused to assist him ; general Varnakioti
went over to the enemy, and the internal
dissensions among the Albanians enfee-
bled the strength of the Greeks. The
castle of Suli was surrendered to the
Turks. Part of the Suliots (1,800 men,
with their wives and children) took re-
fuge under the protection of the British
in Cephalonia ; the rest fled to the moun-
tains. Mavrocordato, with 300 men, and
Marco Botzaris, finally threw themselves
into Missolonghi. " Here," said the for-
mer, " let us fall with Greece." Omer
Vrione now considered himself master of
iEtolia, and advanced with Ruschid, at
the head of 11,000 men, to Missolonghi.
Jussuf Pacha sent troops from Patras
and Lepanto against Corinth, and Khur-
shid, who, in Larissa, had received re-en-
forcements from Rumelia and Bulgaria,
determined to advance from Thessaly,
through Livadia against the isthmus ;
and then, after forming a union with Jus-
suf and Omer Vrione, to crush the in-
surgents in the Morea. His main body,
25,000 strong, composed principally of
cavalry, had already passed Thermopy-
lae, which Ulysses had defended so val-
iantly in May and June, without opposi-
tion. On his march through Livadia, he
laid every thing waste, proclaimed an
amnesty, and occupied Corinth, which a
priest of the name of Achilles, who af-
terwards killed himself, had basely sur-
rendered ; but when Khurshid attempted
to penetrate the passes in person, he was
three times repelled by Ulysses near
Larissa, where he died, just before the
arrival of the capidgi baschi, who brought
his death w^arrant. That body of caval-
ry, however, which had so rashly push-
ed forward without infantry, and was
unable to obtain food or provender, per-
ished in the defiles of the Morea. When
55

it advanced against Argos (from which
the central government had fled,) formed
a junction with 5,000 men of Jessuf's
army, and sent re-enforcements to Napoli
di Romania, the danger united all the
capitani. Nicholas Niketas, who was
on the point of taking Napoli di Romania
by capitulation, Mavromichalis and Ypsi-
lanti, retreated to the heights of Argos,
laying waste the open country ; Ypsilan-
ti, in the ruins of the castle of Argos,
held the enemy in check; the Greek
fleet prevented the relief of Napoli di
Romania, by the great Turkish fleet, and
took an Austrian store-ship, bound to Na-
poli di Romania ; Ulysses occupied the
defiles of Geranion ; Colocotroni hasten-
ed from Patras, which he was besieging,
to the scene of danger, called the people
to the standard of the cross, assumed the
chief command, and, in the latter part of
June, occupied the defiles between Pa-
tras, Argos, and Corinth, by which he
cut off" the connection of the Turks in
Thessaly with Khunshid. The skirmish-
ing now began on all sides, and continu-
ed day and night, from August 1st to
August 8th. On the latter day the Turk-
ish commander-in-chief, whose troops
had nothing but horse flesh to eat, offer-
ed to evacuate the Morea ; but Coloco-
troni refused the offer. The pacha then
determined to break through to the isth-
mus of Corinth ; but Niketas fell upon
the separate corps of the Turks, on the
night of August 9th, in the defile of
Tretes ; so that hardly 2,000, without
artillery or baggage, reached the isthmus,
where Ypsilanti entirely destroyed them.
Another corps, which fled towards Pa-
tras, was destroyed by Colocotroni ; the
remaining corps was routed by the Mai-
nots, near Napoli. Thus more than
20,000 Turks disappeared in four weeks
from the Greek soil.

The Turldsh fleet, which had lain at
anchor for four weeks in the gulf of Le-
panto, and had attacked Missolonghi,
without success, set sail, September 1st,
with the plague on board. After an un-
successful attempt to break through the
line of 57 Greek brigs, which blockaded
Napoli, it finally came to anchor at the
entrance of the Dardanelles, off Tene-
dos. On the 10th of November, seven-

434

GREECE.

teen daring sailors, of the band of the
forty Ipsariots, dressed like Turks, con-
ducted two fire-ships under full sail, as
if they were flying from the Greeks,
whilst two Ipsariot vessels pursued them,
firing on them with blank cartridges, into
the midst of the Turkish licet, and fasten-
ed one of them, to the admiral's ship, the
other to the ship of the capitana-bey. —
Both were soon in flames ; the former
narrowly escaped ; the latter blew up
with 1800 men ; the capudan pacha,
Cara Mehmet, however, got on shore,
before the explosion took place. Three
frigates were wrecked on the coast of
Asia Minor ; one vessel of thirty-six
guns was captured ; storms and terror
destroyed a part of the Ottoman fleet,
and of thirty-five vessels only eighteen
returned into the Dardanelles. The
seventeen Ipsariots arrived safely at Ip-
sara, where the ephori rewarded their
leaders, Constantine Kanaris and George
Minauly,with naval crowns. The Greeks
were once more masters of the sea, and
renewed the blockade of the Turkish
ports, which Great Britain now formally
acknowledged.

The events of the year 1823, were not
less bloody and confused than those of
the preceding years. Whilst, in Thes-
saly and Epirus, there was a suspension
of arms, and the Greek flag (eight blue
and white horizontal stripes) commanded
the sea, the populace in Constantinople
manifested their rage by setting fire to
different parts of the city, because they
were prevented from committing massa-
cres. March 1st, 1823, an attempt was
made to pillage and burn the Greek
suburbs ; but the wind drove the flames
against the Turkish quarters. Four times
the sea of fire rolled against the Greek
quarters, and four times a fresh north
wind rolled it back ag'iinst the Turkish
houses. Pera was saved ; but 6,000
Turkisli houses, part of the cannon foun-
dry, and part of the naval arsenal, were
reduced to ashes. The Mussulmans
finally cried out, " God is with the Gia-
ours." The grand-vizier Abdullah was
dismissed in consequence of this confla-
gration, and Ali Bey, a pacha hostile to
the janissaries, succeeded him. These
troops, therefore, Kieditated vengeance ;

and on the 13th of July, a new fire broke
out, which consumed 1,500 private
houses, and three frigates. Order was,
however, restored by severe measures ;
more favorable news arrived from Asia ;
and the sultan resolved on a general war
of extermination against the Greeks, on
account of which he called all Mussul-
mans, from fifteen to sixty years, to arms.

On the other hand, Greece endeavored
to organize an army and a financial sys-
tem. The dissolved battalion of Philhel-
lenists became the nucleus of the first
Greek regiment. Mavrocordato Avas
placed at the head of the land forces. —
Orlandi, the minister of the marine, who
was a Hydriot, organized the navy. The
rich Hydriot Miaulis was admiral. The
Greeks, under Mavromichalis and Ma-
vrocordato, instead of waiting for the
enemy behind the isthmus, took a posi-
tion near Megara, and Colocotroni re-
ceived the command over the forces of
Ulysses and Niketas, with whose bands
the Peloponnesian army united near
Plataea.

From this place they advanced against
the enemy, towards the end of June. —
After some fighting in detail, Ulysses
defeated one of the main bodies of the
Turks, under Mehemet Pacha, at Ther-
mopylaj. He then joined the army under
Colocotroni, who attacked the Turkish
camp near the monastery of St. Luke, that
is situated between the cities of Thebes
and Livadia, which was captured by
Ulysses and Niketas after a very obsti-
nate engagement, and the Turks retreated
with great loss. Ulysses overtook them
and routed them in the plains of Chero-
nea. But the seraskier collected new
forces, and advanced again, whilst, at the
same time, Jussuf and Omer Vrione,
supported by the fleet of the capudan
pacha, off Patras, were destined to ad-
vance on Missolonghi, and the pacha of
Scutari was to enter the Morea through
Western Greece, by Vrachori, Vonitza,
and Salona. But the attack of the seras-
kier on Volos and the peninsula of Tri-
cori failed ; Jussuf's march was delayed
by the desertion of 8,000 Albanians, and
the vanguard of the pacha of Scutari was
surprised at midnight, on the 20th of
August, 1823, in the camp of Carpinissi,

GREECE.

435

by Marco Botzaris. Whilst the moun-
taineers, from Thessaly and Epirus, at-
tacked the camp on four sides, on a
signal given by Botzaris, the brave com-
mander himself penetrated, with 500
Suliots, to the tent of the pacha ; but, at
the moment of making the pacha of Del-
vino prisoner, he received a mortal w^ound,
and his brother Constantine completed
the victory. The Turks lost all their
artillery and baggage, and the dying
Marco exclaimed, at the moment of vic-
tory, " Could a Suliot leader die a nobler
death ?" The Porte, though much ex-
hausted, still had greater resources for
the next campaign of 1824 than the
Greeks. But the support which certain
societies in England, and individuals,
like lord Byron, had given the Greeks,
by means of loans, by sending arms, and
by assistance in person, made the Porte
indignant ; and it required that the British
government should forbid their subjects to
take any part in the aftairs of the Greeks.
In the meanwhile the British officers
who had fought under the Greek stand-
ard, had been recalled to England. The
good understanding with Russia appeared
still more complete, when a great number
of neutral transport ships, Russian, Aus-
trian, and others, were hired by the
capudan pacha, who sailed out of the
Dardanelles to destroy Ipsara and Samos.
At the same time Dervish, pacha of Widin,
as commander-in-chief of the Ottoman
troops, received an order to enter the
Morea, whilst the pacha of Negropont,
on the coast of Attica," and Omer Vrione,
were to open the campaign on the west
coast of Greece. The Porte had suc-
ceeded, too, in inducing Mohammed Ali,
the viceroy of Egypt, to send from his
troops, which had been trained in the
European discipline by French officers,
20,000 men, under the command of Ibra-
him Pacha, his son, besides a fleet with
transport ships, consisting of hired Rus-
sian, Austrian, Spanish, and Italian ves-
sels, to assist the grand signior in redu-
cing the Greeks to submission. A fire
in Cairo delayed, for some months, the
departure of this expedition. In the
mean time, after the glorious issue of the
campaigns of 1823, dissensions had bro-
ken out anew in Greece. The party of

Mavrocordato, which had taken the place
of the heads of the Hetaireia was com-
posed of Hydriot merchants, and the
most enlightened men of the nation. It
endeavored to establish an orderly and
legal administration, and to regulate the
finances. Mavrocordato was president
of the legislative body ; but retiring from
the military party, which had the pre-
ponderance in the Morea, he went to-
wards Western Greece. The heads of
that military party, the capitani, appeared
to wish to take the places of the former
Turkish pachas and oppressors of the
country, and one of the most eminent of
this party was Colocotroni, who was the
most powerful in the executive council.
From Tripolizza, in the midst of the pe-
ninsula, his faction extended itself on all
sides. Panos, his son, commanded at
Nauplia, the seat of government ; and the
whole garrison of the Acrocorinthus con-
sisted of the adherents of that bold, proud,
and rich general. After Colocotroni
came Mavromichalis, formerly bey of the
Mainots, and now the nominal president
of the executive council. Negris, the
former minister of foreign afl^airs, had
joined Ulysses, who maintained himself
in Athens and Eastern Greece, almost
independently of the central government.
These capitani raised, without regard to
rules and orders, all that they wanted for
themselves and their soldiers ; so that
only in the marine at Hydra, and in
Western Greece, where Mavrocordato
commanded, a well-ordered government
was maintained.

In Missolonghi, lord Byron was taking
an active part. In conjunction with
colonel Stanhope, he organized the artil-
lery, and established schools and printing
offices. The accession of the garrison
of the chief fort of Napoli to the cause
of the government, occasioned the con-
clusion of a treaty with Colocotroni, who
submitted with all his followers, imder
the security of a general amnest3^ Panos
now gave up Napoli and the citadel of
Palamedes, to which the senate and the
government immediately transferred
themselves, and a general amnesty ter-
minated the civil war.

During this time the Greeks in West-
ern Greece were laboring to improve the

436

GREECE.

fortifications of Anatolico, and of Misso-
longhi, the bulwark of the Peloponnesus.
A conspiracy was soon after discovered
to deliver up the town to the pacha Jus-
suf, and the Suliots began to commit
great excesses, being excessively discon-
tented with lordByron's new regulations,
and also with the influence of foreigners
in general. In consequence of this a
great number of them were sent out of
the place. These, under the guidance
of a certain Karaiskaki, took possession
of the fort Wassiladi. The inhabitants
took no part in this rebellion ; and a body
of troops, under the command of Botzaris,
Sturnaris, and Trokas, defeated the in-
surgents, and recovered Wassiladi; upon
which the traitors fled to Omer Vrione.
This insurrection frustrated the siege of
Lepanto, and, unfortunately for the Greek
cause, lord Byron's health suflfered from
these events, and he died after a sickness
of ten days, on the 19th of April, 1824.

The small but strongly fortified rocky
island of Ipsara had made itself formida-
ble to the Porte by the number of its
vessels and fire-ships, in which the most
daring of the islanders carried terror and
destruction into the Dardanelles. Khosru
possessed exact information of the fortifi-
cations of the island. Ishmael Pliassa,
nephew of the well-known Ali Pacha of
Yanina, commanded under him 14,000
choice troops, mostly Albanians. But
before Khosru invaded the island he
offered pardon and protection to the
Ipsariots three times ; they however
Tejected all his proposals, and 5,000
chosen Greeks and Albanians took pos-
session of the most important points ;
even the females prepared themselves
for the combat. Khosru left the shores
of Mitylene early in July, with two ships
of the line, six frigates, ten corvettes,
several brigs and galliots, a great number
of newly-built gun-boats, and more than
eighty European transport ships. The
men-of-war began to fire upon the town
and the forts. Whilst the principal attack
appeared to be made here, a landing was
eff"ected on the opposite coast, upon a
sandy point of land, where an Albanese
battalion, under the traitor Goda, deserted
the battery, after a short resistance. In
the meantime the city was attacked on

all sides ; the Greeks fought from street
to street, from house to house ; and the
work of destruction was kept up through
the whole night. On the following morn-
ing they held only two small forts and
the convent of St. Nicholas. After a
hard struggle these brave men resolved
to die together. While the Turks were
storming the walls, they set fire to the
mine, which had been prepared ; the
earth shook, and Ipsara became the grave
of its own heroes and the conquerors. —
This blow re-kindled the Avarlike spirit
of the Greeks. The people and the au-
thorities rose up for united resistance.
Hydra and Spezzia manned their ships,
and Ipsara was retaken by the brave
Miaulis ; and the enemy was repulsed
by inferior forces at Samos, Cos, and
Chios. Equal success attended the
Greeks upon the main land.

The Turkish fleet united in the gulf of
Bodroun, and several battles were now
fought with the Greek fleet. The battle
at Naxos lasted the whole day, and it
was, perhaps, the first during the war
that deserved the name of a naval en-
gagement. The intrepid Kanaris blew
up, with his fire-ships, an Egyptian fri-
gate of forty-four guns, and a brig. At
length, the Ottoman fleet broke off the
engagement, and retired to Mitylene,
with the loss of several transport ships.
Khosru then turned back to Constantino-
ple, with fifteen sail, and Ibrahim Pacha,
with the rest of the fleet, to the gulf of
Bodroun. He supplied the islands anew
with troops and provisions, particularly
Candia, which his father already regard-
ed as a part of his viceroyalty. Miaulis
soon after attacked him off Candia, and
Ibrahim lost a frigate, ten small vessels,
and fifteen transport ships. Weakened
by the plague, which had appeared on
board the ships, he drew back to the
harbor of Rhodes, where the well-known
admiral Ishmael Gibraltar died.

The campaign of 1825 was opened in
the Morea by the landing of Ibrahim Pa-
cha. Reschid Pacha besieged Misso-
longhi at the same time, and the capudan
pacha aided both by his fleet. While
these dangers threatened Greece, her
ruin was accelerated by the capitani.
Ibrahim Pacha, before mentioned, was

GREECE.

437

permitted to land on the 22nd of Februa-
ry, 1825, with 4,500 men, between Co-
ron and Modon, and was strengthened in
the beginning of March, so that his force
amounted to 12,000 men. His army, ow-
ing to their European tactics, French
leaders, the use of bayonets and a disci-
plined cavalry, was far more to be dread-
ed than the undisciplined host of Turks.
Ibrahim at once commenced the siege of
Navarino, the key of the interior of the
Peloponnesus. In vain Miaulis attacked
with his fleet that of the enemy on the
night of the 12th of May, when he burn-
ed an Egyptian frigate, two corvettes,
three brigs, and many transport ships.
In vain Mavrocordato did every thing by
personal exposure to animate the courage
of the garrison of Navarino, which was
reduced to extremity. Conduriotti found
no obedience as he approached for the
relief of the place. The inactivity of
the capitani, who would give no aid to
the Hydriots and the government, was
the cause of the capitulation of Navarino ;
after which Ibrahim pressed on, without
resistance, to Tripolizza. In this danger,
the government saw themselves compel-
led to pardon Colocotroni, and, after re-
ceiving a solemn promise of fidelity from
him, to give him the command of the Pe-
loponnesus. This happened on the last
day of May, 1825.

In the mean time, Reschid Pacha
forced his way into Acarnania and iEtolia,
after he had beaten the Greeks at Saloni-
ca ; and the third siege of Missolonghi
and Anatolico began. The capudan pa-
cha did not arrive sufficiently soon to
support the attack on the side of the sea.
He lost several ships in May, near Capo
d'Oro, in an engagement with the Greek
admiral Sactouri, and reached Modon at
the end of this month. Ibrahim had
already taken Calamata, and occupied
Tripolizza, which the Greeks, in their
retreat, set on fire. He pressed on, des-
troying every thing, and reached Argos.
Napoli di Romania itself was threatened
by him. But, after the battle of the mills,
at the distance of two leagues from the
capital, he was obliged to draw back to
Tripolizza, in the midst of repeated at-
tacks from Colocotroni's army. This
continued to be the centre of his enter-

prises. Not one Greek village obeyed
his command to submit and receive his
protection, so that he laid waste every
thing, put to death the men, and sent the
women and children as slaves to Egypt.
In the defence of Missolonghi, the spirit
of the Greeks appeared more clearly
than ever. The Turks, with 35,000 land
forces, and 4,000 sea forces, were wholly
defeated, after a contest which lasted seve-
ral days. During the struggle, Miaulis ar-
rived, burned several Turkish ships, and
forced the fleet to retire. The siege was
raised, Oct. 12th, 1825, four months and a
half after the opening of the trenches.
Ibrahim Pacha spread more and more
widely the terror of his arms, and the gov-
ernment found itself in the greatest danger.
It had lost almost entirely the confidence
of the auxiliary societies, because the
money from the British loan had not been
properly laid out.

The affairs of Greece appeared to be
hastening to ruin. The Greek fleet, con-
sisting of seventy-three men-of-war and
twenty-three fire-ships, arrived too late
before Navarino. The government had
hardly 6,000 men under arms. The
capitani squandered the money with
which they were to provide troops. The
members of the senate and of the execu-
tive council had no confidence in each
other ; and the secretary of state, Mavro-
cordato, who labored with little aid but
that of his own foresight and prudence,
to maintain order, was, for this reason, held
in ill-will by all parties, and had little in-
fluence. The islanders presented the
last bulwark for the defence of the Mo-
rea, but were obliged also to provide for
their own security. Notwithstanding
this, their fleet succeeded in entering
Missolonghi, now besieged for the fourth
time, and in providing it with ammunition
and provisions, after the garrison had
again repulsed an attack made by sea
and land.

The capudan pacha appeared anew be-
fore Missolonghi. The attempts of the
Grecian fleet to supply it again with pro-
visions and ammunition failed ; and the
capudan pacha summoned the authorities
of the town to surrender, if they did not
wish the place to be taken by storm ; but
they refused the ofier. Soon after there

438

GREECE.

Siege of Missolonghi.

was an engagement between the fleets in
the gulf of Patras, when the Greek fire-
ships, under Kanaris, destroyed a frigate
and many small vessels. The capudan
pacha soon gave up his command, after a
disagreement with Ibrahim Pacha, who
had desired his recall by the divan, and
went by land from Yanina to Constanti-
nople.

Ibrahim then conducted the siege alone.
He had 25,000 men, among them about
9,000 regular troops, and forty-eight can-
non, bought in France, with which Pierre
Boyer, formerly a Bonapartist, and a ge-
neral well known by his cruelties com-
mitted in Egypt, St. Domingo and Spain,
bombarded Missolonghi. After the bom-
bardment had continued several days,
Ibrahim repeatedly offered the command-
er of the fortress large sums if he would
surrender the place. He was willing
even to permit the garrison to take the
cannon and all the moveable property
with them. All his proposals were re-
jected, and the garrison prepared them-
selves for death or victory. Ibrahim had
assaulted the works of Missolonghi from
the 28th of February to March 2nd. On
this day he attacked the place by sea
and land, but was wholly repulsed with

the loss of 4,000 men ; so that Missolon-
ghi was, for the fifth time, freed by Greek
valor, when it had but a few days' pro-
vision. Ibrahim now directed his attacks
against the outworks of Missolonghi on
the sea side. He forced his way with
gim-boats and floating-batteries into the
lagoons, and on the 9th of March, 1826,
he stormed the little island of Wassiladi,
and a bomb, which fell into the powder
room of the fort, and kindled the ammu-
nition, decided the fate of the place.
Ibrahim then took by capitulation the
fortified island of Anatolico, near Misso-
longhi, after he had stormed a fortified
monastery, called Kundro, which protect-
ed the island, where a garrison of 400
men were cut to pieces. After these
misfortunes, Missolonghi, the bulwark of
the Peloponnesus, fell gloriously on the
22nd of April, 1826. The foundation of
an Egyptian-African military state now
seemed to be laid in Europe.

This danger roused the attention of the
governments and people of Europe. The
fate of Missolonghi, of whose garrison
1 ,800 men, under Noto Botzaris and Kit zos
Isavellas, cut their way to Salona and
Athens, while the rest buried themselves
voluntarily under the ruins of the place.

GREECE,

439

excited every where the liveliest interest.
In France this interest veas loudly and
actively expressed.

Thus, at last, when the voice of lamen-
tation was loudest in the land, deliverance
was slowly approaching the Greeks.
The duke of Wellington had, by Mr. Can-
ning's order, subscribed at Petersburgh, on
the 4th of April, 1826, the protocol which
provided for the inteference of the three
great powers in favor of the Greeks.

In the mean time the Egyptian army
overran almost every part of the Morea
and changed it to a desert, without ob-
taining submission from a single village.
Families from all parts of Greece pressed
forward together under the walls of Na-
poli di Romania, and suffered all the hor-
rors of poverty and hunger, rather than
enter into a treaty with their Mussulman
oppressors. Despair drove many of
these unhappy people to piracy, but most
of the corsairs, in the Greek seas, were
composed of criminals and persons ban-
ished from the Ionian islands, Dalmatia,
and Italy, who did not even spare the
Greek flag. New bands of warriors came
forth from the mountains, and Colocotroni
several times attacked Tripolizza, which
was defended by 3,000 Egyptians, under
Soliman Bey, who was a French renegade.

Want of money and provisions, and the
dissensions between the commanders ;
the mistrust of the palikaris, who had
been deceived by their officers ; and the
ingratitude of the Greeks towards the
Philhellenes, or foreign officers in their
service, were the principal causes why
nothing important was accomplished.
Owing to these circumstances, Athens,
after the army which should have reliev-
ed it had fled in a dastardly manner, ca-
pitulated to Reschid Pacha, on the 7th
of June, 1827. In vain did lord Coch-
rane, who had long been detained in Eng-
land by the defective construction of the
steam-vessels, for which the Greeks had
paid so dear, at last arrive in Greece,
and take the chief command of the sea
forces, while general Church stood at the
head of the land forces. The Turks re-
mained in possession of the whole of
eastern and western Hellas. The dis-
tress was increased by a violent struggle
for power in Napoli di Romania itself.

Meanwhile the ambassadors of the
three powers had, on the 16th of August,
presented to the Porte the treaty conclu-
ded at London, for the pacification of
Greece, and waited for an answer till the
31st. " Greece," they said, " shall gov-
ern itself, but pay tribute to the Porte."
Europe had now more reason than ever
to demand from the Porte the indepen-
dence of Greece, by which piracy in the
Grecian and Turkish seas might be pre-
vented ; an African slave-holding and pi-
ratical state should not be allowed to rule
the beautiful Archipelago of Europe ;
and order might take the place of bloody
anarchy, which the Porte had neither sa-
gacity nor strength to suppress.

The Greek government immediately
proclaimed an armistice in conformity to
the treaty of London. But the reis ef-
fendi rejected the intervention of the three
powers. The Greeks then commenced
hostilities anew, and the Turkish-Egyp-
tian fleet entered the bay of Navarino.
A British squadron appeared in the bay
on the 13th, under admiral Codrington.
To this a French squadron, under admi-
ral Rigny, and a Russian, under count
Heyden, united themselves on the 22nd.
They demanded from Ibrahim Pacha a
cessation of hostilities. He promised
this, and went out with part of his fleet,
but was forced to return into the bay. As
he now continued his devastations in
the Morea, and gave no answer to the
complaints of the admirals, the three
squadrons entered the bay, where the
Turkish-Eg}'ptian fleet was drawn up in
the order of battle. The first shots were
fired from the Turkish side, and killed
two Englishmen. This was the sign for
a deadly contest, which took place on the
20th of October, 1827, in which admiral
Codrington nearly destroyed the Turkish-
Egyptian armada of 110 ships. One
part was burned, another driven on shore,
and the rest disabled. The news of the
victory was received with exultation in
Eiuope. A suspension of hostilities now-
ensued, during which the depredations of
pirates became more serious. The ad-
mirals of the three united squadrons,
therefore, sent a warm remonstrance to
the legislative council of the Greeks,
and, after a number of capital punish-

440

GREECE.

ments,the safety of the seas was restored,
particularly after the British had destroy-
ed the head-quarters of the corsairs in
Candia. The Greeks now resumed the
offensive against the Turks ; but their at-
tempt upon Scio, (where they vainly be-
sieged the citadel,) was productive of
nothing but injury to the inhabitants.
Enraged at the battle of Navarino, the
Porte seized all the ships of the Franks
in Constantinople, detained them from
Nov. 2 to Nov. 19, and, on the 8th stop-
ped all communication with the ministers
of the allied powers, till indemnification
should be made for the destruction of
the fleet. At the same time the govern-
ment prepared for war.

From all parts of the kingdom, the
Ayans were now called to Constantino-
ple, a measure quite unusual, and dis-
cussed with the Porte the preparations
for war. All the Moslems from the age
of nineteen to fifty, were called to arms.
In the mean time, the president of the
Greeks, count Capo d'Istria, appointed
the able Tricoupi his secratary of state,
and established a high national council,
called Panhellenion, atNapolidi Romania ;
on the 4th of February, 1828, took mea-
sures for instituting a national bank ; and
also put the military department on a new
footing. The improvements, however,
could go on but slowly. Without the
as.sistance of France and Russia, each
of which lent the young state 6,000,000
francs, nothing could have been efTected.
The attempts at pacification were fruit-
less, because the Porte rejected every
proposal, and England appeared to disap-
prove the battle of Navarino.

In this state of uncertainty, Ibrahim
was allowed to send a number of Greek
captives as slaves to Egypt. In March,
1828, the war between Russia and Tur-
key broke out, and gave the Porte full
occupation. In the mean time, the
French cabinet, in concurrence with the
English, to carry into execution the trea-
ty of London, sent a body of troops to
the Morea, whilst admiral Codrington
concluded a treaty with the viceroy of
Egypt, at Alexandria, the terms of which
were that Ibrahim Pacha should evacu-
ate the Morea with his troops, and set
at liberty his Greek prisoners. Those

Greeks who had been carried into slave-
ry in Egypt, should be freed or ransom-
ed; 1,200 men, however, were to be al-
lowed to remain to garrison the fortresses
in the Morea. To force Ibrahim to com-
ply with these terms, the French general
Maison arrived, on the 29th of the fol-
lowing August, with 154 transport ships,
in the Morea, in the bay of Coron, near
Petalidi. After an amicable negotiation,
Ibrahim left Navarino, and sailed with
about 21,000 men, whom he carried with
the wreck of the fleet to Alexandria ; but
he left garrisons in the Messenian for-
tresses, amounting to 25,000 men, con-
sisting of Turks and Egyptians. Mai-
son occupied the town of Navarino with-
out opposition. He then attacked the
Turkish fortresses in Messenia. The
garrison made no resistance, but, on the
other hand, the commanders would not
capitulate. The French, therefore, al-
most without opposition, took possession
of the citadels of Navarino, of Modon,
and of Coron. The garrisons were al-
lowed free egress, and Patras, with
3,000 men, capitulated also without re-
sistance ; and the flags of the three pow-
ers, parties to the treaty of London,
waved with the national flag of Greece
on the walls of the prhicipal cities.

The French government ransomed sev-
eral hundred Greek slaves in Egypt, and
the king of France undertook the education
of the orphan children. Thus, after strug-
gling for seven years, Greece was placed
under the protection of the three chief
European powers. Mahmoud, however,
still declined to recall the edict of exter-
mination, which he had pronounced when
he commanded Dram Ali, a few years
before, to bring him the ashes of the
Peloponnesus. Ibrahim had wantonly
burned down the olive groves as far
as his Arabians spread, and the Greeks
were sunk in the deepest misery and
confusion.

After unnumbered difficidties, the great-
est obstacles to a well ordered govern-
ment were in part overcome by the exer-
tions of Capo d'Istria. On the 19th of
November, 1828, the French colonel
Fabvier returned from France to the Mo-
rea, to organize the Greek army, and the
French envoy, Jaubert, delivered the pro-

INDIA.

441

tocol of the conference of the three great
powers to the Porte in January, 1829.

A peace between Russia and the Porte
was signed at Adrianople, September
14th, 1829, and ratified by the Porte, on
the 20th of that month. The conferen-
ces between the ministers of the three
powers, at London, had now for their ob-
ject to select a prince to wear the crown
of Greece. They accordingly fixed upon
prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg, as the
most eligible person to become the " sov-
ereign prince of Greece ;" and their offer
was immediately accepted, though the

prince afterwards declined this honor in a
declaration dated May 21st, 1830.

Subsequently to the arrival in Greece
of the protocol of March 22nd, 1829,
and the publication of the assent of the
Turks to the frontier included in the trea-
ty of Adrianople, all the families which
had survived the war returned, and com-
menced rebuilding their houses and
towns, and cultivating their lands. After
the resignation of Leopold, several prin-
ces were proposed, but Otho, prince of
Bavaria, was finally elected, and he is
now the reigning sovereign of Gteece.

INDI A,

The traces of the ancient chronology
and history of India are very faint and
imperfect, and are nearly quite lost in
remote antiquity. It is supposed by
those Europeans who have made the
most elaborate and careful researches on
these points, and who have investigated
and compared, on the spot, the features,
manners, languages and religions of the
various tribes who inhabit this vast ter-
ritory, that a few only of the aboriginal
inhabitants are to be found scattered in
the hilly countries ; and it is certain, that
the Brahmins have traditions that their
ancestors came from the north, and, having
conquered Hindostan, established there
their customs, religion, and languages.

The only events in the history of Hin-
dostan, prior to the birth of Christ, of
which we possess any direct and clear
information, either from the Greek and
Roman authors, or from the ancient books
of the Hindoos, are, the great war of
the Mahabharat, the invasion of India by
Sesostris, and by the Persians in the
reign of Darius Hystaspes ; and the
transactions of the reign of Chandra
Gupta, the contemporary of Alexander
the Great.

Though it has been found so extremely
difficult to fix the era of Sesostris, and
to free his history from events evi-
dently either fabulous or highly exagger-
ated, that many authors have been dis-
56

posed totally to deny its authenticity;
yet it appears to us that no reasonable
doubts can be entertained that he invaded
India. The circumstances of this inva-
sion, the causes which gave rise to it,
and the objects which he had in view,
cannot be ascertained ; but we are ex-
pressly informed by Diodorus Siculus,
that he crossed the Ganges, and advanced
as far as the Eastern Ocean. His con-
quests, however, were not permanent, and
indeed were so contrary to the genius
and habits of the Egyptians, that, on the
death of Sesostris, they were entirely
relinquished.

The Persians under Darius Hystaspes
obtained a firmer, though a less extensive
empire in India, than the Egyptians.
That monarch having subdued the coun-
tries which lie in a south-east direction
from the Caspian to the Oxus, turned his
thoughts towards India, on which they
bordered. In order to prepare himself
for this new enterprise, he appointed
Scylax to explore the Indus and the
country lying on its banks, from the upper
part of its navigable course to its mouth.
The account which Darius received from
Scylax of the populousness, fertility, and
high cultivation of this territory, incited
the Persian monarch to aim at its con-
quest. This he appears soon and easily
to have accomplished ; but his conquests
did not extend beyond the district watered

442

INDIA

by the Indus ; and of the circumstances
attending them, we are entirely ignorant
It would seem, however, that he com-
pelled some of the Indian princes to ac-
knowledge his dominion, by the payment
of an annual tribute ; for Ave learn from a
Hindoo writer, that the ostensible cause
of the celebrated invasion of India by
Alexander the Great was, to levy this
tribute, which some of its princes had re-
fused to pay, and to compel them to ac-
knowledge their dependence on the
throne of Persia.

It would appear, that the extensive
confederacy formed in Hindostan, by the
mutual understanding and the union of the
four great kingdoms then existing in that
country, against foreign invasion, did not
last long. Before the conquest of the Per-
sians, dissensions had risen among the
different states, which, together with the
wealth of the people, and their unwarlike
character, invited the inroads not only of
these conquerors, but also of the fierce
and destructive barbarians of Thibet. By
them the northern provinces were attack-
ed and laid waste. It appears also, that
foreign war, instead of producing domes-
tic concord, extended and heightened
their mutual animosities ; so that, at the
period of the invasion of India by Alex-
ander the Great, the nations of the penin-
sula were totally separated from the
kingdom of the Prachii, though the west-
ern provinces of Hindostan Avere more
closely connected Avith it than at any
former period.

It is highly probable, that this union
of the western provinces enabled them
to make such a vigorous defence against
the enterprise and high military skill of
Alexander, and the much superior disci-
pline of his troops ; that their defence
excited his surprise and admiration, we
are expressly informed by Arian, Plutarch,
and other historians ; but their efforts,
though roused to religious enthusiasm by
the eloquence of the Brahmins, Avere in-
effectual. Alexander, after haA'ing sub-
dued several small states on the banks of
the Indus, passed the different rivers of
the Punjab, attacked Porus, the sovereign
of that district, who had collected a nu-
merous army to oppose his march, and
obtained a decisive victory, in spite of

the gallant defence of that prince, who,
together with some of his most distin-
guished generals, was taken prisoner.
This battle was fought on the banks of
the Hydaspes, which river it Avas neces-
sary for Alexander to cross, in order that
he might reach the Ganges, the great ob-
ject of his ambition. To this point he
now resolved to push ; but his troops had
already done so much, and suffered so
greatly, especially from excessive rains
and incessant inundations, that their pa-
tience as Avell as their strength were ex-
hausted, and they unanimously refused
to advance farther. Alexander tried every
effort, but in vain, to change their pur-
pose ; they were inflexible, and the con-
queror was obliged to give way to his
troops, to abandon all his favorite schemes
of farther conquest, and to issue orders
for marching back to Persia. This me-
morable mutiny took place on the banks
of the Hyphasis, the modern Bey ah, one
of the most celebrated rivers of the Pun-
jab. Alexander left behind him some of
his most experienced officers, Avith a
small part of his army, for the purpose of
keeping possession of the conquered ter-
ritory on the banks of the Indus ; but his
troops gave Avay to every kind of corrup-
tion and debauchery, to Avhich they were
stimulated by the policy of the Hindoos ;
mutual animosities and recriminations
took place ; and the death of Alexander,
AA^iich happened about this time, hastened
the doAvnfall of his power in Hindostan.
The first attempt of the Mahomedans
to conquer India Avas made during the
reign of the Calif Omar, A. D. 636, but
it failed of success. In the reign of the
Calif Walid, the conquest of Sinde wa.s
accomplished. Before this time, the
Calif Ali had sent a general, Avho effect-
ed some trifling conquests on the confuies
of this country. But, after long and
bloody conflicts, he was forced to desist.
As soon as the Calif Walid had achieved
this important conquest, the incursions
of the Mahomedans into the fertile coun-
tries of Hindostan became more frequent
and successful. They do not seem, how-
ever, to have attempted permanent con-
quest till nearly two centuries after they
had obtained possession of Sinde. The
first Mahomedan prince who made a se-

INDIA.

443

rious impression on India having been
the SuUan Mahmond Sebectaghin, who
reig-ned at Ghazna.

Thirteen monarchs of the dynasty of
Sebectaghin reigned at Ghazna. Khosru
Shah was the last ; he was deposed and
imprisoned in A. D. 1158, the western
and largest part of his empire being seized
on by the family of the Gaurides : the
provinces contiguous to both shores of the
Indus remained to the old dynasty till the
year 1 1 84, when the Gaurides also gained
them. The new dynasty established
permanently the Mahomedan belief on
the throne of Delhi, which they fixed
upon as their capital in India. The
father of Hassanben Hassan owed his
advancement to the throne of Gaur to the
seventh sultan of the Sebectaghin dynas-
ty ; and Hassan, taking advantage of the
distracted and enfeebled state of the em-
pire of Ghazna, during the reign of the
twelfth sovereign of that dynasty, invaded
it, and, after various success, accomplish-
ed his object, and, as has been already
mentioned, deposed and imprisoned Khos-
ru Shah. Previous to the final conquest
of Ghazna, Hassan, on what pretence or
with what object does not appear, invaded
the dominions of the Selucidae, when he
was taken prisoner ; but he ingratiated
himself so completely with the reigning
monarch, by his talents for poetry, that
the conqueror sent him back laden with
gifts to his own capital. He died either
in the same year in which he took Khosru
Shah prisoner, or in the year immediately
succeeding.

The emperor Altmush was contempo-
rary with the celebrated Gengis Khan.
It was in the year 1221 that this con-
queror reduced to subjection, and annihi-
lated the dynasty of Charasm, which had
for some time possessed the throne of
Ghazna. Mohammed Shah at this period
occupied the throne, and he claimed also
the dominion of some part of India ; but,
in consequence of having provoked the
rage of Gengis Khan, he had not the
leisure nor the means to secure his In-
dian territories. The lieutenant of Mo-
hammed, in his province of Transoxania,
had seized and put to death some Tartar
merchants, who were travelling in a cara-
van from the camp of G engis Khan. The

Mogul monarch immediately sent to de-
mand an apology, which was imprudently
refused. The consequence was, that he
immediately invaded Khorassan, which
Mohammed had conquered in a single
battle in the year 1199, and, in spite of
the valor displayed by the eldest son of
the emperor, the troops of Mohammed
were obliged to give way. At first the
flight of the emperor was towards India ;
but, being intercepted, he was compelled
to flee towards the Caspian sea, in an
island of which he died, A. D. 1220. His
son fought long and valiantly, but with-
out success, against Gengis Khan. One
of his most desperate exploits was the
swimming across the Indus in sight of the
conqueror and his army. Five years
afterwards he returned to Persia, and was
for a short time successful ; but he was
at length obliged to yield to the better
fortune of his opponent. In the year
1231, Gengis Khan had overrun all Asia
to the northward of the latitude of 30° ;
but the difficulties he experienced in re-
pressing the turbulent spirit of his Tartar
subjects very probably deterred him from
attempting the conquest of Hindostan ;
though, in the year 1222, he had become
the nominal sovereign of the empire of
Delhi, and actually subdued all the coun-
try on the M'est side of the Indus, and
portioned it out among his favorite gen-
erals.

The next prominent event in the his-
tory of India was the invasion of Timur
Bee, generally called Tamerlane. In the
year 1397, intelligence of his approach
was received at Delhi. This famous
conqueror, after having overrun Persia,
Turkestan, and part of Russia, turned his
ambitious views towards Hindostan.
During this year, he had sent his grand-
I son, Peer Mahomed, to reduce the Pun-
I jab and Multan ; and in the month of
j October he crossed the Indus himself.
1 When he first proposed to his princes the
I invasion of Hindostan, he was answered
by a murmur of discontent and despair.
! " The rivers, and the mountains, and the
deserts, and the soldiers clad in armor,
and the elephants, destroyers of men."
These things his princes thought it was
impossible to overcome ; but when they
perceived he was determined on the in-

444

INDIA.

vasion, they gave way to his superior
judgment, or were terrified into submis-
sion by his dreadful character. He had
been informed by his spies of the weak-
ness and anarchy of Hindostan ; the
soubahs of the provinces had erected the
standard of rebellion ; and the monarch
was despised and disobeyed, even in his
capital. The Mogul army moved in
three divisions ; between the Shylum
and the Indus they crossed one of the
ridges of mountains, styled, by the Ara-
bian geographers, the stony girdles of the
earth. The mountaineers, after a brave
resistance, were reduced or extirpated ;
but great numbers of men and horses
perished in the snow ; the emperor him-
self was obliged to be let down one of
precipices on a portable scaffold, the
ropes to which were 150 cubits in length,
and before he could reach the bottom,
this dangerous operation was five times
repeated. He crossed the Indus at the
passage of Attock : from this place to
Delhi, the direct and most frequented
road measured only 600 miles ; but Tam-
erlane deviated to the south-east, for the
purpose of joining his grandson, who had
by this time succeeded in the conquest
of the Punjab and Multan. Being in
want of provisions, he gave up the large
and populous town of Tulmuhini to the
plunder of his soldiers ; and when its in-
habitants murmured at this conduct, he
directed them to be massacred. After
crossing the Hyphasis, he entered the
desert, reduced the fortress of Batner,
and advanced with little or no resistance
to the city of Delhi.

In the mean time, the contending par-
ties in the capital united for their com-
mon defence. The siege, more espe-
cially of the castle, might have been a
work of time, but Tamerlane, by the ap-
pearance of Aveakness and indecision,
tempted his adversaries to descend into
the plain, with 10,000 cuirassiers, 40,000
foot guards, and 120 elephants, whose
tusks are said to have been armed with
sharp and poisoned daggers. Tamerlane,
though impetuous, was not destitute of
prudence. In order to protect his troops
against these numerous and formidable
opponents, he made use of extraordinary
precautions of fire, and a ditch of iron

spikes, and a rampart of bucklers ; but
the troops of the emperor of Delhi were
totally unable to cope with the Moguls ;
for, as soon as the elephants were routed,
they fled in every direction. The em-
peror and his prime minister, seeing no
possibility after this defeat of defending
their capital, escaped under cover of the
night, and fled towards Guzerat, whither
they were pursued by a strong detach-
ment, which Tamerlane sent after them.
This detachment came up with them ;
an engagement took place, during which
the emperor effected his further retreat,
with the loss of two infant sons, and a
considerable number of his retinue.

Tamerlane, in the mean time, made
his triumphant entry into the capital of
Hindostan, where he received the sub-
mission of all the principal nobles. To
them he promised pardon and protection,
on condition that they would pay him im-
mense sums of money. Orders were ac-
cordingly given to the magistrates to levy
the contribution by a scale proportioned
to the wealth and rank of the inhabitants.
The Tartar officers who were employed
to receive it, not satisfied with the regu-
lated sums, violently broke into the
houses ; this occasioned resistance, in
the course of which some of Tamerlane's
troops were put to death. Tamerlane
immediately issued orders for a general
massacre. Delhi was sacked ; its pala-
ces and temples burned, and its streets
filled with blood. Tamerlane remained
in Delhi only fifteen days, and appears
then to have designed to return to the
seat of his empire, when, having heard
of a fortress on the Dooab which had re-
sisted the arms of a former Mogid inva-
der, he changed his purpose, marched
into that district, and reduced the fortress.
While here, infonnation Avas given him
respecting the famous cavern of Coupele,
and the religious ceremonies which were
practised at it by the Hindoos, in conse-
quence of its resembling a cow's mouth,
and the Ganges flowing through it. This
information excited the persecuting spirit
of this barbarian, and he determined to
purify liis soldiers in the blood of the
idolatrous Hindoos. In this he succeed-
ed. His return was along the skirts of
the northern hills, by Mount Sewalic ;

INDIA.

445

in his route, he continued his massacres,
though not without opposition, until he
arrived on the frontiers of Cashmere.

His return was occasioned by distur-
bances in some of the provinces of his
empire, stirred up by the famous Bajazet.
On the banks of the Ganges he received
inteUigence regarding them, and in little
more than five months he had crossed and
recrossed the Indus. He may be said, how-
ever, rather to have overrun than to have
reduced and conquered ; for he did not
disturb the order of succession in Hin-
dostan, reserving to himself the posses-
sion of the Punjab only. During his life,
which terminated in the year 1405, he
was prayed for in the mosques of Hin-
dostan, and the coin was struck in his
name ; but this might be more the effect
of policy than the act of Tamerlane. For,
soon after he left Hindostan, his author-
ity virtually ceased in Delhi ; that capi-
tal became the prey of the most dreadful
and cruel dissensions.

All Hindostan fell into separate gov-
ernments, and the authority of the em-
peror did not extend beyond the province
of Delhi and the contiguous districts.
The whole of Bengal and Bahar was
under the dominion of a Mahomedan
usurper, who had taken the title of king.
A potentate, styled King of the East,
whose residence was at Jionpour, in the
province of Allahabad, was the most for-
midable of these petty sovereigns. The
provinces of the Deccan, north of the
Krishna, had long thrown off their alle-
giance, and were now formed into five
Mahomedan states, equally independent
of each other, and of the imperial gov-
ernment. Yet though the monarchs of
Delhi had thus lost their influence and
power, they still retained their diadem ;
and Secunder, the son of Belloli, (who
reigned thirty-eight years,) an enterpris-
ing prince, would probably have regained
some part of its dignity, had not a pre-
mature death put an end to his projects.
He died at Agra in 1509, to which city he
had transferred the seat of government.

He was succeeded by his son Ibrahim,
a man of a very different character. He
rendered himself ridiculous by his vanity,
and detested by liis cruelty. The hor-
rors of civil war and assassination were

spread over the country. At length the
nobles, who were apprehensive that they
were not of themselves equal to the task
of getting rid of their tyrant, solicited the
assistance of Sultan Baber, the Mogul
prince of the house of Tamerlane. This
sovereign reigned over a kingdom com-
posed of most of the provinces situated
between the Indus and Samarcand. Hav-
ing been stripped of the northern parts of
his dominions by the Usbecs, he deter-
mined to try his fortune in Hindostan,
and accordingly most readily accepted
the invitation of the nobility of Agra. His
residence was at Cabul, whence he un-
dertook his first expedition across the
Indus, in the year 1517. But it was not
till six years afterwards that he took pos-
session of Lahore, and the next year he
marched to Delhi. Before he reached
that city, Ibrahim met him with a large
army, and a fierce battle ensued on the
plain of Panniput. In this battle, 16,000
Patans, with Ibrahim himself, were killed.
Thus an end was put to the dynasty of
Loudi. Baber, in consequence of this
victory, proceeded first to Delhi, and after-
wards to Agra ; both these cities opened
their gates to him, and he was proclaimed
Emperor of Hindostan, in the year 1525.
It is said that he crossed the Indus the
last time with only 10,000 chosen horse,
the enemy's generals, by their revolts,
furnishing him the rest of his army. The
provinces which he gained were those
of Multan, Lahore, Delhi, Agra, Ajmeer,
and Oude : for, as we have already re-
marked, the empire of Delhi was no
longer the same that flourished under
Balin. The province of Bengal was com-
pletely separated. The rich countries
of the Deccan were the seat of another
empire. Guzerat did not even nominally
acknowledge the sovereigns of Delhi,
and the mountain tribes of Patau wero
independent, or at least troublesome and
restless subjects.

The reign of Baber, even in those dis-
tricts which he gained, was by no means
free from anxiety and disaster. He was
frequently harrassed by insurrections, and
at one period his fortune seemed so des-
perate, that his nobles advised him to re-
turn to Cabul. To this, however, he
would by no means agree ; and by his

446

INDIA.

moderation and firmness, united to a con-
siderable degree of talents and activity
of mind, he overcame all obstacles, and
placed his kingdom in a state of compar-
ative tranquillity. He died in the year
1530. His character maybe thoroughly
understood, both from the account given
of him by Ferishta, and by the memoirs
of his life, written by himself ; and the
historian does not appear to have drawn
it in too flattering colors in the following
terms : " He so often pardoned ingrati-
tude and treason, that he seemed to make
it a principle and rule of his life to return
good for evil ; he thus disarmed vice, and
made the wicked the worshippers of his
virtue. He was of the sect of the Haun-
afies, in whose tenets and doctrines he
was perfectly versed ; but he yielded
more to the evidence of reason, than to
the marvellous legends of superstitious
antiquity. He was not, however, forget-
ful of that rational worship which is due
to the Great Creator, nor a despiser of
those laws and ceremonies which are
founded on soimd policy. He excelled
in poetry and music, and he wrote his
own commentaries in the Mogul language
with such elegance and propriety, that
they are universally admired." The his-
torian adds, that he was fond of pleasure,
though moderate in its enjoyment ; and
that he was equally celebrated for his
clemency, courage, and justice. As an
instance of the latter, he relates, that a
caravan from China having been buried
in the snow in crossing the mountains,
he caused the merchandise to be collect-
ed, and sent notice to China of what had
happened, in order that the owners might
claim their property ; and he restored it
to them, refusing to be reimbursed even
the expenses he had incurred.

The next monarch who makes a promi-
nent figure in the history of Hisdostan,
was the emperor Aurengzebe, who died
in the year 1 707, in the 90th year of his
age, after a reign of 52 years. Under
him, the Mogul empire reached the ut-
most limits to which it ever attained ; it
comprehended the country from the 10th
to the 35th degree of latitude, and nearly
as many degrees of longitude.

Notwithstanding the ambitious projects
in which Aurengzebe was engaged du-

ring a large portion even of his long reign,
he was by no means inattentive to the
improvement of his empire, or the com-
forts of his people.

His wealth was immense. His reve-
nue exceeded 32,000,000^, sterling, in a
country where the products of the earth
are about four times as cheap as in Eng-
land. Even after many years of weak
government, and both public and private
disturbances, Nadir Shah, when he in-
vaded India, carried back with him
from the royal treasury of Delhi above
80,000,000/, sterling, in gold and jewels ;
most if not all of which must have been
collected by Aurengzebe. Yet, notwith-
standing the immense wealth which he
left behind him, the magnificence of his
court was unrivalled, even in the annals
of the East. His own dress was simple,
except on days of festivals, when he
wore cloth of gold and jewels. In the
manners and habits of his private life, he
was free from parade and ostentation ;
but he encouraged magnificence in his
nobles, and required it in the governors
of his provinces.

That most curious traveller, Bernier,
who followed the camp of Aurengzebe,
from Delhi to Cashmere, describes, with
great accuracy, the immense moving
city. The guard of cavalry consisted of
35,000 men, that of infantry of 10,000.
It was computed that the camp contained
1 50,000 horses, mules, and elephants ;
50,000 camels ; 50,000 oxen ; and be-
tween 300,000 and 400,000 persons. Al-
most all Delhi followed the court, whose
magnificence supported its industry.

Such is the picture of the manners
and magnificence of the Mogul empire
at the period of Aurengzebe's reign, when
it had attained its utmost extent and
splendor, and before the peculiarities of
its manners were broken in upon by the
intermixture of those of foreign nations.

In 1739, Nadir Shah, the usurper of
the Persian throne, invaded Hindostan.
A kind of infatuation seems to have pre-
vailed in the Mogul councils. The army
was not half assembled ; and Mahomed
had marched only a day's journey from
Delhi into the plains of Carnawl, when
Nadir, who had by this time reduced La-
hore, defeated him, with the loss of Dou-

INDIA.

447

ran, the commander-in-chief of the army,
and his best and bravest minister. It
appears that before this fatal battle, Nadir
was so little confident of success, that he
offered to evacuate the empire for 50
lacks of rupees. But the intrigues of the
Nizam and his party, induced the em-
peror not only to refuse this sum, but
after the battle to throw himself on the
clemency of Nadir. The first conse-
quence of the battle was the reduction of
Delhi. At first the strictest discipline
prevailed among the Persians ; no one
was molested ; and the emperor, after
having been kept a state prisoner with
his family for a few days, was permitted
to return quietly to his palace. But
though this strictness of discipline was
maintained, pnd this moderation shown
with regard to the emperor, the conqueror
was intent on plunder, and the scene was
soon changed. A quarrel having arisen
in the bazar of Delhi, one of those en-
gaged suddenly called out that Nadir
Shah was dead, and that now was the
time to free Delhi from the Persians.
A massacre instantly commenced ; and
during the whole night, the city was a
scene of confusion and murder. The
inhabitants, however, had soon ample
and dreadful reason to repent of their pre-
cipitancy ; for at day-light Nadir gave
orders for a general massacre, without
distinction of age or sex. The carnage
lasted from sun-rise till mid-day, when
the emperor and his nobles appeared be-
fore Nadir Shah, and for the sake of
Mahomed, he was induced to pronounce
the words " I forgive." Instantly the
carnage stopped, but its effects continued ;
for many Hindoos as well as Moguls, in
order to save their women from pollution,
had set fire to their houses, and burned
their families and effects. These fires
spread, and the city soon presented a
most dreadful scene of ruin. The dead
bodies occasioned a pestilential disorder
among the comparatively few inhabitants
that survived ; and, as always is the case
during the prevalence of any dreadful
calamity of this nature, every species of
crime and immorality was indulged in.
In order to extort confessions of treasures,
private murders were committed ; the
ties of friendship and blood were forgot-

ten. The evil, however, was not yet at
its height : famine was added to pesti-
lence, murder, and plunder ; and hun-
dreds of persons, desperate, and hopeless
of escaping from such accumulated dis-
tress, and unable to bear the sight of those
whom they had loved and respected either
falling under it, or, what was Avorse in
their estimation, giving themselves up to
the commission of every crime, put an
end to their own lives.

At length, after having had possession
of Delhi for about six weeks. Nadir left
it ; but he left it almost a desert ; for it
is said, that 100,000 of its inhabitants
had been massacred by his troops or de-
stroyed by fire, pestilence, or famine. A
treaty had been concluded, by which he
confirmed Mahomed on the throne of all
the provinces east of the Indus, reserving
those to the west for himself. He also
married his son to a grand-daughter of
Aurengzebe. He carried with him three
millions and a half sterling in money
from the royal treasury ; one million and
a half in plate ; fifteen millions in jewels ;
the celebrated peacock throne valued at
a million ; other thrones of inferior value ;
and the canopy for the royal elephant,
estimated at eleven millions ; besides
500 elephants, a number of horses, and
the imperial camp equipage. A fine of
five millions Avas exacted from the nobles
and other inhabitants ; so that, if to these
sums be added the plunder of the sol-
diers, the estimate that sixty-two millions
were carried away, will not be deemed
beyond the truth.

No empire, after such devastation com-
mitted in its capital, could soon have re-
covered its strength ; but with respect to
the Mogul empire, its restoration was ab-
solutely impossible. It was loosened from
its foimdation ; and there Avere those on
every side of it, Avho were prepared to
hasten its downfall. The departure of
Nadir left the Nizam in possession of
the AA'hole remaining power of the em-
pire ; but he preferred an independent
kingdom in the Deccan to the govern-
ment of a feeble and declining state.
About this time Bengal became indepen-
dent of Delhi, under Aliverdy CaAvn, and
not long afterwards, a vast army of Mah-
rattas, both from Poonah and Berar, for

448

INDIA.

they were now divided into two states,
invaded it under pretence that their ob-
ject was to recover it for the emperor.
The Mogul empire now became a prey
to all the neighboring states that were
sufficiently contiguous and powerful to
attack it.

We will now proceed to give some
account of the rise and progress of the
European establishments in India.

After a tedious course of voyages, con-
tinued for nearly half a century, Vasco
de Gama, an active and enterprising
Portuguese admiral, doubled the cape of
Good Hope, and coasting along the east-
ern shore of the continent of Africa, sail-
ed from thence across the Indian Ocean,
and landed at Calicut on the coast of
Malabar, on the 22nd of May, 1498. At
the period of the arrival of the Portu-
guese in India, the west coast of Hin-
dostan was divided between two great
sovereigns, the kings of Cambay, and the
Zamorin, each of whom had under him
numerous petty princes. Cabral was
next sent out by the Portuguese court to
Calicut ; but the Moors were as little
favorable to him as they had been to De
Gama, so that he judged it prudent to
proceed to Cochin and Cananore. As
the kings of these places were under the
yoke of the Zamorin, which they were
desirous of thoAving off, they received
him very favorably, and entered into alli-
ance with him. The Portuguese thus in
a short time acquired so great an influ-
ence, as to give law to the whole coast,
fixing their own prices on the produc-
tions of the country, and building forts in
the principal towns.

In 1508, Albuquerque arrived in India,
and took the chief command of the Por-
tuguese ; hitherto they had not acquired
a good port ; and as this was an object
of the first consequence, he attacked Goa,
and took it with little difficulty ; he was
however, unable to retain it ; for the na-
tives besieged it so closely, that he was
in a short time in want of provisions, and
compelled to abandon it and retire to his
ships. He did not, notwithstanding, give
up his object ; but returning in a few
months, he took it by surprise, and forti-
fied it in such a manner, as to render it
quite impregnable by the forces of the

natives. It now became the metropolis
of the settlements of the Portuguese in
India, from which they spread their con-
quests and their commerce over the
Eastern seas.

As the Venetians had been deprived
of the most abundant and certain source
of their riches by the discovery of the
cape of Good Hope, and the subsequent
commerce by sea between Portugal and
India, they stirred up the Sultan of Egypt
to unite with them in the attempt to drive
the Portuguese out of India. This he
was easily induced to do, as he also had
felt the consequences of the Portuguese
voyages to India, in the reduced receipt
of the transit duties, which he had been
accustomed to levy on all Indian mer-
chandise passing through his dominions.
Accordingly, an Egyptian fleet, equipped
principally with materials supplied by the
Venetians, made its way into the Indian
sea, and being joined by the fleet of the
king of Cambay, attacked the Portuguese,
at first with some success, the latter, how-
ever, receiving re-enforcements from Por-
tugal, soon regained their superiority.

The first commercial transactions of
the Dutch, after they had cast off the
Spanish yoke, were with the Portuguese.
From Lisbon they procured the produc-
tions of India, to sell them again to the
nations of the north of Europe. This
trade, however, was put an end to by
Philip II, when he became master of
Portugal ; and the Dutch then endeavor-
ed to discover a passage by the north
seas to China and India. This enter-
prise was unsuccessful ; but, while en-
gaged in it, Houtman, a native of Hol-
land, confined in the prisons of Lisbon
for debt, proposed to the merchants of
Rotterdam, to reveal to them the knowl-
edge he possessed of Indian navigation
and commerce, provided they liberated
him from prison. His proposal was ac-
cepted ; and an association was formed,
which sent out four ships to India under
Houtman, in the year 1594. On their
first arrival in the Indian seas, the Dutch
and Portuguese had only occasional skir-
mishes ; but a sanguinary war soon fol-
lowed, which in the end totally destroyed
the Portuguese power.

For several years after the Portuguese,

NDIA.

449

Dutch, and English had penetrated to
India, the French contented themselves
with procuring its productions from the
Portuguese and Dutch. In the year
1601, indeed, a company had been form-
ed in Brittany, which sent two ships to
India ; but they returned with cargoes
barely sufficient to defray the expenses
of the equipment and voyage ; conse-
quently the company was dissolved. In
1633, another company was formed ;
but their enterprises were confined to the
island of Madagascar. The attempt to
colonize this island not succeeding, the
French sent some ships direct to India,
and established factories with the con-
sent of the native princes. Their chief
rendezvous at first Avas at Surat ; but the
Dutch and English uniting against them,
soon obliged them to abandon it. They
next attempted to seize on Trincomalee ;
but in this also they were unsuccessful.
They afterwards formed their celebrated
settlement of Pondicherry, where a small
district was ceded them by the native
prince. At the beginning of the 18th
century, their establishments consisted
of Pondicherry, with small and insig-ni-
ficant factories at Masulipatam and Raja-
pore. Soon after this period, the history
of the French and English nations in
India are so blended, that they must be
considered together.

The Danes received the first idea of
forming establishments in India from a
Dutchman, who, discontented with his
own government, offered his services to
Christian IV, to form a settlement at
Ceylon. This man, however, dying on
his passage, and the Danes having been
unfavorably received at Ceylon, they pro-
ceeded from thence to the coast of Co-
romandel, where the king of Tanjore
allowed them to form a settlement at
Tranquebar.

Queen Elizabeth was the first English
sovereign Avho thought of obtaining for
her subjects a share in the trade to India.
In the year 1583, she granted letters to
two adventurers for the princes of India,
and in 1596, other letters. All these ad-
venturers proceeded to the court of the
Great Mogul, by land, where they were
well received. The attempts to discover
a passage by the North Sea to China
57

having failed, the English resolved to go
round the cape of Good Hope. Accord-
ingly the queen, on the last day of the
year 1600, granted letters patent to a
society of merchants in London to trade
to the East Indies. The object of the
company was principally pepper and
other spices ; and, therefore, their voy-
ages were to Achen, Java, and the spice
islands. In the year 1612, four ships
were sent out by king James, for the
purpose of conciliating the Mogul empe-
ror, some of whose vessels had been
annoyed by the English in the Red Sea.
The commander of this fleet succeeded
in his mission ; and at the same time,
he obtained from the court of Delhi, the
liberty of establishing a factory at Surat ;
and this city was some time afterwards
regarded as the principal English station
in the west of India. The Portuguese,
alarmed at the success of the English,
attacked their fleet near Surat, but they
were repulsed. This voyage, therefore,
may in some respect be regarded as the
origin of the power of the British in the
East ; the two foundations of Avhich
were, the grant of the Mogul sovereign,
and their own naval ability and resources.

About 1640, the Dutch began system-
atically to harass the European commerce
on the coast of Malabar. In consequence
of this, the English fixed on Madraspatam,
which they obtained from the chief of
the district. They immediately built a
fort, with the name of Fort St. George ;
and in 1653, this station was raised by
the company to the rank of a presidency.

Nearly about the same time, the com-
mercial transactions of the British com-
menced on the Ganges. In 1634, they
obtained from the court of Delhi, the
privilege of a free resort to the port of
Pipley, in the province of Bengal. This
privilege was much extended in 1645,
chiefly through the professional skill and
success of a surgeon of one of the com-
pany's ships, who had thus, at the Mogul
court, conciliated the favor of the mon-
arch. Factories were accordingly estab-
lished in Bengal, the principal of them
at Hooghly ; but this, as well as the
others, was subject to the presidency of
Madras, or Fort St. George. The fac-
tories of the British at this time were,

450

NDIA.

Madras with its dependencies, Masulipa-
tam, Madapollani, Peltipolu, and Hoogh-
ly ; and the factories subordinate to
Hooghly were, Cossinibazar, Balasorc,
Patna, and Malda.

But the Mogul government, as well as
the other Indian princes, though they
granted to the British the privileges of
commerce, yet denied them the exercise
of civil jurisdiction, or the use of military
strength. The factory of Surat was
strongly built ; but it was not allowed to
be either fortified or garrisoned. The
factory was exposed to still farther incon-
venience and danger ; for it was exactly
placed on the debateable ground between
the Mogul and the Mahrattas, and, was
more than once plundered by Sevajee the
Mahratta chief. It is probable, that the
British would have been obliged to have
given up Surat, had not they gained an
unexpected relief. In the year 1668,
king Charles II, ceded to the company the
island of Bombay, which he had received
as a part of the marriage portion of Cath-
arine, the Infanta of Portugal. This was
a strong place, and it was within 200
miles by sea from Surat, to which it was
made subordinate. The British now
commanded greater respect, both from
the Mogul and the Mahratta officers ;
but in the years 1665 and 1672, their
settlements, particularly on the Malabar
coast, suffered much from the hostilities
of the Dutch.

The settlement of Madras was also
exposed to great difficulties and danger.
About the year 1656, the territory on
which it stood, and which belonged to
the king of Besnagur, was conquered by
Meer Jumla, the general of the king of
Golconda, who afterwards distinguished
himself as the ablest officer in the ser-
vice of Aurengzebe. This event, how-
ever, in the end, proved fortunate to Ma-
dras ; for in the years 1674 and 1676,
the king of Golconda permitted the Ma-
dras government to build ships in any
part of his dominions, and forbade any
of his officers to molest the British
commerce.

The settlements of Bengal also flour-
ished ; but in the mean time, the war
between the emperor and the Mahrattas
weighed heavily on the factories of Surat

and Bombay. Sir John Child was at
this period, what would now be styled
governor general of the British settlements
in India, while his brother, sir Jonah,
was leading member of the court of com-
mittees ; their policy was, first, the en-
largement of the authority of the company
over such British subjects as were within
the limits of their charter ; and secondly,
retaliation by force of arms on the Indian
princes who had oppressed their settle-
ments, and the attainment of political
strength and dominion in the East.
Hence it is evident that they laid the
foundation of that system of aggrandize-
ment, on which the British have ever
since acted in India.

At the breaking out of the war between
England and France, in 1745, the Eng-
lish possessed the following settlements :
Bombay ; Dabul, about 40 leagues farther
to the south, in the province of Concan ;
Carwar, in the province of North Cana-
ra ; Tellicherry, on the sea-coast of the
Malabar province ; Anjengo, their most
southerly settlement on the western coast
of the peninsula, on the sea-coast of Tra-
vancore ; Fort St. David ; Madras ; Vi-
sigapatam and Balasore, on the Coroman-
del coast ; and Calcutta. The principal
French settlements were Pondicherry
and Chandernagore ; the latter about 20
miles above Calcutta, the former on the
sea-coast of the Carnatic.

In the year 1746, Madras was besieg-
ed by a French armament, and compelled
to capitulate ; but it was restored to the
English by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle.
About the same time, the nabob of the
Carnatic, within whose jurisdiction both
Madras and Pondicherry were situated,
and who successively took part with the
combatants on both sides, sustained a to-
tal defeat from a very inferior number of
French. The event is memorable, chief-
ly, as being the first which decidedly
proved the superiority of the European
troops over those of Hindostan.

The territory of the Carnatic was one
of the subordinate principalities imme-
diately governed by nabobs, but subject
to the soubhadar of the Deccan, who was
still regarded as a feudal prince \mder the
Mogul emperor. Nizam ul Mulk, already
frequently mentioned, who was soubhadar

INDIA.

451

of the Deccan, died in the year 1 748, and
the province was disputed between his
son Nazir, and his grandson Murzafa.
At the same time the nabob of the Car-
natic, Anwaraadeen, who had been regu-
larly established in that office by the Ni-
zam, was opposed by Chunda Saheb ; the
latter and Murzafa made common cause,
and to their alliance acceded M. Dupleix,
the governor of Pondicherry, a man of
great talents, intrigue, and ambition. The
combined troops of the French and the
two princes overthrew those of Anwaraa-
deen, on the frontiers of his own country,
in a pitched battle, in which he himself
was killed, and his eldest son taken pris-
oner, while his second, Mahomed Ali,
escaped, and implored the assistance of
the English. For some time the Eng-
lish hesitated, till at length they were
induced by several reasons — the strong-
est, probably, a desire to curb and oppose
the French — to espouse the alliance of
Nazir and Mahomed Ali, who had made
common cause.

Such was the origin of the war for the
succession of the Carnatic, or the Car-
natic war, as it is called, between the
English and the French. In its progress,
this war preserved essentially the char-
acter under which it had commenced,
that is, in reality, a contest between the
English and French for superiority of
power and extension of dominion, in Hin-
dostan.

In the year 1741, Alivedi, as seen,
usurped the nabobship of Bengal. He
died in 1756, leaving for his successor
Surajah Dowlah. This prince was strong-
ly prepossessed against the English. Un-
derstanding that the governor of Calcutta
was building a wall and digging a moat
round that city, he took offence, and at
last marched at the head of his army to
attack it, with its dependent settlements.
The town was gallantly, though not very
skilfully, defended for three days, but
then was obliged to surrender. Surajah
Dowlah had promised the prisoners their
lives, but on the same night in which he
entered the place he ordered the massa-
cre, (for it deserves no other appellation,)
which has rendered proverbial the black
hole of Calcutta. The Europeans, to
the number of 146 persons, were, in the

most sultry season even of the Bengal
year, confined for twelve hours within a
cube of 1 8 feet, having no outlets except
two small windows, strongly barred. All
perished except twenty-three ; and some
of these afterwards experienced from
the nabob fresh cruelties. As soon as
intelligence of these events reached the
English on the coast, they detached to
Bengal 900 Europeans, and 1,500 se-
poys, under the command of colonel
Clive. In a few days after their arrival
before Calcutta, the city was retaken,
and the nabob being attacked in his
camp, acquiesced in a pacification, high-
ly honorable and advantageous to the
English. On him little reliance could
be placed, especially as by the break-
ing out of the war between the English
and French, he might naturally ex-
pect the assistance of the latter, who
had, at their settlement of Candenagore,
contiguous to Calcutta, a force of 300
Europeans, and 300 sepoys. Under
these circumstances, colonel Clive re-
solved to attack the French settlement,
which he accordingly did, with success.
Still, however, the nabob was justly sus-
pected ; and as it was soon afterwards
proved that he was in correspondence
with the French, the English listened to
the overtures of the discontented gran-
dees at his court, and at length resolved
to support Meer Jaffier in his pretensions
to the nabobship. This arrangement led
immediately to the famous battle of Plas-
sey, by the issue of which Meer Jafiier
gained the nabobship, and his English
aUies a large treasure, a portion of a ter-
ritory adjoining to Calcutta, and a consid-
erable influence with the new nabob.
The British forces engaged in this battle
were commanded by colonel Clive, and
consisted of 900 Europeans, 100 topas-
ses, and 2,000 sepoys, with eight six
pounders, and two howitzers. The na-
bob's army was estimated at 50,000 foot,
and 50 pieces of cannon, besides about
40 Frenchmen. According to one account,
the fortune of the day was decided by
Meer Jaffier, who commanded part of
] the nabob's army, remaining neuter dur-
ing the engagement ; but by other ac-
counts, it would appear, that even if bis
forces had taken an active part, the issue

452

INDIA.

would have been equally favorable to the
British.

In the pursuit of Cosseim, the nabob
of Bengal, who had turned his arms
against them, the British had reached
the interminous frontier of the territories
of Bengal and Oude ; the fugitive prince
had taken refuge in the court of Sujah
Dowlah, otherwise called the Nabob Vi-
zier, which, at the same time, harbored
a more illustrious exile, the young Mogid.
The British camp now became the scene
of complicated negotiations ; an alliance
was proposed to Sujah Dowlah, which
he rejected. While these negotiations
were going on, discontents prevailed in
the British army. Encouraged by this,
Sujah Dowlah, who had already collect-
ed an army on the frontiers of Oude, de-
termined on hostility ; and he was joined
by the Rajah of Benares. In March,
1764, Major Carnac took the command
of the British forces, and having restored
discipline and subordination, repulsed
the vizier in an obstinate engagement
near Patna. The war was now carried
into the province of Oude, and Major
Carnac was succeeded by Major Monro.
On the 24th of October was fought the
celebrated battle of Buxar, on the river
Carumnasa, about 100 miles above the
city of Patna. The British army con-
sisted of 856 Europeans, and 6,215 se-
poys ; the combined troops of Sujah
Dowlah and Cosseim consisted of 40,000
men. After an arduous contest of three
hours, the army of the vizier retired in
disorder, leaving on the field 133 pieces
of cannon, and blowing up some of their
powder magazines ; 2,000 troops were
slain on the field of battle. The loss of
Major Monro's army was trifling, being
only 87 Europeans and 712 sepoys.
The flight of the allies was so rapid, that
they did not stop at Buxar, but hastened
to a small river beyond it. Over this
was a bridge of boats, which, however,
they had not all crossed, when Sujah
Dowlah directed the bridge to be de-
stroyed. By this act of generalship he
sacrificed, indeed, the rear division of his
army, which, to the number of nearly
2,000 men were drowned ; but he saved
his main body from certain destruction,
and at the same time preserved from cap-

ture the immense treasures of Cosseim
as well as his own. A native historian
describes the camp of the two chiefs in
the following terms : " A bridge of boats
being thrown over the Ganges, the allied
armies began their march in numbers not
to be reckoned ; but, from the ignorance
of the generals and want of discipline,
murdering and plundering each other.
It was not an army, but rather a mov-
ing nation." On the following day the
Mogul, who had taken no part in the bat-
tle, sought and obtained the protection
of the British, offering them terms highly
favorable to their views, and plans of
aggrandizement and extent of territory.

After the general peace of 1763, the
French again endeavored to gain a foot-
ing in them ; and this induced lord Clive,
who arrived in India for the second time,
in 1765, to obtain from the Mogiil the
proprietary grant of this territory. In
the year 1766, four of the circars were
given up by the soubhadar ; the fifth, held
by a brother of the Nizam, was granted
in reversion to the British. In return
for these cessions, the British promised
the soubhadar the assistance of their
troops, whenever he might need it, to
settle the affairs of his government. —
About the end of the year 1766, having
united himself with a Mahratta chief
against Hyder Ali, sovereign of the My-
sore, he applied for these troops, which
were granted him, even before his object
or that of the Mahrattas was known. As
soon as the British troops had joined, the
united army entered the territory of My-
sore.

It was on this occasion that Hyder
Ali first displayed those talents which
afterwards rendered him so very for-
midable. He bought off" the Mahrattas
by large bribes. Next he entered into
negotiations with the Nizam with such
effect, that in August, 1767, the armies
of the Nizam and Hyder actually united
at Bangalore, from which place they made
irregular incursions into the Carnatic.

Hyder Ali, indignant at the refusal of
the British to assist him against the
Mahrattas, made peace with them, and pre-
pared for the invasion of the Carnatic.
On the 24th of July, 1780, Hyder All's
cavalry were only nine miles distant from

INDIA.

453

Madras ; and it was ascertained, that his
whole force consisted of 100,000 men,
among whom was a large body of Euro-
pean troops, under French officers, and
commanded by colonel Lally. In this
emergency, sir Hector Munro ordered
the British army to assemble at Conj eve-
ram, and directed colonel Baillie, who
commanded a detachment at Gumero-
panda, to join him at that place ; but this
detachment was cut to pieces by Tippoo
Saib, Hyder's son. 'I'his obliged the
Carnatic army to retreat, till sir Eyre
Coote arrived from Bengal with a bri-
gade of 7,000 men, and assumed the
command. Sir Eyre immediately re-
stored the spirits of the army, and in a
very short space of time defeated Hyder
in five several battles. In some instances,
however, the British were not so success-
ful ; for Tippoo entirely defeated a de-
tachment of about 2,000 infantry, and
300 cavalry, under colonel Braithwaite.
In the end of the year 1782 Hyder died ;
and one of the first objects of Tippoo,
who succeeded him, was to recover Cana-
ra, which had been conquered by a de-
tachment under general Matthews. It
had been supposed by the presidency of
Bengal, that an attack of Tippoo's pro-
vinces on the west of India would, by
giving an easy and immediate entry into
the most valuable part of his dominions,
draw him off from the Carnatic, which
he still occupied, notwithstanding the
defeats which his father had sustained.
Accordingly, General Matthews was sent
into Canara, a province which Hyder Ali
had conquered in 1763, and he succeed-
ed in reducing the whole of it. The
scheme succeeded in drawing Tippoo
from the Carnatic into Canara ; but at the
dreadful expense of the loss of general
Matthews and his army, which was
obliged to capitulate, on condition of be-
ing allowed to go to Bombay. This con-
dition, however, was not fulfilled; and
general Matthews, and twenty of his offi-
cers, were poisoned, and most of his
troops were massacred. At last, Tippoo
fiading that the Mahrattas, his inveterate
enemies, were at peace with the English,
and at liberty to attack him, and being
deserted by the French, in consequence
of the peace of 1783, condescended to

treat in March, 1784. By this treaty,
matters were restored nearly to the con-
dition in which they had been before the
commencement of hostilities.

Tippoo was without doubt the most
powerful of all the princes of Hindos-
tan. His dominions were equal in
extent to Great Britain ; his revenue was
computed at four millions sterling ; and
his military establishment consisted of
72,830 regulars ; 49,000 in garrison ;
7,000 irregulars, and 26,300 auxilia-
ries ; in all, 155,130 men. Of the
regular troops, 27,400 were cavalry ;
36,000 sepoy infantry, Hindoos and Ma-
homedans ; 7,300 topasses or hatmen,
that is, the descendants of the Portuguese
and other Europeans, infantry ; 200 Eu-
ropean cavalry ; and 540 European foot.
The artillery corps, consisting of Euro-
pean topasses, (fee, amounted to 1,390.
There were 1 1 0 guns attached to the
battalions ; the horse garrisons on the
frontiers amounted to 21,000, and the
foot garrisons to 28,000. The auxiliaries
were supplied from the rajahs of Ry-
droog, Darwar, &c, and consisted of
13,300 horse, and 13,000 peons, or irreg-
ular troops.

It was not to be supposed that a per-
son, possessed of the ambitious and rest-
less disposition which characterized Tip-
poo, would long remain at peace with
such an immense force at his disposal, or
that he would find any difficulty in rais-
ing pretences for commencing hostilities.
Accordingly, towards the end of the
year 1789, he approached the country of
Travancore for the avowed purpose of
recovering two places which the rajah of
that district had purchased from the
Dutch, but which Tippoo alleged were
dependent upon him, as forming part of
the possessions of his tributary, the Ra-
jah of Cochin. On the 29th of Decem-
ber, he stormed the lines of the Rajah of
Travancore, who was not disposed to ac-
cede to his demands ; but without suc-
cess. As this Rajah had put himself
under the protection of the British gov-
ernment, and was acknowledged to be so,
by the treaty concluded with Tippoo in
1784, war between the latter and the
British seemed unavoidable. Lord Corn-
wallis at this time was Governor Gen-

454

INDIA.

eral of India. His first object was to
enter into a treaty offensive and defen-
sive with the Nizam. This was accord-
ingly conchided on the 4th of July, 1790.
A treaty was also formed with the Paish-
wah of the Mahrattas. The provisions
of these treaties were, that measures
should be instantly taken to punish Tip-
poo, and to deprive him of the means of
disturbing the general tranquillity, and
that the Nizam and the Paishwah should
both vigorously prosecute the war.

The British Madras army was assem-
bled on the plain of Trichinoply, and
on the 24th of May, 1790, general Mead-
ows, who was to take the command
joined it. On the 12th of June, he en-
tered the territories of the Sultan. His
first object was to relieve the Rajah of
Travancore ; and, before the end of the
year, he was completely successful. In
the mean time, the Bombay troops under
general Abercrombie conquered the valu-
able districts below the Ghauts on the
west and the north, as far as the river
Baliapatam. The next campaign was
carried on by lord Cornwallis himself
in the centre of Tippoo's kingdom. The
important fortress of Bangalore was con-
quered. A successful battle was fought
near Seringapatam ; but the unfavorable
season of the year, which now began,
and the delay of the Mahrattas, prevented
his lordship from attacking that city,
which had been his principal design
when lie commenced the campaign. In
the mean time, the Bombay army was
marching to join his lordship ; but being
unable to effect the junction, from the
badness of the roads, and the swelling
of the rivers, they were compelled to re-
trace their steps over those mountains,
which form an almost impassable barrier
between Mysore and the Malabar coast.
In this march and retreat, the troops suf-
fered dreadfully ; but the sufferings were
mild compared to those which the Ma-
dras army underwent while obliged to re-
main inactive in the heart of Tippoo's do-
minions on account of the rains. They
were infected with an epidemic disorder,
the ravages of which were greatly in-
creased by a scarcity of provisions ; and,
to add to these calamities, the small-pox
raged in the camp. Fortunately, they

were soon joined by the allied force of
the Mahrattas, amounting to 32,000 cav-
alry ; and soon afterwards, the troops of
the Nizam joined them ; but from neither
of these allies could lord Cornwallis
expect much efficient a«sistance, espe-
cially in the moment of danger, as their
equipment and discipline were exces-
sively defective. In the month of June,
1791, his lordship set out towards Ban-
galore. His first object was to secure
an easy and regular communication be-
tween the Mysore and Carnatic, as from
the latter the supplies of the army were
chiefly to be drawn ; but this communi-
cation would be impracticable, so long as
the various hill forts which commanded
the passes were in the possession of
Tippoo. They were uncommonly strong,
both by nature and art. Of these, Sa-
vendroog, Chittledroog, and Kistnaghury,
were the most remarkable for natural
strength. The first is surrounded by a
forest of natural wood, or jungle, several
miles in depth, thickened with clumps of
planted bamboos, to render it as impene-
trable as possible. It is impossible to
invest or blockade it closely, the rock
forming a base of 8 or 10 miles in cir-
cumference, which, with the jungle and
lesser hills that surround il, includes a
circle of 20 miles. From this base, it is
reckoned to rise above half a mile in per-
pendicular height. This huge mountain is
further rendered strong by being divided
above by a chasm that separates the up-
per part into two hills, each, with their
defences, forming two citadels, and capa-
ble of being maintained independent of
the lower works. This stupendous for-
tress, so diflicult of approach, is no less
remarkable for its noxious atmosphere oc-
casioned by the surrounding hills and
woods, than for its wonderful size and
strength.

The right wing of the main army, un-
der the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Stewart, was ordered to the siege of this
tremendous fortress. In three days a
practicable breach was effected, and the
troops advanced to the storm, lord Corn-
wallis in person superintending the at-
tack. On the appearance of the Euro-
peans advancing, the garrison was seized
with a panic and fled, and the breach was

INDIA.

455

Storming of Seringapatam

carried without, meeting or even overtak
insf the enemy. The main body en

deavored to gain the western hill, and if
they had done so, the siege must have
recommenced ; but they were closely
pursued by a small party of the British,
who entered the different barriers along
whh them, and gained possession of the
top of the mountain. Thus, in less than
an hour, in open da}'^, this fortress, hith-
erto deemed impregnable, was stormed
without the loss of a man, only one pri-
vate soldier having been wounded in the
assault. Other fortresses were also taken,
so that the convoys reached the army
without the least delay or opposition.

On the 22nd of January, 1792, the
Bombay army, having passed the Ghauts,
joined lord Cornwallis. They consist-
ed of 8,400 men, and as soon as the ar-
mies of the Mahrattas and of the Nizam
had also joined. Lord Cornwallis made
preparations for besieging Seringapatam.
On the 5th of February, the city was
seen by the whole army from the heights
which they had mounted, lying six miles
to the north-east of it. The Sultan's ar-
my was encamped under the walls of his
capital. Seringapatam is placed at the

upper end of an island surrounded by the
Cavery, which is here a large and rapid
river, having a very extensive channel,
impeded by rocks and fragments of gran-
ite. The fort occupies about a mile at
the west end of the island, and is an im-
mense and unfinished building. In forti-
fying the town, Tippoo retained the long
strait walls and square bastions of the
Hindoos, and his glacis was, in many
places so high and steep, as to shelter the
assailants.

The camp of the allies was pitched on
the north side of the island. The Brit-
ish formed the front line, the reserve
was placed a mile in the rear, and the Ni-
zam and Mahrattas were stationed still
farther in the rear. Tippoo's fortified
camp was under the walls of Seringapa-
tam, within a bound hedge strengthened
by redoubts. In this line there Avas 100
pieces of artillery ; and in the fort and
island which formed his second line,
there were upwards of 300 pieces. The
whole of his army amoimted to 40,000
infantry, besides a large body of cavalry.

On'the night of the 6th of February,
1792, lord Cornwallis resolved to attack
Tippoo's camp. For this service he se

456

IRELAND.

lected 2,800 Europeans, and 5,900 native
infantry, but without artillery. The at-
tack was completely successful. It was
made in three columns. The centre col-
umn under lord Cornwallis attacked the
Sultan's redoubt, and having carried it,
forced their way into the town ; and, by
the other columns, the enemy's positions
on the north side of the river, and almost
the whole of the island, were carried.
Eighty guns were taken, and the loss of
the Sultan in the battle is said to have
been 4,000 ; but the desertion was so
great after the overthrow, that his army
was reduced in number at least 20,000.
The loss of the British was 535.

The British army having thus obtained
possession of the island and town of
Seringapatam, were immediately em-
ployed in making preparations for the
siege of the fortress. But Tippoo, after
several unsuccessful efforts to retrieve his
fortune, on the 24th of February, agreed
to terms of peace, by which he was to pay
3 crores and 30 lacks of rupees, about 3^
millions sterling — to relinquish half his do-

minions— and to give up three of his eldest
sons for the due performance of the treaty.

On this occasion, the force brought
against Tippoo was one of the most for-
midable ever seen in Hindostan. On
the 16th of March, 1792, the British ar-
my above the Ghauts amounted in all to
11,000 Europeans, 31,600 natives, and
190 pieces of cannon. The Mahrattas,
the Nizam's, the Rajah of Travancore,
and the other auxiliary forces, amounted
to about 40,000 men, of whom 30,000
were cavalry. Towards the conclusion
of the siege, allowing four camp follow-
ers to every soldier, the total number of
persons attached to the camp of the con-
federates exceeded 400,000.

Since this period there has been a num-
ber of conflicts with the native princes.
In 1799, under the administration of
lord Wellesley, Tippoo was slain at the
taking of Seringapatam. The British pow-
er has been greatly increased, and it is
supposed that there is at this time one
hundred millions of people in India, un-
der their dominion.

IRELAND,

The ancient history of Ireland is in-
volved in considerable obscurity, but its
early chroniclers state that it was first
peopled by a colony of Greeks, and that
after the lapse of several centuries they
were entirely destroyed by a plag-ue, the
effects of which were so fearfully fatal,
that not one remained to tell the tale.
After the extinction of this colony, Ire-
land remained a perfect wilderness for
more than thirty years, when another
colony arrived from the east, under the
direction of Nemedius, who set sail from
the Euxine Sea with thirty transports,
each being manned with soldiers, which
arrived in safety on the coast of Ireland
after a very tedious and protracted voyage.
The most remarkable circumstance which
occurred during his reign, was an unsuc-
cessful war in which he was engaged
with some African pirates, who in the
end conquered him, and the victors be-

came so tyrannical that the colonists
found themselves under the necessity of
quitting the island altogether.

About two hundred and sixteen years
after the death of Nemedius, the descen-
dants of Simon Braec returned from
Greece into Ireland. They were con-
ducted by five princes, who divided the
island into five kingdoms, of nearly equal
size. These kingdoms were called Mun-
ster, Leinster, Connaught, Meath, and
Ulster, and the subjects of these kings
are called by the early Irish historians
Firbolgs. The Firbolgs were shortly
after expelled or entirely subdued, after
the loss of 1 00,000 men in one battle, by
the Tuath de Dannans, a nation who
came from Attica, Ba30tia, and Achaia,
into Denmark, from Denmark to Scot-
land, and from Scotland into Ireland.
This nation were believed to be powerful
necromancers, who were so completely

RELAND.

457

skilled in their art, that they could even
restore the dead to life, and bring again
into the field those warriors who had
been slain the day before. They had also
some Aveapons, &;c, which possessed a
wonderful virtue. These were a sword,
a spear, a cauldron, and a mai-ble chair ;
on which last were crowned first the
kings of Ireland, and afterwards those of
Scotland. But neither the powerful vir-
tues of these Danish curiosities, nor the
more powerful spells of the magic art,
were able to preserve the Tuath de Dan-
nans from being subdued by the Gade-
lians when they invaded Ireland.

The Gadelians were descended from
a powerful chief who bore the name of
Gathelns. His mother was Scota, the
daughter of Pharaoh, by Niul, the son of
a Scythian monarch contemporary with
Nirarod. The Gadelians, called also
Scots, conquered Ireland about 1300 B.
C. under Heber and Heremon, two sons
of Milesius, king of Spain, from whom
were descended all the kings of Ireland
down to the English conquest, and who
are therefore styled by the Irish histo-
rians princes of the Milesian race.

From this period the Irish historians
trace a gradual refinement of their coun-
trymen from a state of the grossest bar-
barity, until a monarch, named OUam
Fodla, established a regular form of gov-
ernment, erected a seminary of learning,
and instituted the Fes, or triennial con-
vention of provincial kings, priests and
poets, at Feamor or Tarah in Meath, for
the establishment of laws and regulation
of government. It appears that from a
very early period, the island had been
divided into the five provincial kingdoms
above-mentioned, and four of these had
been subject to the fifth, who was nomi-
nal monarch of the whole island. About
this time, these four, however, proved
such obstinate disturbers of the peace,
that the reigning monarch, to break their
power, divided the country into twenty-
five dynasties, binding them by oath to
accept no other monarch but one of his
own family.

About 100 B. C. the pentarchal gov-
ernment was restored, and it is said to
have been succeeded by a considerable
revolution in politics. The Irish bards
58

had for many ages dispensed the laws,
and the whole nation submitted to their
decisions ; but as their laws were ex-
ceedingly obscure, and could be inter-
preted only by themselves, they of course
oppressed the people, who at last rose in
a body, and would have destroyed them,
had they not fled to Coavocar-Mac-Nessa,
the reigning monarch, who granted them
his protection ; but at the same time, to
quiet the just complaints of his people, he
employed the most talented among them
10 compile an intelligible, equitable, and
distinct body of laws, which were digni-
fied with the name of celestial decisions.
These decisions seem to have produced
but very little reformation among the
people in general.

Ireland remained in the same state of
confusion and ignorance till the introduc-
tion of Christianity by St. Patrick, which
took place about the middle of the fifth
century. This saint also introduced let-
ters into Ireland, and this laid the foun-
dations of their future civilization.

The introduction of Christianity appears
to have had but little effect on the habits
or welfare of this fertile but mismanaged
island. The same wars between the
chiefs continued ; and the same murders
took place among its inhabitants, till they
were invaded by the Danes or Normans,
about the end of the eighth century. At
this time the monarchical power was
weak, on account of the factions and as-
suming disposition of the inferior dy-
nasties ; but also the evils of the political
constitution of Ireland had considerably
subsided by the respect paid to religion
and learning. The first invasions of the
Danes were made in small parties for the
sake of plunder, and were repelled by
the chieftain whose dominions were in-
vaded. Other parties appeared hi dif-
ferent parts of the island, and alarmed
the inhabitants by the havoc they com-
mitted. These were, in like manner, put
to flight, but they never failed to return
in a short time. But some years elapsed
before the inhabitants thought of putting
an end to their intestine quarrels, and
uniting against the common enemy. The
northern pirates, either by force or trea-
ty, gradually obtained some small settle-
ments on the island; and, at length,

458

RE LAND.

Turgcs, or Turf^esius, a warlike Norwe-
gian, landed with a powerful army in the
year 815. He divided his fleet and army,
in order to strike terror in different quar-
ters. His uncivilized followers spread
desolation wherever they went ; and, as
the Danes already settled in Ireland
flocked to his standard, and the native
chiefs were still engrossed by their pri-
vate feuds, he found little difficulty in
possessing himself of the whole island.

The new king ruled with so despotic
a sway, that the inhabitants formed a con-
spiracy against him ; and he was seized
by Melachlinc, prince of Meath, in a time
of apparent peace. A universal insur-
rection ensued ; the Danes were massa-
cred or dispersed; their leader condemned
to death for his cruelties, and drowned in
a lake. The remnant of these foreigners,
however, were not exterminated, but al-
lowed to continue on the island as sub-
jects or tributaries to some particular
chieftain. A new colony soon arrived,
under pretence of peaceable intentions,
and a design of enriching the country by
commerce. The Irish, through an in-
fatuated policy, suffered them to become
masters of Dublin, Limerick, Waterford,
and other maritime places, which they
enlarged and fortified with such works
as had till then been unknown in Ireland.
The Danes failed not to make use of
every opportunity of enlarging their terri-
tories, and new wars quickly ensued. —
The Irish were sometimes victorious,
and sometimes not ; but were never able
to drive out their enemies, so that they
continued to be a very distinguished and
powerful sept, or tribe, in Ireland. The
wars with the Danes were no sooner at
an end, than the natives turned their arms
against each other. The country was
harassed by the competitions of their
chiefs ; laws and religion lost their in-
fluence, and licentiousness and immoral-
ity prevailed. In this state of affairs,
Magnus, king of Norway, invaded the
island ; but the enterprise failed in con-
sequence of his own rashness ; for, hav-
ing encountered no opposition while
landing, he advanced into the country,
and was surrounded and cut to pieces
with all his followers. His death, how-
ever, proved of little benefit to Ireland ;

the same disorders which had gradually
reduced the kingdom to a state of extreme
weakness, still continued to operate, and
to facilitate the success of the English
invasion, which occurred in the reign of
Henry II.

The king, after having provided for
the security of all his newly-acquired
territories, and placed garrisons in the
cities of Limerick, Cork, Waterford, and
Wexford, proceeded to take possession
of Dublin, which had been surrendered
by Strongbow, the earl of Chepstow.
The neighboring lords took the oppor-
tunity of submitting to him as he ad-
vanced. O'Carrol of Argial, a chieftain
of great consequence, repaired to his
camp, and engaged to become his tribu-
tary ; and even O'Ruarc, whom Roderick
had made lord of a considerable part of
Meath, voluntarily submitted to the new
sovereign.

Roderick, of the O'Connor family, and
monarch of the northern division of Ire-
land, surprised at the defection of many
of his allies, still determined to maintain
his own dignity, and at least preserve his
province of Connaught, feeling he could
no longer call himself monarch of the
whole island. With this design he in-
trenched himself on the banks of the
Shannon ; and now, when disencumbered
from a crowd of faithless and discontented
followers, he appears to have acted with
a spirit and dignity becoming his station.
Hugh de Lacey and William Fitz-Andelm
were commissioned by the king to attack
him, but Roderick was too strong to be
attacked with any probability of success
by a detachment of the English army ;
and he at least affected to believe that his
situation was not yet so totally desperate
as to reduce him to the necessity of re-
signing his dignity and authority, while
his own territory remained inviolate, and
the brave and powerful chiefs of Ulster
still kept retired in their own districts,
without any thoughts of submission. —
Henry, in the mean time, attempted to
attach the Irish lords to his interest by
magnificent entertainments. Some his-
torians pretend that he established the
English laws in all those parts which
had submitted to his jurisdiction; but
this must appear extremely improbable,

IRELAND.

459

when we consider how tenacious a nide
and barbarous people are of their ancient
laws and customs. To complete the
whole system, a chief governor, or rep-
resentative of the king, was appointed.
His business was to exercise the royal
authority, or such parts of it as might be
committed to him in the king's absence ;
and, as the present state of Ireland, and
the apprehensions of war orinsurrections,
made it necessary to guard against sud-
den accidents, it was provided, that in
case of the death of any chief governor,
the chancellor, treasurer, chief justice,
and chief baron, keeper of the rolls, and
king's Serjeant at law, should be empow-
ered, with consent of the nobles of the
land, to elect a successor, who was to
exercise the full power and authority of
this office, until the royal pleasure should
be further known.

But while Henry was thus regulating
the government of his new dominions, he
received the unwelcome news that two
cardinals, Albert and Theodric, delegated
by the pope, had arrived in Normandy
the year before, to make inquisition into
the death of Becket ; that having waited
the king's arrival until their patience was
exhausted, they now summoned him to
appear without delay, as he would avert
the dreadful sentence of excommunica-
tion, and preserve his dominions from a
general interdict. Such denunciations
were of too great consequence to admit
of his longer stay in Ireland ; he there-
fore ordered his forces and the officers
of his household to embark without delay,
reserving three ships for the conveyance
of himself and his immediate attendants.
Henry was no sooner gone, than his ba-
rons began to contrive how they might
best strengthen their own interests, and
the Irish how they might best shake off
the yoke to which they had so readily
submitted. De Lacey divided out the
lands of Meath to his friends and adhe-
rents, and commenced erecting forts to
keep the ancient inhabitants in awe. —
Roderick, the principal Irish chieftain,
committed great devastations in Meath.
By the vigorous conduct of the English
commander, however, he was not only
prevented from doing farther mischief,
but at last convinced of the folly of resis-

tance, and therefore determined to make
a final submission. Yet, conscious of
his dignity, he disdained to submit to a
subject ; and, therefore, instead of treat-
ing with earl Richard, he sent deputies
directly to the king.

The terms of this submission, by which
Henry became sole monarch of Ireland,
were as follows:. Roderick consented to .
do homage and pay tribute, as liege-man
to the king of England ; on which condi-
tion he was allowed to hold the kingdom
of Connaught, as well as his other lands
and sovereignties, in as ample a manner
as he had enjoyed them before the arrival
of Henry in Ireland. His vassals were
to hold their estates under him in peace,
as long as they paid their tribute and
continued faithful to the king of England ;
in which Roderick was to enforce their
due obedience, and for this purpose to
call to his assistance the English govern-
ment, if necessary.

Many of the Irish lords, in their sub-
mission to Henry, hi effect disavowed and
renounced the sovereignty of Roderick ;
but now his supremacy was acknowl-
edged, that the present submission might
appear virtually the submission of all the
subordinate princes, and thus the king of
England be finally invested with the
sovereignty of the whole island. The
marks of sovereignty, however, were no
more than homage and tribute ; in every
other particular the regal rights of Rode-
rick were left inviolate. The Enghsh
laws were only to be enforced in the
English pale ; and, even there, the Irish
tenant might live in peace, as the subject
of the Irish monarch ; bound only to pay
his quota of tribute, and not to take arms
against the king of England.

But though the whole island of Ireland
thus became subject to the king of Eng-
land, it was far from being settled in
tranquillity, or indeed, from having the
situation of its inhabitants improved in
any degree.

Another cause of the distresses of Ire-
land was, the great power of the English
barons, among whom Henry had divided
the greater part of his Irish dominions.
The extent of their authority only inflam-
ed them with a desire for more, and, in-
stead of contributing their endeavors to

460

RELAND.

increase the power of their sovereign, or
to civilize the barbarous people over
whom they were placed, their only aim
was to aggrandize themselves and coun-
teract the schemes of each other.

Nothing, indeed, can be conceived more
terrible than the state of Ireland during
the reign of Henry III. The powerful
English lords not only subverted the
peace and security of the people, by re-
fusing to admit the salutary laws of their
own country, but behaved with injustice
and violence to the natives who did not
enjoy the benefits of the English consti-
tution. The clergy appear to have been
equally tyrannical and abandoned with
the rest.

Matters continued in the same state
during the reign of Edward I, with this
additional grievance, that the kingdom
suffered an invasion of the Scots. The
English monarch, indeed, possessed all
that prudence and valor which were
necessary to have reduced the island to
a slate of tranquillity ; but his project of
conquering Scotland left him but little
leisure to attend to the distracted state of
Ireland. Certain it is, however, that the
distress of that country gave him great
uneasiness ; and he commanded the Irish
prelates to interpose their spiritual au-
thority for composing the public disorders.
About the same time, the Irish presented
a petition to the king, offering to pay him
8,000 merks, upon condition that they
were admitted to the privileges of English
subjects. To this petition he returned a
favorable answer ; but his good intentions
were defeated by the licentious nobility,
who knew that these laws would circum-
scribe their rapacious views, and control
their violence and oppression. Like pe-
titions were often repeated during this
reign, but as often defeated, though sev-
eral important measures were taken for
the peace of the kingdom, such as the
frequent calling of parliaments, appointing
sheriffs, &c.

These means were not altogether with-
out effect. They served to check the
disorders of the realm, though by no
means to terminate or subdue them. The
incursions of the natives were repressed,
the English lords began to live on better
terms with each other, and in 1 3 11 , under

Edward II, the most powerful of them
were reconciled by the marriage of Mau-
rice and Thomas Fitz-John, afterwards
the heads of the illustrious houses of Des-
mond and Kildare, to two daughters of
the earl of Ulster. But just at this period,
when the nation appeared to have some
prospect of tranquillity, other calamities
were about to take place. The Scots
had just recovered their liberty under
Robert Bruce, and Edward, the king's
brother, as a recompense for his services,
demanded a share of the royal authority.
This was refused by Robert, and Edward
was for the present satisfied by being de-
clared heir apparent to the crown. But
the king pointed out to his brother the
island of Ireland, the conquest of which
would be easy, and which would make
him an independent sovereign. This
proposal was eagerly embraced by Ed-
ward, and on the 23rd of May, 1315, he
landed on the north-eastern coast of Ire-
land with 6,000 men, to assert his claim
to the sovereignty of this kingdom. The
Irish lords of Ulster, who had invited and
encouraged him to this enterprise, were
now prepared to receive their new mon-
arch, and flocked with eagerness to his
standard, and their progress was marked
by desolation and carnage. The Eng-
lish settlers were slaughtered or driven
from their possessions, their castles lev-
elled with the ground, and their towns
set on fire. The English lords were
neither prepared to resist the invasion,
nor sufficiently united among themselves.
The consequence was, that the enemy
for some time met with no interruption.
An intolerable scarcity of provisions, how-
ever, prevented Bruce from pursuing his
advantages ; and though his brother land-
ed in Ireland, with a powerful army, the
famine prevented him from being of any
essential service. The forces which he
left behind him, however, proved of con-
siderable advantage ; and by means of
this re-enforcement, he was enabled to
take the fortress of Carrickfergus.

The devastations committed by Bruce
and his associates, induced several Eng-
lish lords to enter into an association to
defend their possessions, and repel these
invaders. For this purpose they raised
a considerable body of forces ; which

IRELAND.

461

coming to an engagement with Fedlim,
prince of Connaught, one of Bruce's prin-
cipal allies, entirely defeated and killed
him with 8,000 of his men. This defeat,
however, had very little eflect on the op-
erations of Bruce himself. He ravaged
the country to the walls of Dublin, tra-
versed the district of Ossory, and pene-
trated into Munster, destroying every
thing with fire and sword. The English
continued to augment their army, till it
amounted to 30,000 men ; and then Bruce,
no longer able to oppose such a force,
found it necessary to retire into the pro-
vince of Ulster. His retreat was effect-
ed with great difficulty; and during the
time of his inactivity, the distress of his
army increased to such a degree, that
they are said to have fed upon the bodies
of their dead companions. At last an
end was put to the sufferings and life of
this adventurer, in the battle of Dundalk,
in 1318, where he was defeated and
killed by the English under Sir Robert
Erpingham. A brave Enghsh knight
had rushed forward to encounter Bruce
himself, and both antagonists met and
killed each other. The king of Scotland
had been advancing with powerful suc-
cors to his brother ; but Edward, confi-
dent of victory, refused to wait his arri-
-val ; and Robert, on hearing of his broth-
er's death, instantly retired.

The defeat of the Scottish invaders
did not put an end to the disturbances of
this unhappy country. The contentions
of the English with each other, of the
Irish with the English, and among them-
selves, still kept the island in a state of
confusion. An attempt was made, in-
deed, in the reign of Edward H, to estab-
lish a university in Dublin ; but for want
of proper encouragement the institution
for some time languished, and then ex-
pired amidst the anarchy and confusion
of the country.

The perpetual hostility in which the
different parties lived, proved an effectual
bar to the introduction of those arts which
contribute to the comfort and refinement
of mankind. Even foreign merchants
could not venture into such a dangerous
country without particular letters of pro-
tection from the throne. The perpetual
succession of new adventurers from Eng-

land, led by interest or necessity, served
only to inflame dissension, instead of in-
troducing any essential improvement.

In this situation the kingdom continued
till the time of Henry VII, who laid the
foundation of the future civilization of the
Irish, as he also did of the English na-
tion. This he effected by enacting some
salutary laws, and appointing faithful and
active governors to see them put in exe-
cution. Of these governors. Sir Edward
Poyning, contributed more than any other
to the tranquillity of the state.

From this time we may date the revi-
val of the English power in Ireland. The
authority of the crown, which had at last
been defied, insulted, and rejected, even
in the English territory, was restored and
confirmed, and the rebellious opposed
and suppressed. The seignory of the
British crown over the whole body of the
Irish, which, in former reigns, seemed to
have been totally forgotten, was now for-
mally claimed and asserted, and some of
the most ferocious chieftains, by their
marriage connections, became the avowed
friends of the English power. An igno-
minious tribute, called the Black Rent,
was indeed still paid to some chieftains ;
but their hostilities were opposed and
chastised, and even in their own districts
they were made to feel the superiority of
the English government.

Under the mild sway of James I, Ire-
land began to assume a new aspect ; that
monarch did all in his power to promote
the arts of peace, and civilize his unlettered
Irish subjects. By repeated conspiracies
and rebellions, a large tract of land,
amounting to about 500,000 acres, and
comprehended within the six northern
counties of Donegal, Tyrone, Derry, Fer-
managh, Cavan, and Armagh, had been
escheated to the king, who resolved to
dispose of them in such a way as would
best conduce to the interests of the coun-
try. He caused surveys to be taken of
the several counties where the new set-
tlements were to be established ; describ-
ed minutely the state of each ; pointed
out the situations proper for the sites of
towns and castles ; delineated the char-
acters of the Irish chieftains, the manner
in which they should be treated, the tem-
per and circumstances of the old inhabi

462

IRELAND.

tants, die rights of the new purchasers,
and the claims of both ; together with the
iinpeduneuts to former plantations, and
removing them. He ordered also, that
the persons to whom lands were assigned
should be either new settlers from Great
Britain, especially from Scotland, or ser-
vitors, as they were termed ; that is, men
who had for some time served in Ireland,
either in civil or military offices ; or Irish
captains or chieftains. Among the last
were included those who had been en-
gaged in the rebellion of Tyrone, to whom
particular indulgence was shown, as
James wished, by this line of conduct,
to reconcile them to his government.
The under-tenants and servants were
allowed to exercise their own religion ;
and, while all the other planters were
compelled to take the oath of allegiance,
they were tacitly excepted. The servi-
tors were allowed to take their tenants
either from Ireland or Britain, provided
no catholics were admitted.

The only disturbance that now ensued,
was from the catholic party, who had an
unconquerable aversion to seeing the pro-
testant religion established in preference
to their own. After numberless ineflec-
tual machinations and complaints, their
fury broke out in a terrible massacre of
the new English settlers in the year
1641. The affairs of Britain were at
that time in such confusion, that the re-
bellion was not quelled in less than ten
years, during which time the country
w^as nearly depopulated. It recovered
again under Cromwell, Charles II, and
the short reign of James II. On the ac-
cession of William III, matters were
once more thrown into confusion by an
attempt made in favor of the exiled mon-
arch, who came over to Ireland in March,
1689, at the head of about 1,200 of his
native subjects, in the pay of the French
king. The memorable siege of Derry
was his first military operation ; and the
lengtliened opposition he there encoun-
tered formed the precursor of numerous
disasters, destructive of his last hope of
sovereignty. After a considerable de-
lay, occasioned by the political intrigues
and embarrassments which attended the
early stages of William's elevation to the
throne, James was opposed by an army

under duke Schomberg ; but the same
implements in the machinery of govern-
ment which had retarded the duke's entry
into Ireland, prevented his achieving any
military exploit of importance, and the
great event of the war was reserved for
the king in person.

William landed at Carrickfergus on the
14th of June, 1690, attended by many
persons of distinction, and was joined
by duke Schomberg. Passing quickly
through the north, he sought the army of
his rival in the vicinity of Drogheda.

The battle was fought on the 1st of
July, 1690. At about six in the morn-
ing, the right wing of William's army
directed its march towards the bridge of
Slane. Count Schomberg (son of the
duke) commanded the cavalry of that
division, and lieutenant-general Douglas
the foot. The enemy drew out several
bodies of horse and foot to oppose them,
and the chief part of this division eventu-
ally passed the river at Fords, between
the site of their camp and Slane bridge.
Their passage was slightly opposed by
a regiment of dragoons, but these insuf-
ficient opponents quickly retired, and the
English crossed without difficulty, and
advanced towards the main body of the
enemy.

The infantry in the centre of William's
army, commanded by duke Schomberg,
crossed the Boj^-ne directly in front of
the enemy's camp. The Dutch guards
first entered the river, at the ford of Old
Bridge, where a strong body was posted
to oppose their landing. The French
protestants and Enniskilleners, the levies
from Brandenburgh, and the English,
entered at Fords to the left, or eastward.
The bulk of so many accoutred men, by
checking the current, caused the water
to rise at the place of their passage much
beyond its natural level, and it was in
some places breast-high, the infantry, in
those parts, supporting their arms above
their heads. When they gained the op-
posite bank, they formed as quickly as
was attainable, and soon drove back the
Irish who were stationed on the bank,
with the advantage of breast-works and
hedges. Several battalions, and parties
of Irish horse were received firmly, and
compelled to retreat. But the passage

IRELAND.

463

Battle of the Boync.

was not effected by the whole of this
division of the English army with equal
success. A squadron of Danes was at-
tacked by a party of Irish cavalry with
so much fury that they retreated through
the river, pursued by their temporary
conquerors. The Irish, on their return
fell upon the French Huguenots, who
were broken with considerable loss.

King James, throughout this eventful
day, was stationed on the hill of Donore.
Here, surrounded by his guards, he stood
as a spectator rather than a general, whilst
the crown of three kingdoms was the sub-
ject of contest between two great armies.

When king William had securely
reached the hostile bank of the river, he
rode to the head of his squadrons, and
presented to them the animating specta-
cle of a royal general prepared, with
sword in hand, to share in all their dan-
gers. The main body of the Irish re-
treated towards Donore ; but there they
faced about, for the protection of the
quiescent James, then standing in peril
on the hill, and charged with so much
fury that the English were obliged to
give ground.

When the king was informed by those
around him that he was in danger of be-

ing surrounded, he quitted his post, and
retired to Duleek. His army followed
and effected a retreat, which was allow-
ed by all parties to have been admirably
conducted, through the pass of Duleek.
The Irish lost 1500 men, while the Eng-
lish under William lost but 500.

Shortly after the loss sustained by
James on that eventful day, he fled to
France ; but the hopes of his friends did
not utterly expire on his flight, and much
blood was yet spilt before the country
Avas restored to a semblance of tranquil-
lity. In the subsequent prosecution of
the war many acts of violence were com-
mitted by both parties, which long left
emphatical marks in the desolated build-
ings of the gentry, and the distress visible
in every feature of the country. The
chief military actions were achieved by
general Ginlile in the siege of Athlone,
commanded by colonel Richard Grace,
and in the battle of Aghrim, which de-
rives its name from a village in Gahvay,
contiguous to the field of bloodshed. In
this battle the English were again victo-
rious, although not animated as before
by the presence of the king. The war
was terminated by the celebrated siege
and reduction of Limerick, Avhich place,

464

IRELAND.

after repelling the efforts of William in
person, was surrendered to his forces, by
capitulation, in October, 1691. The for-
feiture of lands consequent on this war
was very considerable, and introduced
an entire new race of settlers.

Great numbers of the Irish entered
the French army, and it has been com-
puted that 450,000 fell in the French
service, from 1691 to 1745. The de-
pendence of the Irish parliament on this
country next became a subject of con-
troA^ersy, and, in 1719, was passed an
act declaring that the British parliament
had full power to make laws binding the
people of Ireland. The Irish trade and
industry were also subject to every kind
of restriction and discouragement ; and
it was not until the American war broke
out, that a change became perceptible in
the conduct and language of the British
government towards Ireland. The Irish
parliament demanded free trade, but the
nation went much further ; and, in 1782,
the parliament of Ireland was placed on
the same footing with that of England.

The American revolution, produced a
great effect on the affairs of Ireland ; the
French revolution, which commenced
about the time of the king's illness, was
destined to affect the affairs of Ireland in
a still greater degree, but unfortunately
not in so favorable a manner. It was
natural that those in Ireland, who had
been so long and so ardently endeavoring
to gain for their own country what they
deemed its rights and essential to its
prosperity, should rejoice at the French
revolution when it began, and that they
should feel by it inspired to renew their
attempts to obtain their favorite objects of
parliamentary reform and catholic eman-
cipation. The mode in which they might
hope to attain these objects seemed point-
ed out to them by the volunteers, by union
and associations they had prevailed, and
thus also they might be equally success-
ful. Accordingly, in June, 1791, there
appeared at Belfast the plan of an asso-
ciation, under the name of United Irish-
men ; and in November this association
was actually instituted at Dublin ; their
declared object was, " the forwarding a
brotherhood of affection, a communion of
rights, and a union of power among Irish-

men of every religious persuasion, and
thereby obtaining a complete reform in
the legislature, founded on the principles
of civil, political, and religious liberty."
Such were their avowed objects ; but there
is reason to believe, that, even at the first
formation of this association, the leading
members looked further.

The United Irishmen and the Catho-
lics, both looking forward to a change in
the laws, were naturally well disposed to
each other ; but from other quarters the
claims of the Catholics were most vio-
lently opposed. The government seem-
ed to think, that the safest conduct for
them to pursue was to avoid both ex-
tremes ; they were not disposed to grant
all the Catholics wished, nor to withhold
every thing. In conformity with this de-
termination, in 1793, the legislature ad-
mitted the Catholics to the practice of
the law — to intermarry with Protestants,
and to an unrestrained education. The
legislature, during this session of parlia-
ment, also, passed a law to prevent the
election, or other appointment, of conven-
tions, or other unlawful assemblies, imder
pretence of presenting public petitions, or
other addresses, to his majesty or parUa-
ment. This act was directly aimed at a
proposed meeting of a national conven-
tion of the United Irish at Athlone, which
was prevented.

Archibald Hamilton Rowan was sec-
retary to the United Irishmen at the time
their manifesto was published ; he was
on that account arrested, and in 1794,
brought to trial. It was suspected at the
time of his trial, that the views of the
United Irishmen went farther than they
avowed, and that the utter subversion of
the constitution, and the separation of
Ireland from England, was in their con-
templation, and the object of their meet-
ings and schemes. This was afterwards
proved on the trial of an English clergy-
man of the name of Jackson, for a trea-
sonable correspondence with the agents
of the French government ; for Rowan,
who had been condemned to a fine, and
imprisonment for two years, contrived to
escape out of prison, and fled out of the
country, conscious that, on the trial of
Jackson, evidence of his real designs
would be brought to light. Jackson was

IRELAND.

463

condemned, but he took poison, and ex-
pired before he was removed from court.
Two others, who were leading men among
the violent democratic party, Napper
Tandy, and Theobald Wolfe Tone, the
principal framer of the United Irishmen,
also fled from their country

In May, 1797, the number of men en-
rolled as members of the Irish Union in
Ulster alone*, was nearly 100,000. In
the other parts of the kingdom, except
Dublin and the counties of Wexford, Kil-
dare, east Meath, west Meath, and king's
county, their numbers were comparative-
ly few ; but they were using their utmost
endeavors to extend the Union all over
Ireland.

The Irish Union, disappointed in their
hopes of assistance from France, resolved
to trust solely to their own power. By
this time, the number of men sworn into
the conspiracy amounted nearly to half a
million, and plans were formed for the
simultaneous rising of this body. Their
object, however, was discovered by a man
of the name of Reynolds, who was a de-
legate for the province of Leinster ; and
from his information, the members who
formed the committee of this province
were arrested.

The insurgents did not seem intimida-
ted by these proceedings against them ;
and as they were ignorant that govern-
ment were acquainted with their plans,
they still persevered in the determination
to rise in a body on a fixed day. Before
that day arrived, however, government
caused lord Edward Fitzgerald, who had
contrived the plan of attack, and who
was distinguished for his boldness, ta-
lents, and influence, to be arrested. He
made a desperate resistance, and died
soon afterwards of a wound which he re-
ceived before he was taken. The two
brothers Sheares, and other conspirators
were arrested the same month ; and, on
the 21st of May, the plan of insurrection
was announced by lord Castlereagh, sec-
retary to the lord lieutenant, to the lord
mayor of Dublin. The night of the 23rd
was the time fixed for it. An attack on
the troops stationed near Dublin, and on
the artillery, was to have been first execu-
ted. The castle was, about the same time
to have been surprised ; after which, the
59

parties engaged in these enterprises
were to have united. The stoppage of
all the mail coaches on the great roads,
was to have been the signal for the rising
of the people in the various parts of the
country. The scheme was certainly well
arranged, and had it not been discovered
might have been attended with the most
disastrous consequences.

On the 26th of May, the insiurection
broke out in the county of Wexford,
where it was not apprehended that the
insurgents were in great force. They
were headed by a priest of the name of
Murphy, a ferocious and ignorant fanatic.
On the 27th, two bodies of them made
their appearance at Oulart and Kilthomas.
At the latter place they were defeated by
200 or 300 yeomen ; but at the former
place where Murphy himself commanded,
they were victorious. Murphy imme-
diately proceeded to Enniscorlhy, of
which, by the assistance of the catholic
inhabitants, he gained possession. The
inhabitants of the city of Wexford were
now in great alarm, as they could plainly
distinguish the flames of the burning
houses at Enniscorthy. As they were
little prepared for defence, they resolved
to negotiate with the insurgents, or rather
to endeavor to persuade them to return
peaceably to their homes. For this pur-
pose, two gentlemen, who had been ar-
rested on private information, were sent
to them ; but they kept one of these to
be their leader, and sent the other back
to Wexford. Against this place they
now determined to proceed. Its small
garrison took a position outside, but af-
terwards returned into the town, which
was almost immediately evacuated, and
taken possession of by the rebels. Their
force was about 15,000 men ; and by the
capture of Wexford, the southern parts
of the county, as well the eastern and
western, were at their mercy. They
now divided into two bodies; one of
which directed its march to Gorey, in
the northern part of the county, in hopes
of thus forcing a passage to the capital ;
and the other to New Ross, by reducing
which they would be enabled more ea-
sily to enter the counties of Kilkenny
and Waterford. The inhabitants of Go-
rey were apprised of their danger, but

466

IRELAND.

they trusted it would be averted by the
arrival of troops under general Loftus
and colonel Walpole, which immediately
inarched by different routes to attack the
insurgents, who were posted on a hill
seven miles from Gorey, under the com-
mand of a priest of the name of Roche.
This man seems to have been possessed
of great military talents, for he imme-
diately resolved to quit his position with
his whole force, upwards of 10,000 men,
and attacked Walpole while separated
from Loftus' troops. He came up with
him at Clough, and attacking him quite
vmexpected, the British were defeated,
with the loss of their artillery. Loftus,
in the mean time, following the insur-
gents to Gorey, ignorant of the defeat
of Walpole's corps, found them posted so
strongly that he durst not attack them,
but retreated into the county of Carlow.

The body of the rebels who had march-
ed towards Ross were not so fortunate ;
they had chosen for their leader a per-
son of the name of Harvey, whom they
had liberated from Wexford jail. He
formed a plan of attacking three sepa-
rate parts of the town of Ross at the same
time ; the attack was accordingly made
in a furious but irregular manner. At
first the rebels gained some advantages,
but "they were soon thrown into confu-
sion ; and general Johnson who com-
manded a strong party of the regular ar-
my in the town, took advantage of this
circumstance, and after a desperate re-
sistance from some divisions of the re-
bels, while others were totally without
discipline or management, he succeeded
in completely defeating them, and in
saving the place. Enraged at this de-
feat, the rebels massacred, in cold blood,
more than 1 00 of their protestant prison-
ers at Wexford.

The insurgents who had defeated Wal-
pole's corps remained inactive for some
time afterwards. At length, on the 9lh
of June, they advanced to the north to
join another body of insurgents, and,
when united, to attack Arklow. The
garrison in this place, not conceiving
themselves strong enough to defend it
against the rebels, left it, but afterwards
returned, in consequence of their not at-
tempting to seize it. The rebels, how-

ever, changed their plans, and advanced
against it ; but on the very day of the at-
tack, there arrived the Durham fencible
regiment. The royal force now consist-
ed of 1,600 men, and being arranged in
lines, with artillery in front, they were
enabled to cover three sides of the place,
a river protecting the other side. The
force of the insurgents amounted to more
than 20,000, but only about 4,000 or 5,000
of these had guns. They advanced with
great impetuosity to the cannons' mouths,
but they were in every assault driven
back with immense slaughter. The bat-
tle lasted four hours ; and though, dur-
ing the whole of that time, the Durham
fencibles bore the brunt of it, yet they
stood firm and undaunted. The pikemen
of the insurgents had not, however, yet
come into action, and general Needham,
apprehensive that the fencibles, wearied
out with repeated attacks, would not be
able to withstand these formidable assail-
ants, sent directions to colonel Skerret,
who commanded the fencibles, to retreat.
This, however, he refused to do ; and
though it was now dark, and the insur-
gents might have profited by this circum-
stance, they discontinued the attack, and
retreated.

The insurgents, of whom we have
been hitherto speaking, consisted almost
exclusively of catholics. They hoped
to be assisted in their plans by the pro-
testants of the north of Ireland ; but in
this they were disappointed. There
were, indeed, insurrections in Antrim
and Down ; but the protestants who en-
gaged in them, after a few skirmishes
with the royal troops, gave up the enter-
prise, chiefly in consequence of being
assured that the rest of the protestants
in the north, though in general well dis-
posed, would not co-operate with them,
having learned that the insurrection in
Wexford was totally of a religious char-
acter, and that the catholics engaged in
it had repeatedly behaved with great
cruelty to the protestants.

The insurgents in Wexford were thus
left to themselves, and measures were
taken by government to crush them ef
feclually and speedily. On the 20th ol
June, their whole force was assembled
on Vinegar-hill, near Enniscorthy. Gen-

IRELAND.

467

eral Lake immediately formed liis plan,
which was, to surround this post ; and
for this purpose, all the divisions of the
royal army were put in motion.

In the mean time, the insurgents were
guilty of the most atrocious acts of cru-
elty, not merely against those who had
opposed their plans, but even against
those who were known to be favorable
to them, ill case they were protestants.
These were dragged to Vinegar-hill,
where, without trial, they were either
shot or transfixed with pikes, or, in some
cases, put to death in a still more barba-
rous manner. At Killan, the protestants
of both sexes were collected, with an in-
tention of burning them alive in their
parish church, when fortunately their de-
sign was prevented by the arrival of a
body of yeomen.

General Lake had collected nearly
13,000 troops, with a train of artillery
proportionate to that number, for the at-
tack on Vinegar-hill. This attack took
place on the 21st of June. The town
of Enniscorthy was the first object of
attack, and the insurgents were driven
from their post. They fled through
a space of ground which was to have
been occupied by the troops of general
Needham. These had not come up,
whether from missing the road, or some
other accidental cause, or, as was suppos-
ed, because general Lake wished to leave
the insurgents some outlet, is not ascer-
tained. Wexford was taken by the royal
troops the same day as Enniscorthy ;
previously, however, a battle had taken
place at Horetown, between the troops I
of general Moore and the insurgents un- !
der Roche. The combat was long doubt- j
ful, but at length terminated in the de-
feat of the rebels. General Moore im-
mediately encamped near Wexford, in !
order to secure the protestants in that
town from massacre. Before his arrival,
however, the rebels in it had committed j
great outrages. These were principally
directed and encouraged by a man of the
name of Dixon. While the rebel force
continued in Wexford, this man had not ^
been able to carry his designs into exe-
cution ; but soon after they marched out ,
against general Moore, Dixon, at the I
head of a mob, which he had previously ^

inflamed with whiskey , murderej the pro-
testants in a manner to which, for wan-
ton cruelty, not even the atrocities of
the French revolution can produce a pa-
rallel. In the mean time, the battle at
Vinegar-hill, though strenuously conten-
ded by the insurgents, ended in their
complete defeat.

Before general Moore arrived at this
town, many of the inhabitants were desi-
rous of giving up the place. Lord Kings-
borough, colonel of the North Cork militia,
was at this time a prisoner in it ; and he
agreed to receive the surrender, pledging
his honor for the safety of all, except
those who had been concerned in the
murders. On this pledge, which was
made known to the British general, the
insurgents who had fled into the town
after their defeat at Vinegar-hill, evacua-
ted it, separating into two bodies, in the
full confidence of the ratification of the
terms ; but general Lake ordered all the
chiefs of the rebels to be seized and put
to death.

The movements and proceedings of
the insurgents, after the battle of Vine-
gar-hill, were desultory, without union or
plan. One body of them marched to
Arklow, and, finding no royal troops there*
massacred many of the inhabitants. An-
other body, under Murphy, who had ori-
ginally raised the insurrection in Wex-
ford, directed their march towards the
county of Carlow, with the design of
stirring up the inhabitants there and in
Kilkenny ; but in this they were disap-
pointed, partly by the measures of the
royal forces, and partly by the indisposi-
tion of the inhabitants. They now de-
termined to return to W^exford, and on
the 26th of June arrived at Kilcommy.
Here they again changed their route, and
moved towards the Wicklow moimtains ;
but they soon found that they had no
other chance of safety but by dispersing
into small bodies, being no longer capa-
ble of withstanding the forces that were
sent against them. After various move-
ments and skirmishes, therefore, they
finally dispersed. In 1800, the legisla-
tive union of Ireland and Great Britain
was effected. From this period, the lead-
ing political events of Ireland have been
blended with those of Great Britain.

468

ITALY.

"Before Rome had absorbed all the
vital power of Italy, this country was
thickly inhabited, and, for the most part,
by civilized nations. In the north of
Italy alone, which offered the longest re-
sistance to the Romans, dwelt the Gauls.
Farther south, on the Arno and the Tiber,
a number of small tribes, such as the
Etrusci, the Samnites, and Latins, en-
deavored to find safety by forming con-
federacies. Less closely united, and often
hostile to each other, were the Greek
colonies of Lower Italy, called Magna
Graecia. The story of the subjection of
these nations to the Roman ambition, be-
longs to the history of Rome.

We may now briefly trace the origin
of the history of Italy, commencing with
the fall of the Roman empire. Romulus
Augustus was the last feeble emperor of
Rome ; he was dethroned by his German
guards. Odoacer, their leader, assumed
the title of king of Italy, and thus this
country was separated from the Roman
empire. But this valiant barbarian could
hot communicate a spirit of independence
and energy to the degenerate Italians ;
nothing but an amalgamation with a peo-
ple in a state of nature could efliect their
regeneration. Such a people already
stood on the frontiers of Italy. Theo-
doric, king of the Ostrogoths, instigated
by Zeno, emperor of the East, overthrew
the kingdom of Odoacer, and reduced all
Italy. His Goths spread from the Alps
to Sicily. In the lagoons of the Adriatic
alone, some fugitives, who had fled from
the devastations of Attila, and obtained
a subsistence as sailors, and by the manu-
facture of salt, maintained their freedom.
Theodoric, who combined the vigor of
the north with the cultivation of the south,
is justly termed the great, and, under the
name of Deitrich of Bern, has become one
of the principal heroes of old German sto-
ry. But the energy of his people soon
yielded to Roman corruption. Totila, for
ten years, contested in vain the almost
completed conquest with the military skill
of Belisarius. He fell in battle in 552,
and Teias in 553, after which Italy was

annexed to the Eastern empire, under an
exarch, who resided at Ravenna. But
the first exarch, Narses, sunk under the
intrigues of the Byzantine court, and his
successor neglected the defence of the
passes of the Alps, so that the country
was invaded by the Lombards.

The kingdom of the Lombards inclu-
ded Upper Italy, Tuscany, and Umbria.
Alboin also created the duchy of Bene-
vento, in Lower Italy, with which he in-
vested Zotto. The whole of Lombardian
Italy was divided into thirty great fiefs,
under dukes, counts, &c, which soon be-
came hereditary. Together with the new
kingdom, the confederation of the fugi-
tives in the lagoons still subsisted in un-
disturbed freedom. The islanders, by
the election of their first doge, Anafesto,
in 697, established a central government,
and the republic of Venice was founded.
Ravenna, the seat of the exarch, with
Romagna, the Pentapolis, or the five
maritime cities, (Rimini, Pesaro, Fano,
Sinigaglia, and Ancona,) and almost all
the coasts of Lower Italy, where Amalfi
and Gaeta had dukes of their own,
of the Greek nation, remained uncon-
quered, together with Sicily, and the
capital, Rome, which was governed by
a patrician in the name of the empe-
ror. This slight dependence on the
court of Byzantium disappeared almost
entirely in the beginning of the eighth
century, when Leo, the Isaurian, exasper-
ated the orthodox Italians by his attack
on images. The cities expelled his offi-
cers, and chose consuls and a senate, as
in ancient times. Rome acknowledged,
not indeed, the power, but a certain pa-
ternal authority of its bishops, even in
secular aflfairs, in consequence of the
respect which their holiness procured
them. The popes, in th«ir efforts to se-
cure the freedom of Rome against the
Lombards, forsaken by the court of By-
zantium, generally had recourse to the
Frankish kings. In consideration of the
aid expected against king Astolphus,
pope Stephen III, in 753, not only
anointed Pepin, who had been made king

ITALY.

469

of the Franks, in 752, with the approba-
tion of pope Zacharias, but with the as-
sent of the municipality of Rome, ap-
pointed him patrician, as the imperial
governor had hitherto been denominated.
Charlemagne made war upon Desiderius,
the king of the Lombards, in defence of
the Roman church, took him prisoner in
his capital, Pavia, united his empire with
the Prankish monarchy, 774, and even-
tually gave Italy a king in his son Pepin.
But hi.s attempts against the duchy of
Benevento, the independence of which
was maintained by duke Arichis, and
against the republics in Lower Italy,
where Naples, Amalfi, and Gaeta in
particular, had become rich by navigation
and commerce, wereimsuccessful. The
exarchate, with the five cities, had alrea-
dy been presented to the pope by Pepin,
in 756, and Charlemagne confirmed the
gift, but the secular supremacy of the
popes was first completed by Innocent
III, about the year 1200.

Leo III, bestowed on the king of the
Franks, on Christmas day, A. D. 800,
the imperial crown of the west, which
needed a Charlemagne to raise it from
obscurity. But dislike to the Franks,
whose conquest was viewed as a new in-
vasion of the barbarians, united the free
cities, Rome excepted, more closely to
the eastern empire. Even during the
life-time of Charlemagne, Prankish Italy
was given to his grandson Bernard ; who,
however, having attempted to become in-
dependent of his uncle, Louis the De-
bonaire, was deprived of the crown, and
had his eyes torn out.

Italy now remained a constituent part
of the Frankish monarchy, till the parti-
tion of Verdun, in 843 ; when it was al-
lotted, with the imperial dignity, and
what was afterwards termed Lorraine, to
Lothaire I, eldest son of Louis. Lo-
thaire left the government to his son
Louis II, the most estimable of the Ital-
ian princes of the Carlovingian dynasty.
After his death, Italy became the apple
of discord to the whole family. Charles
the Bald, of France, first took possession
of it, and after his death, Carloman, king
of Bavaria, who was succeeded in 880,
by his brother Charles le Gros, king of
Suabia, who united the whole Frankish

monarchy for the last time. His dethrone-
ment was the epoch of anarchy and civil
war in Italy.

The growing wealth of the papal
court, owing to the munificence of the
French kings, which had promoted their
influence in the government, so benefi-
cial under Leo IV, and popes of a simi-
lar character, became, through the cor-
ruption of the Roman court, in the tenth
century, the first cause of its decline.
The clergy and people elected the popes
according to the will of the consuls and
a few patricians. Alberic of Camerino,
and his son Octavian, were absolute mas-
ters of Rome, and the last was pope, un-
der the name of John XII, when only
twenty years of age. Otho the Great,
whom he had crowned emperor in Rome,
in 962, deposed him, and chose Leo
VIII in his stead ; but the people, jeal-
ous of his right of election, chose Bene-
dict V. From this time, the popes, in-
stead of ruling the people of Rome, be-
came dependent on them. In Lower
Italy, the republics of Naples, Gaeta,
and Amalfi still defended their indepen-
dence against the Lombard duchy of
Benevento, with the more ease, since the
duchy had been divided between Sicon-
olphus of Salerno, and Radelghisius of
Benevento, and subsequently among a
great number, and since, with the dukes,
they had a common enemy in the Sara-
cens, who had been previously invited over
from Sicily by both parties, as auxilia-
ries against each other, but who had set-
tled and maintained themselves in Apu-
lia. The emperors Louis II and Basi-
lius Macedo, had, with combined forces,
broken the power of the Mussulmans ;
the former was, nevertheless, unable to
maintain himself in Lower Italy, but the
Greeks, on the contrary, gained a firmer
footing, and formed, of the regions taken
from the Saracens, a separate province,
called the Thema of Lombardy, which
continued under their dominion, though
without prejudice to the liberty of the
republics, upwards of 100 years, being
governed by a governor-general, at Bari.
Otho the Great did not succeed in driving
them altogether from Italy. The mar-
riage of his son, Otho II, with the Greek
princess Theophania, put an end to his

470

ITALY.

exertions for this purpose, as did the un-
fortunate battle of Basentello, to the simi-
lar attempts renewed by Otho II.

In opposition to the designs of the
count of Tusculum, who wished to sup-
plant the absent emperor at Rome, a no-
ble Roman, the consul Crescentius, at-
tempted to govern Rome under the sem-
blance of her ancient liberty ; and Otho,
being occupied with his projects of con-
quest in Lower Italy, did not interfere
with this administration, which became
formidable to the vicious popes, Boniface
VII, and John XV. But when Otho III,
who had reigned in Germany since 983,
raised his kinsman Gregory V to the
popedom, Crescentius caused the latter
to be expelled, and John XVI, a Greek,
to be elected by the people. He also
endeavored to place Rome again under the
nominal supremacy of the Byzantine em-
pire. Otho, however, reinstated Gregory,
besieged Crescentius in the castle of St.
Angelo, took him prisoner, and caused
him to be beheaded with twelve other
noble Romans. But the Romans again
threw off their allegiance to the empe-
ror, and yielded only to force. On the
death of Otho III, which took place in
1002, the Italians considered their con-
nection with the German empire as dis-
solved. Harduin, marquis of Ivrea, was
elected king, and crowned at Pavia.
This was a sufficient motive for Milan,
the enemy of Pavia, to declare for Henry
II, of Germany. A civil war ensued, in
which every city, relying on its walls,
took a greater or less part. Henry was
chosen king of Italy, by the nobles as-
sembled in Pavia ; but disturbances
arose, in which a part of the city was
destroyed by fire ; and, not till after Har-
duin's death, was Henry recognized as
king by all Lombardy ; he was succeed-
ed by Conrad II. One of the first acts
of Conrad was, to make the fiefs heredi-
tary by a fundamental law of the empire,
and he endeavored to give stability and
tranquillity to the state, but without suc-
cess. The cities (which were daily be-
coming more powerful) and the bishops
were engaged in continual quarrels with
the nobility, and the nobility with their
vassals, which could not be repressed.
Republican Rome, under the influence

of the family of Crescentius, could be
reduced to obedience neither by kings
nor by the popes ; for when Henry III,
son and successor of Conrad, entered
Italy in 1046, he found three popes in
Rome, all of whom he deposed, appoint-
ed in their stead Clement II, and ever
after filled the papal chair, by his own
authority, with German ecclesiastics.
This reform gave the pope new conse-
quence, which afterward became fatal to
his successors. During the long minor-
ity of his son Henry, the policy of the
popes, directed by Hildebrand, afterwards
Gregory VII, succeeded in creating an
opposition, which became formidable to
the secular power. The Normans also
contributed to this result. As early as
1016, warriors from Normandy had es-
tablished themselves in Calabria and
Apulia. Allies, sometimes of the Lom-
bards, sometimes of the republics, some-
times of the Greeks against each other
and against the Saracens, they constant-
ly became more powerful by petty wars ;
and the great preparations of Leo IX for
their expulsion terminated in his defeat
and capture early in 1053. On the other
hand, Nicolas II united with the Norman
princes, and, in 1059, invested Robert
Guiscard with all the territories conquer-
ed by him in I^ower Italy. From that
time, the pope, in his conflicts with the
imperial power, relied on the support of
his faithful vassal, the duke of Apulia
and Calabria, to which Sicily was soon
added. While the small states of the
south were thus united into one large
one, the kingdom in the north was dis-
solving into smaller states. The Lom-
bard cities were laying the foundation of
their future importance ; and Venice,
Genoa, and Pisa, were already powerful.

In the small republics of the north of
Italy, the government was, in most cases,
divided between the consuls, the lesser
council, the great council, and the popu-
lar assembly. Petty feuds developed
their youthful energies.

Frederic I, of Hohenstaufen, (called
Barbarossa,) crossed the Alps six times,
in order to defend his possessions in Italy
against the republicanism of the Lom-
bard cities. Embracing the cause of
Pavia as the weaker, he devastated the

ITALY,

471

territory of Milan, destroyed Tortona,
and was crowned in Pavia and Rome.
In 1158, he reduced Milan, demolished
the fortifications of Piacenza, and held
a diet at Roncaglia, where he extended
the imperial prerogatives conformably
with the Justinian code, gave the cities
chief magistrates, and proclaimed a gen-
eral peace. His rigor having excited a
new rebellion, he reduced Cremona to
ashes, compelled Milan to submission,
and, having driven out all the inhabitants,
demolished the fortifications. When,
however, the emperor entered Italy, in
1163, without an army, the cities con-
cluded a union for maintaining their free-
dom, which, in 1167, was converted into
the Lombard confederacy. The confed-
erates restored Milan, and to hold in
check the Ghibeline city of Pavia, built
a new city, called in honor of the pope,
Alessandria. Neither Frederic's gover-
nor, Christian, archbishop of Mentz, nor
he himself, could effect any thing against
the confederacy; the former failed be-
fore Ancona, with all the power of Ghi-
beline Tuscany ; and the latter, with the
Germans before Alexandria. He was
also defeated by Legnano, at Milan, in
1176. He then concluded a concordat
with Alexander III, and a truce with the
cities of Venice, and also a peace, which
secured their independence, at Constance.
The republics retained foreign noblemen,
elected by themselves in 1183, as judges
and generals. As formerly, all were to
take the oath of fealty and allegiance to
the emperor. But, instead of strength-
ening their league into a permanent con-
federacy, the only safety for Italy, they
were soon split into new factions, when
the designs of the Hohenstaufen family
on the throne of Sicily drew Frederic
and Henry VI from Lombardy. The
defeat of the united forces of almost all
Lombardy on the Oglio, by the inhabi-
tants of Brescia, though inferior in num-
bers, is celebrated under the name of
La mala morte in 1197.

During the minority of Frederic II, and
the disputes for the succession to the
German throne, Innocent III, who was
Frederic's guardian, succeeded in re-es-
tablishing the secular authority of the holy
see in Rome and the surrounding coun-

try, and in enforcing its claims to the
donations of Charlemagne and Matilda.
He also brought over almost all Tuscany,
except Pisa, to the party of the Guelfs.
A blind hereditary hatred, rather than a
zeal for the cause, inspired the parties ;
for when a Guelf, Otho IV, ascended
the imperial throne, the Guelfs became
his party, and the Ghibelines the pope's ;
but the reversion of the imperial crown
to the house of Hohenstaufen, in the per-
son of Frederic II, soon restored the an-
cient relations. From this period to the
commencement of the nineteenth centu-
ry, the history of Italy is but little else
than a history of petty wars and blood-
shed, occasioned by the conflicting in-
terests of popes, prelates, and princes,
generally disgraceful to all concerned,
the relation of which would be of little
interest to the general reader.

At the peace of Utrecht, Austria ob-
tained Sardinia and Naples ; Savoy ob-
tained Sicily, which it exchanged with
Austria for Sardinia, from which it as-
sumed the royal title. Mont Genie vre
was made the boundary between France
and Italy. The house of Farnese be-
coming extinct in 1731, the Spanish In-
fant Charles obtained Parma and Piacen-
za. In the war for the Polish throne, of
1733, Charles Emmanuel, of Savoy, in
alliance with France and Spain, conquer-
ed the Milanese territory, and received,
at the peace of Vienna, Novara and Tor-
tona. Charles, Infant of Spain, became
king of the two Sicilies, and ceded Parma
and Piacenza to Austria. The Medici of
Florence, entitled from 1575, grand dukes
of Tuscany, became extinct in 1737. Fran-
cis Stephen, duke of Lorraine, now re-
ceived Tuscany by the preliminaries of
Vienna, and, becoming emperor in 1745,
made it the appanage of the younger line
of the Austro-Lorraine house. In the war
of the Austrian succession, the Spaniards
conquered Milan, but were expelled
thence by Charles Emmanuel, to whom
Maria Theresa ceded, in reward, some
Milanese districts, viz, all of Vigevanas-
co and Bobbio, and part of Anghiera and
Pavese. Massa and Carrara fell to Mo-
dena, in 1743, by right of inheritance.
The Spanish Infant, don Philip, conquer-
ed Parma and Piacenza in his own name,

472

ITALY,

lost them, and obtained them again as a
hereditary duchy, by the peace of Aix-la-
Chapelle, in 1748. Thus, in the eight-
eenth centurj', the houses of Lorraine,
Bourbon, and Savoy, possessed all Italy,
with the exception of the ecclesiastical
territories, Modena and the republics,
which, like a superannuated man, beheld
with apathy operations in which they
had no share.

In September, 1792, the French troops
first penetrated into Savoy, and planted
the tree of liberty. Though expelled
for some time, in 1793, by the Piedmon-
tese and Austrians, they held it at the
end of the year. The national conven-
tion had already declared war against
Naples; and, in April, 1794, the French
advanced into the Piedmontese and Ge-
noese territories, but were expelled from
Italy in July, 1795, by the Austrians,
Sardinians, and Neapolitans. In 1796,
Napoleon Bonaparte received the chief
command of the French army in Italy.
He forced the king of Sardinia to con-
clude a treaty of peace, by which the
latter Avas obliged to cede Nice and Sa-
voy to France ; conquered Austrian Lom-
bardy, with the exception of Mantua ;
put the duke of Parma and the pope un-
der contribution ; and struck such con-
sternation into the king of Naples that
he sued for peace.

After Mantua had also fallen, in 1797,
Bonaparte formed of Milan, Mantua, the
portion of Parma, north of the Po, and
Modena, the Cisalpine republic. France
likewise made war on the pope, and an-
nexed Bologna, Ferrara, and Romagna,
to the Cisalpine republic, by the peace
of Tolentino. The French then advan-
ced towards Rome, overthrew the eccle-
siastical government, and erected a Ro-
man republic. In Genoa, Bonaparte oc-
casioned a revolution, by which a demo-
cratic republic was formed after the model
of the French, under the name of the
Ligurian republic. The French had,
meanwhile, penetrated into Austria,
through the Venetian territory. The
Venetians now made common cause with
the brave Tyrolese, who gained advan-
tages over the French in the Alps. Bo-
naparte, therefore, occupied Venice with-
out striking a blow, and gave the repub-

lic a democratic constitution ; but by the
peace of Campo-Formio, which took
place on the 17th of October, 1797, the
Venetian territory, as far as the Adige,
was relinquished to Austria, and the rest
incorporated with the Cisalpine republic.
The king of Sardinia concluded a treaty
of alliance and subsidy with France,
October 25 ; but, in 1798, the directory,
assailed in Rome from Naples, deemed
it expedient to compel him to resign his
territories on the main land. Notwith-
standing its treaty of amity with France,
Naples concluded an alliance, in 1798,
with England and Russia. The French,
therefore, occupied Naples, and erected
there the Parthenopean republic. The
grand duke of Tuscany had likewise
formed an alliance with Naples and Eng-
land, afnd his country was, in return,
compelled by the French to receive, like
Piedmont, a military administration.

After the congress of Rastadt was
broken off, Austria and the German em-
pire, under Russian support, renewed the
war against the French, who again left
Naples and Rome to the English, Rus-
sians, and Turks. The king and the
pope returned to their capitals in Lom-
bardy ; the French were defeated by the
Austrians, under Kray and Melas, and by
the Russians under Suwarroff, and lost
all their fortresses, except Genoa, where
Massena sustained a vigorous siege,
while his countrymen had to evacuate all
Italy. But, in the meanwhile, Bonaparte
was made first consul after his return
from Egypt. He marched with a new
army to Italy, defeated the Austrians at
the memorable battle of Marengo, and
compelled them to a capitulation, by
which all the Italian fortresses were
again evacuated. By the peace of Lune-
ville, February 9, 1801, the possession
of Venice was confirmed to Austria,
which was to indemnify the duke of Mo-
dena, by the cession of Brisgau. The
duke of Parma received Tuscany, and
afterwards, from Bonaparte, the title of
king of Etruria. Parma was united with
France. The Cisalpine and Ligurian
republics were guaranteed by Austria and
France, and with the Ligurian territories
were united the imperial fiefs included
within their limits. The king of Na-

ITALY

473

pies, who had occupied the States of the
Church, was obliged to conchide peace
at Florence, by Russian mediation, he
escaped with the cession of Piombino,
the Stato degli Presidj, and his half of
the island of Elba, together with the pro-
mise of closing his harbors against the
English. The other half of Elba Tus-
cany had already relinquished to France.
But the whole island was obstinately de-
fended by the English and Corsicans,
with the armed inhabitants, and not eva-
cuated till autumn. France ceded the
Stato degli Presidj to Etruria, Septem-
ber 19, but strong detachments of French
troops remained both in Naples and Tus-
cany, and their support cost immense
sums. To the republics of Genoa and
Lucca the first consul gave new consti-
tutions in 1801. But in January, 1802,
the Cisalpine republic was transformed
into the Italian republic, in imitation of the
new French constitution, and Bonaparte
became president. Genoa also received
a new constitution, and Girolamo Du-
razzo for doge. Piedmont, however,
was united Avith France. After Bona-
parte had become emperor, in 1804, he
attached, on the 17th of March, 1805,
the royal crown of Italy to the new im-
perial crown ; he promised, however,
never to unite the new monarchy with
France, and even to give it a king of its
own. The new constitution was similar
to that of the French empire. Napoleon
founded the order of the iron crown, and,
having placed the crown on his own
head at Milan, he appointed his step-son,
Eugene Beauharnois, viceroy of Italy,
who labored with great zeal for the im-
provement of all branches of the govern-
ment, of industry and the arts.

Circumstances, however, rendered this
new government oppressive, as the pub-
lic expenses, during peace, amounted to
100,000,000 francs, which were all to be
contributed by less than 4,000,000 peo-
ple. No European power recognised,
expressly, the Italian kingdom of Napo-
leon. The emperor continued to strength-
en his power against the active enemies
of the new order of things, and gave to
his sister Eliza the principality of Piom-
bino, and to her husband, Pasquale Bac-
ciocchi, the republic of Lucca, as a prin-
60

cipality, both as French fiefs. Parma,
Piacenza, and Guastalla were incorpora-
ted with the French empire, July 21st,
and the pope was obliged to sanction the
imperial coronation by his presence.

One of the great improvements which
took place during the sovereignty of Na-
poleon in Italy, was the cutting of the
celebrated pass of the Simplon. It was
performed at the joint expense of France
and Italy, and was a work of great diffi-
culty, occupying several years in its
execution.

Austria having acceded to the alliance
of Russia and England against France.
Naples, also, again suffered the English
and Russians to land. But the success
of the Austrian arms was frustrated by
the defeats at Ulm and Austerlitz, after
which the peace of Presburg completed
the French supremacy in Italy. Austrian
Venice, with Istria and Dalmatia, was
united to the kingdom of Italy ; and,
with all the French institutions, was re-
cognized by the people. The kingdom
had now an extent of 35,450 square miles,
with 5,657,000 inhabitants. Naples was
evacuated by its auxiliaries, and occupied
by the French, notwithstanding the at-
tempts of the queen to excite a universal
insurrection, and Napoleon gave the
crown of Naples to his brother Joseph.
In 1808, the widow of the king of Etru-
ria, who conducted the regency in behalf
of her son, was deprived of her kingdom,
which was united with France. Napo-
leon, moreover, appointed his brother-in-
law, the prince Borghese, govenor gene-
ral of the departments beyond the Alps
who took up his residence at Turin. As
Napoleon had, meanwhile, given his broth-
er Joseph the crown of Spain, he filled
the throne of Naples with his broth-
er-in-law Joachim Murat, who entered
Naples on the 6th of September, 1808.
In 1809, the emperor gave Tuscany to
his sister Eliza, of Piombino, with the
title of grand-duchess. In the same
year, Austria made new exertions to
break the excessive power of France ;
but Napoleon again drove her troops from
the field, and appeared once more victo-
rious in Vienna, where he proclaimed the
end of the secular authority of the popes,
and the union of the states of the Church

474

ITALY.

Execution of Murat.

with France. Rome became the second
city of the empire, and a pension of
2,000,000 of francs was assijapied to the
pope. After the peace of Vienna, by
which Napoleon acquired the Illyrian
provinces, Istria and Dahiiatia were
separated from the kingdom of Italy and
attached to them. On the other hand,
Bavaria ceded to Italy the circle of the
Adige, a part of Eisach, and the jurisdic-
tion of Clausen. The power of the
French emperor was now, to all appear-
ance, as firmly established in Italy as in
the rest of Europe.

While the Italian people were support-
ing French armies, sacrificing their own
troops in the ambitious wars of Napoleon
in remote regions, and were obliged to
pay heavy taxes in the midst of the total
ruin of their commerce, all the periodicals
were full of praises of the institutions for
the encouragement of science, arts and
industry in Italy. After the fatal retreat
from Russia, Murat, whom Napoleon had
personally oflended, deserted the cause
of France, and joined Austria in 1814,
whose troops penetrated into Italy, imder
Bellegarde. The viceroy, Eugene, con-
tinued true to Napoleon and his own
character, and offered to the enemies of

his dynasty the boldest resistance, which
was frustrated by the fall of Napoleon in
France. After the truce of April 21, 1814,
the French troops evacuated all Italy,
and most of the provinces were restored
to their legitimate sovereigns. The wife
of Napoleon, however, the empress Ma-
ria Louisa, obtained the duchies of Par-
ma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, with rever-
sion to her son ; and Napoleon himself
became sovereign of Elba, of which he
took possession. But, before the con-
gress of Vienna had organized the politi-
cal relations of Europe, he effected his
return to France, March 1, 1815. At
the same time, the king of Naples, Murat,
abandoned his former ambiguous attitude,
and took up arms, as he pretended, for
the independence of Italy. But his ap-
peal to the Italians was answered by a
declaration of war by Austria. Driven
from Bologna by the Austrian forces, and
totally defeated by Bianchi Tolentino, he
lost the kingdom of Naples, into which
the Austrian general Nugent had pene-
trated from Rome, and Bianchi from
Aquili, seven weeks after the opening of
the campaign. He embarked from Na-
ples, with a view of escaping to France.
Ferdinand IV, returned from Palermo,

ITALY.

475

and Murat's family found an asylum in
Austria. Murat himself made a descent
in Calabria from Corsica in order to re-
cover his lost kingdom. He was taken
prisoner at Pizzo, brought before a court
martial, and shot, Oct. 13, 1815.

If the downfall of Napoleon is regretted
in any quarter of the world it is in Italy.
This country, which, to the misfortime of
Germany — that of being split into petty
divisions, and convulsed by civil dissen-
sions, for centuries — adds the further
misfortune of obeying foreign princes,
had become destitute of every element of
national life. Its commerce was fettered
by the numerous political divisions ; its
administration poisoned and vitiated to a
degree of, which none can have an idea,
except an eye-witness ; the cultivators of
the ground impoverished by the heavy
rents which they had to pay to the rich
land-owners ; science enslaved by the
sway of the clergy ; the noblemen, dis-
trusted by the foreign governments, where
they existed, and not admitted to any
offices of great importance, had lost en-
ergy and activity; in fact, hardly any
thing could be said to flourish, with the
exception of music, and, to a certain de-
gree, the other fine arts. Under Napo-
leon every thing was changed. Italian
armies were created, which gave birth to
a sense of military honor among the peo-
ple ; the organization of the judicial
tribunals was improved, and justice much
better administered ; industry was awa-
kened and encouraged ; schools received
new attention, and the sciences were con-
centrated in large and effective learned
societies ; in short, a new life was awa-
kened, and no Italian, who wishes well
to his country, can read without deep in-
terest the passage in Las Cases' Memo-
rial, in which Napoleon's views on that
country are given. His prophecy, that
Italy will one day be united, we hope
will be fulfilled. Union has been the ar-
dent wish of reflecting Italians for centu-
ries, and the want of it is the great cause
of the sulfering of this beautiful but un-
fortunate country.

The congress of Vienna, by the act of
June 9, 1815, had arranged the affairs of
Italy in the following manner : —

1. The king of Sardinia was reinstated

in his territories, according to the boun-
daries of 1792, with some alterations on
the side of Geneva; for the portion of
Savoy, left in the possession of France
by the peace of Paris, of May 30, 1814,
was restored by the treaty of Paris of
Nov. 20, 1815. To his states was uni-
ted Genoa, as a duchy, according to the
boundaries of that republic in 1792, and
contrary to the promises made to Ge-
noa.

2. The emperor of Austria united with
his hereditary states the new Lombardo-
Venitian kingdom, consisting of the Ve-
nitian provinces formerly belonging to
Austria, the Valteline, Bonnio, and Chia-
venna, separated from the Grisons, be-
sides Mantua and Milan. Istria, however,
was united with the Germanic-Austrian
kingdom of Illyria ; Dahnatia, with Ra-
gusa and Cattaro, constituting a distinct
Austrian kingdom.

3. The valley of the Po was adopted
as the boundary between the states of
the Church and Parma. The Austrian
house of Este again received Modena,
Reggio, Mirandola, Massa, and Carrara.

4. The empress Maria Louisa received
the state of Parma, as a sovereign duchess,
but, by the treaty of Paris, June 10, 1817,
only for life, it being agreed that the
duchess of Lucca and her descendants
should inherit it. Lucca, in that case,
falls to the Tuscan dynasty, which, in re-
turn, was to have resigned its districts in
Bohemia to the duke of Reichstadt, now
dead.

5. The archduke Ferdinand of Aus-
tria, became again grand-duke of Tus-
cany, to which were joined the Stato
degli Presidj,the formerNeapolitanpartof
the island of Elba, the principality of Pi-
ombino, and some small included districts,
formerly fiefs of the German empire.
The prince Buoncompagni Ludovisi re-
tained all his rights of property in Elba
and Piombino.

6. The infanta, Maria Louisa, received
Lucca, of which she took possession as
a sovereign duchy, in 1817, with an an-
nuity of 500,000 francs, till the reversion
of Parma.

7. The territories of the Church were
all restored, with the exception of a strip
of land on the left bank of the Po ; and

476

ITALY.

Austria retained the right of maintaining
garrisons in Ferrara and Commachio.

8. Ferdinand IV was again recognised
as king of the Two Sicilies. England
retained Malta, and was declared the
protectress of the United Ionian Islands.
The knights of Malta, who had recovered
their possessions in the Slates of the
Church, and in the kingdom of the Two
Sicilies, for a time made Catanea, and,
after 1826, Ferrara, their residence. The
republic of San Marino, and the prince
of Monaco, whose mountain fortress the
Sardinians, and them, the French occu-
pied, alone remained unharmed amid the
fifteen political revolutions which Italy-
had undergone in the course of twenty-
five years. The Austrian predominance
was thus more firmly established than
ever in Italy.

Meanwhile, the desire of union and
independence was not extinguished among
the people of Italy. Traces of a struggle
for a united and liberal government were
almost every where visible ; and several
of the governments, Naples, Rome, and
Turin, in particular, in vain endeavored
to protect themselves against secret po-
litical societies and freemasonry by in-
quisitorial tribunals, Jesuits, and secret
police. The fate of this delightful coun-
try has employed, during the last seven
years, the cabinets of the first powers of
Europe, according to the system of mo-
dern policy founded by the holy alliance,
and more precisely defined by the con-
gress of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1818. While
the spirit of carbonarism, excited by the
Spanish revolution of January 1, 1820,
and having for its object the union of
Italy under one government, and its in-
dependence of foreign powers, particu-
larly of Austria, threatened to subvert the
political institutions of the peninsula in
in general, and of the single states in par-
ticular, and in some places, especially in
Naples, Sicily, and Piedmont, actually
shook them, by rousing the troops to re-
volt, and by exciting popular commotions,
the cabinets labored with equal zeal to
maintain the principle of stability by the
suppression of every revolution, and by
opposing to the popular spirit, the power
of the police. Thus was a question,
fraught with the most momentous conse-

quences for all Europe, practically de-
cided in Italy, viz, whether one state is
entitled to interfere in the internal afl'airs
of another, and overthrow, by force of
arms, any new constitution which mili-
tates against the absolute monarchical
principle. This principle, which was
proclaimed unconditionally by the leading
states of the continent, and by Great
Britain under the supposition of particu-
lar circumstances threatening imminent
danger to the neighboring state, resulted
in Austria (as the nearest interested
power, which had prevented the introduc-
tion of the representative system into
Italy, in 1815,) restoring by force of
arms, the ancient prerogatives of the
royal authority in Naples, Sicily, and
Piedmont, after obtaining the assent of
the other four leading powers, which had
been closely allied since 1818, and also
of the Italian sovereigns, who participa-
ted at the congress of Laybach, in the
discussions respecting the affairs of Italy.
Thus this power not only secured its own
Italian provinces from the operation of
liberal principles, but established its po-
sition as the guardian of the principle of
stability and absolute monarchy in Italy.
All this was efiected by a war of four
days with the revolutionary army of the
carbonari of Naples, from the 7th to the
10th of March, 1821, and by a war of
three days with the federal party of Pied-
mont, from the 7th to the 9th of April,
1821 ; so that Russia had no occasion to
permit its army of 100,000 men, already
put in motion, to advance against the
Italian nations.

The eflbrts of the most intelligent
Italians, from the time of Macchiavelli
and Caesar Borgia, son of pope Alexan-
der VI, to restore the political unity of
their native country, gave rise to the nu-
merous secret political societies in Italy,
who labored to produce a general outbreak
of insurrection in Italy, in order to surround
the Austrian army on its advance against
Naples. Even the advocates of the il-
liberal system, or the theocratic faction, as
it was termed, which likewise pursued
its object in secret societies, took advan-
tage of the national desire of greater uni-
ty in Italy. It was therefore natural that
the idea of connecting the Italian states

ITALY.

477

in a political system similar to the Ger-
manic confederation should have been
agitated by the statesmen of the congress ;
but it seems to have been entirely given
up, and Italy was left in the hands of
Austria. On the other hand, measures
were adopted, by all the Italian states, to
extirpate the liberal spirit which, propa-
gating itself under a perpetual variety of
new forms, had not ceased in the year
1825, in the June of which year a con-
spiracy was detected at Rome, to pursue
its ancient object of uniting all the Italian
states into one confederacy as a republic
or constitutional monarchy, and freeing
them from foreign influence. This dis-
play of revolutionary spirit is nothing new
in the history of Italy. The middle ages,
that golden period of absolute power, ex-
hibit there an almost uninterrupted series
of such political conspiracies, republican
schemes and destructive convulsions, be-
cause Italy has never yet been permitted
to be politically a nation, and to adopt a
form required by its wants and its rights.
One leading measure was, to occupy
for some years the kingdom of the Two
Sicilies and Piedmont, (in which the old
troops were disbanded), at the expense
of these states, with Austrian armies,
which had restored the former state of
things. This was done conformably with
the treaties between Austria and king
Ferdinand, and the king of Sardinia, on
the 24th of July, 1821. But, in compU-
ance with the decrees of Verona, the
Austrian troops, 12,000 in number, were
gradually removed from Piedmont, and the
fortress of Alexandria was surrendered, |
September 30, 1823, to Sardinian troops.
In the same year, after a new Neapolitan
army had been organized in Naples, the
Austrian garrison, of 42,000 men, was
diminished about 17,000, and, in Sicily,
only the citadel of Palermo continued to
be occupied by Austrian troops. The
last detachment left the kingdom in 1827.
The influence of Austria on the internal
administration was, however, still felt.
The police of each state adopted the
strictest measures for maintaining internal
tranquillity. Secret societies were strict-
ly prohibited ; tribunals were erected,
and, in Naples, supported by moveable
columns, to punish the authors of revolu-

tions ; executions, proscription and ban-
ishment ensued.

In September, 1821, the pope excom-
municated the sect of Carbonari and all
similar associations, as branches of the
long-prohibited freemasons ; but in the
Roman state, Tuscany, Parma and Luc-
ca, no punishments were inflicted for
participation in former political societies.
In general, the papal government, under
the direction of the cardinal Gonsalvi,
was distinguished from the others for
conciliatory measures, and for moderation
in establishing internal tranquillity. The
influence of the apostolic see on the states
convulsed by revolutions was thus, in
some degree, increased. The press, uni-
versities and schools were, in particular,
closely watched. In the kingdom of the
Two Sicilies, and in Piedmont, strict
measures were taken for the purification
and discipline of the literary institutions ;
the Jesuits were restored, and rendered
influential in the education of youth, by
having committed to them at Rome and
other places, the schools, colleges and
oratories, which they had before conduct-
ed. On the other hand, numerous ban-
ditti disturbed the public security, espe-
cially in Naples and the states of the
church. One of them got in their power,
an Austrian colonel, for whose liberation
they had the audacity to demand 40,000
Roman dollars ; but they released him
on seeing themselves surrounded by Aus-
trian troops.

Some notion of the demoralized state
of this country may be conveyed by the
fact, that in January, 1824, according to
the Diario di Roma, a large band of youths
was discovered in Italy, who had run
away from their parents, organized them-
selves into companies, and subsisted by
frauds and robbery.

The political character of the Two
Sicilies entirely changed on the acces-
sion of Francis I. This event took place
in 1825, and the almost immediate result
was, a general restoration of order and
peace. The estates of the church are
difl'erently situated, as the whole country
is so sadly misgoverned, that nothing but
the influence of Austrian bayonets serves
to keep the people in order.

Italy depends almost solely on its agri-

478

MEXICO.

culture for subsistence ; the sources from
which it formerly drew its support, the
arts, manufactures, and commerce, being
ahnost dried up. Commerce with foreign
countries, which, in Naples especially, is
altogether stagnant, is, for the most part,
in the hands of foreigners, and, in a great
measure, dependent on the British ;
thence the universal want of specie, the
financial embarrassments of the govern-
ments, and the loans negotiated with
Rothschild. Italy no longer lives, as
formerly, on her cities, but on her soil.
And even this source of prosperity main-

tains but a feeble existence, while taxes
and tariffs impede the exportation of the
staple production to foreign countries, or
bands of banditti and the want of good
roads obstruct internal intercourse, as in
Sicily and Calabria. The natural advan-
tages of Italy entitle her to the highest
rank in agriculture, commerce, and the
arts ; but all branches of industry groan
under political oppression. The govern-
ment and people look on each other with
jealousy and hate, and the ecclesiastical
establishment poisons the springs of na-
tional activity.

MEXICO

The mighty kingdom of the Incas
which originally bore this name extended
considerably beyond the present bounda-
ries of the republic. The origin of the na-
tions on the eastern continent is obscure,
that of the inhabitants of the western
continent, however, is much more so ;
and, indeed, till within a very few years
the history of the American nations, till
the arrival of the Spaniards, has been
either treated as fabulous, or very slightly
touched upon by historians. By the in-
dustry of the abbe Francesco Clavigero,
we have been furnished with an account
of the ancient kingdoms just enumerated;
more full and effective than could have
been expected, considering the difficulty
there must have been of procuring ma-
terials.

According to Clavigero, it is undenia-
ble that Mexico was first peopled from
the more northerly parts of the continent,
which for many ages had been filled with
inhabitants. It has been supposed, from
the traditions of the natives, and the dis-
covery of very large human skeletons in
many parts of South America, that this
country was first inhabited by giants ; but
though similar conjectures and discover-
ies have been made in other countries,
we are by no means warranted from
thence to conclude that the whole human
race vi^ere formerly of an immense size ;
it being most probable that the gigantic

race were but a few individuals who lived
at different times and in difTerent nations.
The Toltecans are the most ancient
Mexican nation of which we have any
account. They were expelled from their
own country (supposed by Clavigero to
have been Tollan, to the northward of
Mexico) in the year 472 ; and for some
time led a migratory and wandering life.
In whatever place they determined to
reside for a considerable time, they erect-
ed houses and cultivated the ground. —
Thus their migrations were extremely
slow, and it was not until 1 04 years after
they first set out that they reached a
place about fifty miles to the eastward of
the city of Mexico, where they settled
for about twenty years, giving to their
new place of residence the name of Tol-
lantzinco. From thence they proceeded
about forty miles farther to the west,
where they built a city called from the
name of the country, Tollan, or Tula.
The Toltecans, during their journeys,
were conducted by a number of chiefs,
who, by the time they arrived at Tollant-
zinco, were reduced to seven, and, after
their final settlement, the government was
changed into a monarchy, but by what
means, or on what account, we are not
told. Their first king began his reign
in 667, and their monarchy lasted 384
years, during which time they reckon
just eight princes.

MEXICO.

479

It was a custom among them that the
name of the king should be continued for
fifty-two years, and no longer, from the
time he ascended the throne. If he died
within that period, the government was
carried on in his name by a regency ; if
he survived, he was obliged to resign his
authority. During the four centuries that
the Toltecan monarchy continued, they
increased considerably, and built several
cities ; but when at the height of its pros-
perity, almost the whole nation was de-
stroyed by famine occasioned by drought ;
and a pestilence, probably the conse-
quence of the former. The surviving
Toltecans dispersed themselves among
the surrounding nations, where they were
well received, on account of their supe-
rior knowledge and civilization. They
were succeeded by the Chichemecas, a
less civilized people, who came from an
unknown country called Amaquemecan,
where they had long resided ; but of
which no traces or remembrance can be
found among any of the American nations,
so that Clavigero supposed it nmst have
been very far to the northward. The
Chichemecas became afterwards united
with the Toltecans and others, and from
them descended the Montezumean kings.

In 1352, that portion of the continent
in the immediate neighborhood of the
Mexican government, was changed from
an aristocracy of powerful chiefs to a
despotic monarchy ; but the limits of this
article will not permit us to trace the his-
tory of the various kings who ascended
the throne between this period and the
time of the great Mexican monarch Mon-
tezuma, who began his reign in 1436.
Previous to his coronation, in order to
comply with the sanguinary rites of his
religion, Montezuma made war upon the
Chalcese, that he might procure the
prisoners who were to be sacrificed at
his coronation ; and scarce was this cer-
emony over than a new war commenced,
which terminated in the destruction of
that city. This quarrel happened be-
tween the Chalcese and the Tezcucans.
Two of the royal princes of Tezcuco hav-
ing gone a hunting on the mountains
which overlook the plain of Chalco, while
employed in the chase, and separated from
their retinue, with only three Mexican

lords, fell in with a troop of Chalcese
soldiers, who carried them as prisoners
to Chalco, where they were all instantly
put to death. The king of Tezcuco,
overwhelmed with grief at this event,
called for the assistance of the allied
kings. The city was attacked at once
by land and water, and its inhabitants,
knowing that they had no mercy to ex-
pect, fought like men in despair, not-
withstanding which they were totally
defeated, and the most severe vengeance
executed upon them.

During the reign of Montezuma, a vio-
lent inundation happened in Mexico. —
The lake, swelled by the excessive rains
which fell in the year 1446, poured its
waters into the city with so much vio-
lence, that many houses were destroyed,
and the streets inundated to such a de-
gree, that boats were every where made
use of To prevent accidents of this
kind for the future, Montezuma construct-
ed a great dyke nine miles in length,
consisting of two parallel lines of pali-
sades, the interval betwixt which Avas
filled up with stones and sand. The
greatest difficulty in the construction lay
in being obliged occasionally to work in
the lake itself, which in some places
was of considerable depth ; but this was
surmounted by the skill and perseverance
of the workmen. The dyke, when con-
structed, proved of great service in keep-
ing out the waters, though it did not en-
tirely remedy the evil.

The inundation was followed by a
famine. This was occasioned by the
failure of the crop of maize in 1448 ; the
ears while young and tender being de-
stroyed by frost. In 1450 the crop was
totally lost for want of water ; and in 1451,
besides the unfavorable seasons, there
was a scarcity of seed. Hence, in 1452,
the necessities of the people became so
great, that they were obliged to sell
themselves for slaves in order to procure
subsistence.

The king opened the public granaries
for the relief of the lower classes ; but
nothing was able to stop the progress of
the famine. Many who went for relief
to other countries perished with hunger
on their journey ; and great numbers
who sold themselves for slaves never

480

MEXICO.

returned to their native country. Most
of the populace supported themselves,
like their ancestors, on the produce of
the lake, until all their distresses were
relieved by a most plentiful harvest in the
year 1454.

Montezuma was succeeded by Axaya-
catl, who, like his predecessor, instantly
commenced a Avar, for no other reason
than that he •might have prisoners to
sacrifice at his coronation. The people
whom he now attacked inhabited the
province of Tecuantepec on the coast of
the Pacific Ocean, and situated at 400
miles distance from the city of Mexico.
A desperate battle ensued on this occa-
sion, in which, however, the Mexicans
at last prevailed ; and, besides dooming
to destruction those whom they carried
off, acquired a considerable spoil, as well
as a tract of territory extending to Coa-
tulco, a maritime place much frequented
in the next century by the Spaniards.

Axayacatl pursued Montezuma's plan
of conquest, in which, however, he was
less successful, many of the provinces
reduced by that monarch having revolted
after his death, so that it was necessary
to re-conquer them. On his returning
successful from one of these expeditions,
he built a new temple, to which he gave
the name of Coatulon ; but the Tlatelolcos,
whose ancient rivalship seems to have
revived on the death of Montezuma, built
another in opposition, which they called
Coaxolotl. Thus the former hatred be-
tween the two nations was renewed, and
a discord took place, which ended in the
ruin of the Tlatelolcos.

The Mexicans sustained an irreparable
loss, in 1469 and 1470, by the death of
their allies the kings of Tacuba and
Acolhuacan ; for though the league
which had been concluded bebiveen the
three nations continued without any Ado-
lation till the arrival of the Spaniards, we
cannot suppose that any of the successors
of the Tacuban and Acolhuacan princes
would have the same cordial affection
for those of Mexico Avhich was enter-
tained by those who lay under such great
obligations to Montezuma. The king of
Tacuba Avas succeeded by his son Chi- 1
malpopoca, and the Acolhuacan monarch i
by his son Nezahualpilli. A short time j

after the accession of the latter, the war
broke out between the Tlatelolcos and
Mexicans, which ended in the destruction
of the former.

Axayacatl continued to extend his ter-
ritories to the east and Avest, till his pro-
gress was stopped by death in 1477. —
He Avas succeeded by his elder brother
Tizoc ; of whose reign we know little,
but that he conquered fourteen cities,
some of which had been in rebellion.
Ahuitzot],the brother of Tizoc, succeeded
him in the kingdom of Mexico. His life
was a continued series of wars, in all of
which he proved ultimately successful,
extending the Mexican dominions as far
as Guatimala, 900 miles to the south-east
of Mexico, and in only one expedition
were the Mexicans defeated Avith dis-
grace.

At the time of Ahuitzotl's death, the
Mexican empire was brought to its high-
est grandeur. His successor, Montezuma
Xocojotzin, or Montezuma Junior, Avas a
person of great bravery, besides Avhich
he was likewise a priest, and held in
great estimation on account of his wisdom
and the dignity of his deportment. His
election was unanimous ; and the nobles
congratulated themselves on the happi-
ness the country was to enjoy under him,
little thinking hoAv short the duration of
their happiness or of their empire was
to be.

The reign of Montezuma, even before
the arrival of the Spaniards, was far from
being so glorious in war as those of his
predecessors had been. He reduced
indeed one rebellious province, and con-
quered another which had never before
been subjugated; but in his war Avith
Tlascala he was by no means successful.
This was but a small republic, at no great
distance from the capital, but the inhabi-
tants were remarkable for their bravery
and independent spirit. The neighboring
states, however, Avho had been reduced
by the Mexicans, envious of their liberty
and prosperity, exasperated the Mexicans
against them, by representing that the
Tlascalans were desirous of making
themselves masters of the maritime pro-
vinces on the Mexican Gulf, and that by
their commerce with these provinces they
were increasing their wealth and power,

MEXICO.

481

and gaining the hearts of the people with
whom they were to traffic. In conse-
quence of this representation, strong gar-
risons were placed on the frontiers of
Tlascala, to obstruct the commerce of
the inhabitants, and thus to deprive them
of the means of obtaining some of the
necessaries of life. The Tlascalans
complained ; but received no other an-
swer than that the king of Mexico was
lord of all the world, and that the Tlasca-
lans must submit and pay tribute to him.
The Tlascalans returned a spirited an-
swer to this speech, and began to fortify
their frontier; and so well did they de-
fend themselves, that though they were
frequently attacked by the neighboring
states in alliance with Mexico, or subject
to it, not one of them was able to wrest
a foot of ground from them. A continual
series of wars and engagements took
place between the states of Mexico and
this republic, which continued till the
arrival of the Spaniards.

The West India Islands had been dis-
covered by Columbus, in 1492; he had
made frequent voyages, and had even
discovered the continent. Settlements
had been made ; the Spaniards had
shown their prowess and their cruelty;
and their is no doubt, but that many of
the islanders quitted their habitations to
escape the fury of the invaders. It would
naturally occur to these fugitives, that
the arms of these new comers could not
be resisted by those of the western na-
tions, while their relentless cruelty might
easily suggest that they would destroy
all before them. From the year 1492,
therefore, to 1508, there was time enough
for this report to have reached Mexico ;
and we can only attribute it to the barbar-
ous state of ignorance in which the Amer-
icans were, that the Spaniards were not
perfectly known and described before
their arrival.

The Spaniards having at length estab-
lished themselves in the island of Cuba
and Hispaniola, numbers of adventurers
now prepared expeditions to the conti-
nent also, with a view to extend the do-
minions of their sovereign, and to satiate,
if possible, their own appetites for wealth.

Mexico itself was first discovered,
though imperfectly, by a Spaniard named
61

Nunez de Balboa ; but in 1518, the con-
quest of it was undertaken by a celebrated
adventurer named Ferdinando Cortes.

The Spaniards had no sooner gained
a competent knowledge of the nature of
the extent and government of the kingdom
of Mexico, than they formed the resolu-
tion of conquering it, partly by force of
arms, and partly by stratagem. They
obtained powerful supplies from Spain,
and after having overcome the almost
insurmountable difficulties attendant on
so bold an undertaking, they finally took
possession of the Mexican empire ; but
not till they had broken down the ancient
land marks, destroyed the cities, and
almost exterminated the ancient posses-
sors of the soil. From that period up to
the time of the late revolutionary struggle,
the powerful kingdom of the Incas re-
mained in the hands of the victorious
Spaniards. They have, however, been
compelled to render up their ill-gotten
territories, and are now expelled from
the land over which they had so long
ruled with an iron sway.

But few of the aborigines still remain,
as the natives were nearly exterminated
by the Spaniards. The gold mines,
which had first tempted the cupidity of
their invaders, swallowed up nearly all
those who inhabited the metalliferous
districts, and though they are still found
in the neighborhood of large cities, they
are only employed in the humblest me-
nial capacity.

Under the government of Spain, Mex-
ico was one of the four great vice-royal-
ties of Spanish America. The viceroy
was endowed with all the prerogatives
of the king. The only checks upon him
were the residencia, or investigation into
his conduct on his return home, and the
audiencia, composed of Europeans, and
of which he was himself president. The
recopilacion de las leyes de las Indias
was the name given to the heterogeneous
mass of decrees by which the colonies
were governed. Special fueros, or priv-
ileges, were conferred on different pro-
fessional and corporate bodies, which
rendered the confusion complete. All
the higher officers, in church and state,
were Europeans. A system of dilapida-
tion, beginning with the chiefs, extended

482

MEXICO.

through all the offices of government, and '
a monstrous corruption perverted the
whole administration. The colony was
not allowed to manufacture any article
which could be supplied by the mother
country, the whole trade was confined to !
a single port in Spain, and all foreigners |
were rigidly excluded. Books were pro- 1
hibited, schools' discouraged or suppress- 1
ed, and every measure taken to prevent
information from being spread among the
inhabitants.

When the events of 1 808 in the Span-
ish peninsula led to a change in the state
of afl'airs, the Mexicans were, in general,
loyally disposed to their sovereign ; but
the assumption of authority by a new
body, the Cortes, and their unwise and
inconsistent proceedings, tended to alien-
ate their feelings of attachment. Don
Jose Iturrigaray, the viceroy, in order to
conciliate the Americans, proposed to
constitute a junta, formed of representa-
tives from each province, and composed
equally of natives and Europeans, which
should organize a provisional government.
The latter, however, fearful of losing
some of their former superiority, arrested
the viceroy, and sent him out of the coun-
try. The new viceroy, Venegas, dis-
played an offensive partiality for the
Spaniards, and exasperated the Creoles
by the severity of his measures. An ex-
tensive conspiracy was organized, and
the insurrection broke out in September,
1810. A priest, Hidalgo, a man of strong
inind and great firmness, put himself at
the head of the insurgents ; but, after some
fighting, and the commission of great
atrocities on both sides, Hidalgo was
captured and put to death in 1811. Mo-
relos, a priest in the southern part of the
country, who had been named captain-
general of the south-west by Hidalgo,
liad meanwhile raised a considerable
force, and meeting with a series of suc-
cesses, he advanced to within a short
distance of the capital. In this expedi-
tion, Victoria first distinguished himself.
Morelos was obliged to retire, but cap-
tured Oaxaca and Acapulco. A national
congress was assembled at Chilpanzingo,
in 1813, which declared Mexico inde-
pendent. The forces of the insurgents
were afterwards almost entirely annihi-

lated by Iturbide, and Morelos was him-
self shot in 1815. Victoria retired to
the mountains, where he remained con-
cealed eighteen months. Another gene-
ral named Guerrero alone maintained a
small force in the south.

In 1817, general Mina landed with a
small body of foreigners, and gained
some temporary success ; but he was
made prisoner in July of that year, and
shot. Thus, in 1819, all the insurgent
chiefs had been pardoned, or executed, ex-
cept Guerrero. In 1 820, the Cortes having
ordered the sale of the church property,
Apodaca, the viceroy, refused to acknow-
ledge the Cortes ; he employed Iturbide
to reduce Guerrero, but that general join-
ed the insurgent chief, proposed the con-
stitution of Iguala, and proclaimed the
independence of his country. This oc-
curred February 24, 1821.

At this time, the constitutional viceroy,
O'Donoju, arrived in the country, and
concluded with Iturbide the peace of
Cordova, by which it was stipulated that
the Spanish army should evacuate Mexi-
co. The viceroy and Iturbide were as-
sociated in the government, and the ar-
my was called the army of the three
guarantees, the objects to be maintained
being the independence of Mexico as a
separate monarchy under a Bourbon
prince, the maintenance of the Catholic
religion, and the union of all classes. A
congress was soon assembled to settle the
principles of the constitution. But the
Cortes having declared the past proceed-
ings null, Iturbide caused himself to be
proclaimed emperor. May 18, 1822, under
the title of Augustin I.

A powerful party opposed the new
state of things. After a bloody struggle,
the emperor oflfered to abdicate in 1823,
and was allowed to depart for Europe.
A new form of government, on federal
republican principles, was now establish-
ed. Iturbide returned to the country in
1824, but was immediately arrested and
shot. On the banishment of the emperor,
a poder cxecutivo, or executive, was form-
ed, consisting of Vittoria, Bravo, and Ne-
grete, and, in 1824, the constitution was
adopted and proclaimed. Vittoria was
chosen president, and Bravo vice-presi-
dent of the new republic.

MEXICO,

483

The first constitutional congress was
convened, January 1, 1825, and held an
extraordinary session in August of the
same year. The castle of Ulloa was
soon surrendered by the Spaniards, and
the whole Mexican soil was now deliv-
ered from European hands. The pros-
pect of tranquillity which was held out by
the complete liberation of the country and
organization of the government was soon
interrupted by the violence of parties.

The animosity of the Escoceses and
Yorkinos ended in acts of outrage and
bloodshed, and the land was again dis-
tracted with civil war. The Escoceses
(Scotch) was a masonic society of Scotch
origin, composed of large proprietors and
persons of distinction, who were mostly
men of moderate principles, but decided-
ly favorable to the cause of independence.
Many of them had, at one time, been in
favor of a Spanish prince as constitutional
king of Mexico, and they were therefore
often styled Borbonistas by their adver-
saries. The Yorkinos constituted a ma-
sonic society, which derived its origin
from a masonic lodge in New- York,
through the agency of Mr. Poinsett,
American minister at Mexico. These
two political parties (for such they had
become) were arrayed against each other
on occasion of the choice of the se-
cond president in 1828, and also differed
as to the policy to be pursued in the
treatment of the Spaniards who resided
in the country, the Yorkinos being in fa-
vor of their entire expulsion from the
country. The result of the election, af-
ter an arduous contest, was the triumph
of the Escoceses party, whose candidate,
general Pedrazza, was chosen, by a ma-
jority of two votes, over general Guerrero,
the Yorkino candidate. General Santa
Anna, at the head of a body of troops,
declared that this vote was not an expres-
sion of the will of the majority, and pro-
claimed Guerrero president. This move-
ment was unsuccessful, but another was
soon organized, and an armed body de-

1 manded the expulsion of the Spaniards.
After some fighting, the government was
1 obliged to yield, and general Pedrazza, to
' avoid bloodshed, advised his friends to
[ submit, and expressed his determination
to leave the country. Guerrero was
I accordingly inaugurated president in
I April, 1829, and a law was passed order-
ing all Spanish residents to quit the
country.

I In the summer of 1829, an expedition
! was fitted out in the Havana, under the
command of general Barradas, to under-
take the conquest of the Mexican repub-
lic. A force of 4,000 men was landed
at Tampico, July 27, but on the 10th of
September surrendered to general Santa
Anna. But the dangers of a foreign in-
vasion were no sooner past than domestic
dissensions were again renewed. Guer-
rero, who had been invested with dicta-
torial powers, on the approach of the in-
vaders, was unwilling to resign them,
and this was made a pretext for the oppo-
sition of the discontented. Bustamente,
the vice-president, placed himself at the
head of a body of troops in December,
1829, and issued a proclamation denounc-
ing the abuses of the executive. He im-
mediately advanced upon the capital, and
was joined by the forces there. Guerrero,
finding himself deserted, abdicated the
presidency, and Bustamente was elected
by the army his successor. In the latter
part of 1830, new disturbances com-
menced, and a civil war ensued. Guer-
rero, who was made prisoner in February,
1831, was condemned to death for bear-
ing arms against the established govern-
ment, and shot. Since this period gene-
ral Santa Anna has been raised to the
presidency of Mexico ; he was, however,
defeated and taken prisoner in an attempt
to quell an insurrection in Texas, a
Mexican province bordering on the Uni-
ted States. He was released, and is at
present at the head of the Mexican army,
opposing the invasion of the French who
are at war with Mexico.

484

NETHERLANDS.

The early history of the Netherlands
has nothing in it very interesting or pe-
culiar. Like that of most European
states, it commences with an account of
their subjugation. The Romans had pen-
etrated into those countries, and conquer-
ed them all before the beginning of the
Christian era. The people had not
yielded tamely. The Belgoe, inhabiting
the left bank of the Rhine, are described
by Caesar as the only Gallic tribe brave
enough to withstand the irruptions of the
Teutones and Cimbri ; the Frisians, oc-
cupying the right bank of the same river,
made a stubborn opposition in the middle
of their swamps ; and the Batavians, who
dwelt upon the islands of Zealand, were
honored as the boldest of all the neigh-
boring clans. Their opposition was vain,
however ; and their gallant attempt to
cast off the yoke in Vespasian's time was
equally vain. They submitted to the
Romans, and participated in the improve-
ments which that people usually commu-
nicated to the nations it conquered. The
canal of Drusus, from the Rhine to the
Flevo or Zuyder Zee, still exists, though
its character is altered ; and the first
dykes, which protected Holland from the
ocean, are ascribed to the enterprising
industry of those governors. The stout
spirit of resistance shown by the Bata-
vians had procured them respect in the
eyes of their conquerors. The tribute of
the province was paid in soldiers : Bata-
vians formed the body-guard of the em-
peror, as Swiss have done in later times ;
and the valor which had been displayed
on the banks of the Rhine, was equally
conspicuous in other quarters of the em-
pire. Agricola was accompanied and
powerfully aided by them in his progress
through Britain ; and the Dacian hosts
recoiled when Batavians, in full armor,
swam across the Danube to attack them.

During four centuries we find Bata-
vians enumerated among the Roman ar-
mies ; but after the time of Honorius,
their name vanishes from history. The
irruption of the northern nations swept
Qver their country in its course, and de-

stroyed all the monuments of Roman pow-
er and ingenuity. The monarchy of the
Franks which arose on the ruins of Gaul,
had, in the sixth and seventh centuries,
embraced all the provinces of the Neth-
erlands, and planted the Christian faith
in them. After an obstinate struggle,
Charles Martel overcame Friesland the
last of all ; and Charlemagne united the
whole of those countries with the wide
empire, which he had formed for himself
out of Germany, France, and Lombardy.
When Charlemagne's possessions were
again divided among his successors, the
Netherlands became at one time provin-
ces of Germany, at another of France ;
and we find them at last designated by the
names of Friesland and Lower Lorraine.
With the Franks arrived also the con-
stitution of the north ; and here, as else-
where, it gradually degenerated. The
stronger vassals separated in process of
time from the crown ; and the royal offi-
cers laid hold of the districts over which
they were sent to preside, and rendered
them hereditary in their families. But
those revolted vassals could not hope to
resist their king, except by the help of
their inferior retainers ; and the support
thus required was repaid by fresh infeu-
dations. The priesthood, in the mean
time, also, growing wealthy and power-
ful, had extorted for itself an independent
existence in its abbeys and episcopal
sees. And thus, in the tenth, eleventh,
twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, the
Netherlands were split down into a num-
ber of petty sovereignties, the heads of
which held partly of the empire, partly
of France. By purchase, marriage, in-
heritance, or conquest, several of these
lordships were frequently united under
one master ; and in the fifteenth century
we find the house of Burgundy in pos-
session of almost the whole. Philip the
Good, by prosecuting various claims, just
and the contrary, had at last succeeded in
uniting eleven of the provinces imder his
authority ; and Charles the Bold, his son,
increased them by the conquest of other
two. And thus a new state had silently

NETHERLANDS.

485

arisen in Europe, to which nothing but
the name was wanting to make it the
most flourishing kingdom in that quarter
of the world. Such extensive posses-
sions made the duke of Burgundy a sus-
picious neighbor to the king of France ;
and inspired the restless spirit of Charles
the Bold with the plan of a conquest,
destined to include the whole tract of
country extending between Alsace and
the mouths of the Rhine. The duke's
inexhaustible resources justified, in some
measure, this proud chimera : a power-
ful army threatened to realize it ; and
Switzerland already trembled for its free-
dom. But fortune forsook Charles at the
battles of Granson, of Morat, of Nancy:
he fell by an unknown hand ; and his
very corpse was all but lost among the
carnage of his followers.

The future husband of his sole daugh-
ter and heiress, Maria, would now be-
come the richest prince of the time.
Maximilian, duke, afterwards emperor
of Austria, and Louis XI, of France, were
rivals for this honor, and excluded the
claims of humbler competitors. The
States of the Netherlands dreaded the
power and tyranny of Louis : Maximilian
was weaker and more distant ; they de-
cided for him. Their political foresight
corresponded ill with the event. Philip
the Fair, Maximilian's and Maria's son,
acquired with his Spanish bride, the ex-
tensive monarchy which Ferdinand and
Isabella had lately founded; Charles V,
the next heir, augmented this inheritance
by his grandfather's imperial crown ; and
the Netherlands, thus become the pro-
vince of an overwhelming empire, had
soon cause to experience and repent the
change in their situation. During the
succeeding age, this connection with
Spain gave rise to the most terrible, as
well as the most glorious event of their
history.

Prior to the Burgundian dynasty, and
under it, the Netherlands, profiting by
their natural advantages for commerce,
had acquired considerable wealth ; their
wealth secured to them a free though
complicated constitution ; and they grad-
ually rose to be the first trading nation
in the world.

The new light of the Reformation,

which in his reign was dazzling or illu-
minating every corner of Europe, had
early found its way into the Netherlands,
and excited instant notice there. Foreign
merchants, assuming the liberty of speech
and action natural to persons in their sit-
uation, had already professed the doc-
trines of Luther. The Swiss and Ger-
man soldiers of Charles were often Pro-
testants : the nobles of the country were
accustomed to study in the academies of
Geneva: refugees from France and Eng-
land were allured by the freedom of the
Low Countries to escape from the pres-
sure of domestic persecution ; their me-
chanical skill or commercial capital was
welcomed as a benefit ; and their opin-
ions Avere listened to with toleration or
approval. The art of printing circulated
those speculations among the higher
classes. Bands of adventurers, animated
by the love of truth or the love of change,
moved over the country from place to
place, to circulate them among the lower.
To the serious, those speakers, as they
were named, could preach with all the
fervid zeal of missionaries and apostates :
for the careless and light of heart, they
had songs, and farces, and buffooneries
in every possible style of contrivance.
Such multifarious causes did not work in
vain. The Romish church in the Neth-
erlands, attacked at once by argument
and ridicule, by enthusiasm and self-in-
terest, was nodding to its fall before the
danger had been met or even noticed.
Its guardians at length awoke, and the
usual expedients were put in motion.
Charles V had agreed to tolerate the
Evangelical creed in Germany, because
its professors were formidable in their
united strength ; but he seemed anxious
to make amends for this compelled for-
bearance, by a double severity in ti"eat-
ing the heretics of the Netherlands. Fifty
thousand persons perished on the scaffold
here, " suffering for conscience' sake,"
during his reign. No privacy, however
sacred, was secure ; no age, or sex, or
rank, was spared ; and this once cheer-
ful land was overshadowed with grief,
and terror, and silence.

Charles, however, was less a bigot
than a despot : he relaxed his cruelties
when he found they would interfere with

486

NETHERLANDS.

the prosperity of a country whose reven-
ues he needed so much ; and he prefer-
red allowing the contiiuiance of errone-
ous doctrines at Antwerp, to the hazard
of destroying the commerce of the city
in extirpating them by an Inquisition
similar to that of Spain. The people,
too, were inclined to suffer much at his
hands. He was their countryman ; spoke
their language, adopted their manners,
and visited them often. The fame of his
victories, his talents, and his power, laid
hold of their admiration ; and the promo-
tions which he lavished on their chief
men, secured him a permanent interest
among the inferior. And if all those per-
suasives could not lead to obedience, the
extent of his other dominions was suffi-
cient io force it. The prompt and hard
punishment to which he had condemned
the mutinous inhabitants of Ghent, was
a lesson of humility and submission to all.

But in the case of Philip II, his son,
every thing was different. With a heart
as stony as his father's, Philip united an
mtellect vastly inferior by nature ; and
the gloomy tutelage of monks had nar-
rowed and obscured it still farther. He
was born in Spain ; and the harsh sad-
ness of his temper was best fitted to rel-
ish the solemn and monotonous style of
society prevalent there. In his youth he
had been sent to visit the Netherlands,
that his presence might conciliate the
affections of the people ; but his haughty
deportment, his unaccommodating char-
acter, produced quite an opposite effect.
Philip loved not the Netherlands ; and
the feeling was mutual. At the abdica-
tion of his father ( 1 556,) the States evinc-
ed their distrust of Philip's intentions by
the vain attempt which they made to guard
against them. The splendor of a spec-
tacle so extraordinary could not lull their
vigilance ; and an additional oath was
imposed on Philip, "forbidding every
shadow of innovation in the established
laws of the country.

The suspicions which arose so early
were soon abundantly confirmed. By
the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis, Philip
was delivered from all foreign enemies ;
yet he obstinately continued, under the
shallowest pretences, to retain a body of
Spanish troops, occupying the garrisons

and consuming the resources of the
country. The edicts of his father were
brought forward anew, and the more
strict and impressive execution of them
was intrusted to Cardinal Granvella, a
man whose inflexible disposition and
consummate political skill were well fitted
for the purposes of Philip ; but whose
proud contemptuous behavior disgusted
the nobles, while his rigid severity exas-
perated the people. The nobles partici-
pating in the discontents of the populace,
to which peculiar discontents were added
to their own case, seconded, though they
affected not to countenance the popular
proceedings ; and formed themselves
into a combination, which has become
known to history by the epithet Gueux
(beggars) applied to the members of it in
contempt, by a minion of the court, when
they appeared in Brussels to lay their
petition and remonstrance before the re-
gent. The name Gueux was adopted
with an indignant smile, by the confed-
eracy itself ; and the symbols of beggary,
the wallet and staff in miniature, became
the rallying emblems of the dissatisfied,
and were to be seen on the persons of
men and women over all the country.

Alarmed by these unequivocal symp-
toms of general revolt, Philip despatched
the duke of Alva from Spain, at the head
of 10,000 men, to enforce obedience, and
avenge the opposition already shown to
his mandates. The duchess of Parma,
the regent of the Netherlands, was glad
to retire from the storm, which, in con-
trasting Alva's character with the circum-
stances of the state, she saw clearly to
be approaching ; and Alva was appointed
governor in her stead. His entrance
upon office was the signal for universal
despair. Bigoted in his creed, immove-
able in his determinations, savage in his
temper, he hated the Flemings for the
favor shown them in the former reign ;
and the country soon groaned under the
weight of his resentment. With his
council of twelve, nominated by himself,
and entirely at his discretion, he pro-
ceeded strongly in the work of destruc-
tion ; and the scaffolds soon reeked with
the blood of thousands, guilty or inno-
cent, as they happened to incur his dis.
pleasure. The people were driven to

NETHERLANDS.

487

madness ; they wanted but a leader to
rise in open rebellion, and brave the very
utmost of their tyrant's fury. A leader
was soon presented to them ; and one
fitted for the crisis beyond any other per-
son of his time.

William, prince of Orange, was the
representative of the noble family of Nas-
sau, which had once given an emperor
to Germany, and for many ages had oc-
cupied an honorable rank among the
chiefs of that country. He had exten-
sive possessions in the Netherlands ;
and had been employed there by Charles
in various important duties, in the dis-
charge of which, his talents, his integrity,
his manners, had procured him universal
confidence and respect. Disappointed
in his expectation of the regency under
Philip, who hated and feared him, he had
continued to act with the same calm stead-
fastness, equally resisting the arbitrary
measures of government, and repressing
the rash attempts of the harassed people.
On Alva's approach he retired to Germa-
ny ; and the fate of count Egmont, who
shared the national favor with him, and
had perished on the scaffold at Antwerp
for no other crime but sharing it, soon
showed how prudent this step had been.
The tribunal which had condemned his
friend, now summoned William to appear
likewise ; and as he naturally refused to
comply, they proceeded to confiscate his
property, and brand him as a traitor.
William was not of a humor to brook
such treatment tamely ; and patriotism
combined with ambition to strengthen
his purpose of finding redress. Having
formed an alliance with several princes
of Germany, and collected a body of
troops, which multitudes of Flemish ex-
iles were rapidly augmenting, he formal-
ly renounced his allegiance to the gov-
ernor, and entered Friesland at the head
of an army in 1569.

His beginning was unsuccessful. Al-
va hastened to meet him ; the raw soldier
could not stand against the veteran ; Wil-
liam retired into Germany once more ;
and the Spaniard returned in triumph to
Brussels. But his triumph was not long |
undisturbed. He had erected a statue j
of himself in the citadel of Antwerp ; I
he had represented it as treading under

foot two smaller statues emblematic of
the States of the Netherlands ; and was
proceeding quickly to demonstrate the
correctness of this allegorical device, by
levying the most oppressive taxes, of his
own authority, and massacreing, with
every circumstance of ignominy and sav-
ageness, all such as refused to comply
with his requisitions, — when his bloody
career was interrupted by intelligence
that the town of Brille was taken, and
the whole island ready to revolt. He
hastened thither to quell the tumult, and
crush the Gueux patriots, or pirates as
he called them, who had caused it. But
the infamy of his conduct preceded him ;
William of Orange, under whose instruc-
tions the conquerors of Brille had acted,
was advancing from the east with a fresh
army ; and the entire provinces of Zea-
land and Holland simultaneously threw
off" the Spanish yoke. Alva made vast
efforts ; but they were fruitless. He
took Naerden and Haarlem, and butch-
ered their inhabitants ; but he failed be-
fore Alcmaar ; a fleet which he put to
sea with great exertion, was defeated
and destroyed by the Zealanders ; and
on Philip's order he returned to Spain,
to boast that in five years he had deliv-
ered 18,000 heretics into the hands of
the executioner.

Requesens succeeded Alva. He was
a milder and a better man ; but the time
for mildness was gone by. Some years
before, a governor like Requesens might
have retained the Netherlands under
Philip ; but the horrors of Alva's regen-
cy, the massacre of St. Bartholomew in
France, had put to flight " respective
lenity," and " fire-eyed fury" was their
conduct now. It is dangerous to drive
even the feeblest of creatures to despair ;
and Philip found he had calculated too
far on the phlegmatic patience of his
northern subjects. The dull perseve-
rance of their ordinary character was
now changed into a grim and adaman-
tine fixedness of purpose to suffer all, to
dare all, but never to submit. " Talk
not of surrender," replied they to Valdez,
the general of Requesens, at the siege
of Leyden, when famine was already
carrying them in hundreds to the grave :
" Our provisions are not exhausted, and

488

NETHERLANDS.

if they were, if all else should fail, we
would eat our left arms and fight with
our right, that we might die fighting
against our tjTants." Their firmness,
on tliis occasion was rewarded. The
sluices were opened, the country was
laid under water ; a strong south-west
wind rendered fruitless every attempt to
drain it ; and the Spaniard made a fright-
ful retreat, leaving the flower of his army
buried in the marshes, or hewn to pieces
by the Flushing boatmen, who hung upon
his skirts, with fury and revenge in their
hearts — their harsh countenances ren-
dered harsher by scars sustained from
the same enemy in former broils, and
their caps surmounted each by a cres-
cent, having the inscription, Turks he-
fore Papists.

This ineffectual siege of Leyden is
the most remarkable transaction of Re-
quesens in the Low Countries. It was
followed in 1575, by some abortive at-
tempts at negotiation, the emperor Ro-
dolph, and queen Elizabeth of England,
acting as mediators. Neither party was
in a mood for negotiating ; and Philip
instructed Requesens to prosecute the
war with fresh vigor. The latter en-
deavored to comply ; he was beaten back
at Woerden ; but he reduced Ziriozee,
had entered Zealand, and was meditating
an attack on Holland, when death over-
took him suddenly, and the Netherlands
were left without a governor.

To obviate the evils of dissension,
William assembled the Northern or Pro-
testant States, among whom his influence
was the most extensive, and who hitherto
had stood the brunt of the war alone. —
He was fortunate enough at last, to com-
bine them into a permanent whole. On
the 23rd of January, 1579, was signed
the famous Union of Utrecht, at the
city whose name it bears, by deputies
from the provinces of Holland, Zealand,
Utrecht, Friesland,Groningen, Overyssel,
and Gelderland. It was the fundamental
article of the Dutch Republic, destined
after to become so conspicuous an agent
in the political transactions of Europe.
The main stipulations, for the present,
were, that the seven provinces should
join themselves in interest as one, each
individual still retaining its own private

customs ; that in disputes between two,
the rest should interfere only as media-
tors, and that all should assist each with
life and fortune against every foreign
enemy. Separately, the provinces were
weak ; and though united as firmly as
the bundle of arrows, the badge and
embliem of their alliance, it might still
seem doubtful if this new republic would
survive its infancy.

It was indeed a perilous enterprise in
which they were engaged. A small
community of fishers and herdsmen, hith-
erto unknown among nations, had come
down into the lists against a monarch,
before whom the most powerful kingdoms
of the world had lately trembled for their
liberties. With no resources but their
own activity, no tactics but their own
despair, the Dutch had ventured to defy
the commander of the veterans of Charles
V, and the possessor of the American
mines. The contest at first view might
appear hopeless, and preferable to sub-
mission, only, as dying nobly on the field
of battle is preferable to dying unjustly
on the scaffold. A closer inspection,
however, showed the prospect in less
gloomy colors. The Hollanders were
poor ; but the enemy's wealth lay widely
scattered, and bold adventure might
snatch a part of it. The Flemish exiles,
driven from the peaceful occupations of
the land, had betaken themselves in great
numbers to another element ; and the
rich fleets of Spain were often captured
by them. By degrees, too, the trade
which was thus obstructed, sought out
other channels ; and Holland, the asylum
of the persecuted from every nation, (who
were naturally the most inquisitive and
enterprising of each nation,) soon abound-
ed in persons fitted for all kinds of com-
merce, and ready to grasp at every branch
of it within their reach. As their mari-
time speculations prospered, greater num-
bers, and more capital, became engaged
in them ; they at length acquired a navy, ^

which could venture to the Indies, and '

strike at the root of their oppressor's'
prosperity.

With William of Orange at its head, j

therefore, the new confederacy did not '

despair. Philip, who knew the Prince's
importance, attempted to detach him by

NETHERLANDS.

489

promises and gifts ; when this was found
to be impossible, he set a price upon his
head. Superstitious fervor, so justified
and rewarded, was likely in time to find
some wicked maniac whom it could con-
vert into an assassin. A first attempt
failed ; a second was successful. Bal-
thazar Gerard murdered the Prince of
Orange at Delft, (1584,) being impelled,
as he stated at first, by the Divinity ; but
allured also, as he afterwards confessed,
by the less elevated hope of Philip's
earthly recompence to do the deed.

William's death was a heavy stroke
to his fellow-citizens ; but in proportion
as it excited grief for the fate and for the
loss of their leader, it rendered more
implacable their hatred of his destroyer.
Elizabeth of England, though she reject-
ed the sovereignty of the Netherlands
repeatedly offered to her, had been indu-
ced to lend them secret assistance in
troops and money ; and she now openly
espoused their quarrel. As security for
payment, the States delivered up to her
the towns of Bille and Flushing, with the
castle of Rammekens ; and she sent them
an army, with the earl of Leicester to be
their governor. Leicester dissatisfied
the people, and was recalled; but the
soldiers continued ; and being joined
under Lord Willoughby, with the forces
of the republic, were placed at the dis-
posal of Maurice, the late Prince's son,
a young man whom the gratitude of his
country had raised to the station of gov-
ernor, and who soon showed talents that
would have deserved it independently of
gratitude.

His talents, however, were all required
in this emergency ; and but for other
circumstances, they would hardly have
sufficed to meet it. Parma had already
secured Ghent, Bruges, and lastly Ant-
werp, the hardest of his conquests, as
well as the most serviceable. In the
south, every thing must soon have been
entirely at his disposal ; and Holland
might then have justly trembled before
his accumulated force. But Philip's
wars with England, his Invincible Arma-
da, thinned the ranks of Parma, and dis-
sipated the treasures which should have
maintained him.

At length, in 1598, Philip closed his
62

restless reign. The burden which had
galled him near forty years, had long ago
vanquished even his obstinacy ; and Al-
bert of Austria, husband of the Infanta
Isabella, had, some time previously been
promised the sovereignty of the Nether-
lands, with merely a reversion in favor
of Spain, should that princess die child«
less. Philip HI punctually obeyed the
intentions of his father ; but the states of
Holland listened in silence to Albert's
claim. At the head of a great army, he
prepared to enforce it. Prince Maurice
met him at Nieuport (1600 ;) and, with
the aid of sir Francis Vere, and the
English auxiUaries led by him, gained a
complete and splendid victory. Albert
wasted his remaining forces in the
trenches of Ostend ; the town was gal-
lantly maintained by Vere and his follow-
ers ; and did not yield even to the talents
of Spinola, till after it had stood a siege
of three years, and cost him above 70,000
men. Under the same able general,
Spain, to whom the reversion of the
Netherlands was now become secure,
Isabella having no children, made a last
eflx>rt far beyond its diminished strength.
But new efforts yielded no adequate re-
sult ; Philip was weary of the contest ;
and, by the advice of Spinola, he agreed
to treat of peace. After innumerable
obstructions and delays on the part of the
Dutch, who had now begun to reap profit
from the war, and principally on the part
of Maurice's faction, who hoped to make
it ser\^iceable to his ambition, a truce of
twelve years was at last concluded, by
the mediation of France and England, at
the Hague, in 1609, Spain acknowledging
the United Provinces as a free republic,
and granting them every privilege which
a free country has a right to demand.
The revolt in Bohemia, which was al-
ready breaking out, the appearance of
Gustavus Adolphus, and his victorious
progress in Germany, soon gave full em-
ployment elsewhere to all the branches
of the Hapsburg family. Combined with
the vigorous administration of Richelieu,
those events extinguished in Spain all
desire of renewing its pretensions to
Holland ; no farther hostilities occurred,
1 and a definitive treaty was signed in
i 1647, and ratified at the great peace of

490

NETHERLANDS.

Westphalia next year, securing the rights
of the United Provinces in the most am-
ple manner, and finally stipulating the
continuance of peace and free intercourse
between two nations, whose strife had
been so lengthened, so obstinate, and so
bloody.

After the termination of this contest,
which had established the freedom of
seven provinces, and riveted the chains
of ten, the history of the Netherlands
presents nothing equally remarkable. —
What remains of it may be despatched
more briefly. Belgium continued quietly
subject to Spain, and lost all its com-
merce and enterprise ; Holland went on
rapidly increasing in both. Cornelius
Houtmann had led the way to India in
1599; the Portuguese settlements, then
subject to Spain, were in no condition to
resist ; and the Dutch by degrees acquired
almost the whole of that lucrative trade.
They planted colonies in the spice islands
of the East; they gained settlements in
America ; their naval power continued to
augment ; they gradually became the
factors and carriers of Europe. It is
true, their government, at peace from
without, was not equally at peace from
within ; theological disputes between
Arminius and Gomar, to which political
feelings soon became conjoined, had agi-
tated the people violently in 1619, and
tarnished the name of Prince Maurice
by his share in the persecution of Gro-
tius, and the death of the Pensionary
Barnvelt. A more strict republican party
also afterwards arose under the auspices
of the De Witts, who had force and dex-
terity enough at the death of William II,
(1650,) to procure the abolition of the
Stadtholdership. But those political fer-
mentations slightly aflected the industry
and success of the great body of the na-
tion. The public prosperity was stead-
fastly advancing ; it had mounted so high
in 1652, that the States did not hesitate
to throw down the gauntlet to England,
though her power was at that time
wielded by the firm and steady hand of
Cromwell.

Naval superiority was the subject of
this contest; commercial and political
jealousy embittered it. The Dutch had
given refuge and countenance to many

of the exiled royalists ; their admirals
refused to pay to the British the custom-
ar)^ acknowledgment of superiority ; Van
Tromp, on the contrary, placed a broom
at his mast-head, to signify that he would
sweep the seas, and reign triumphant in
them. But the cannon of Blake soon
levelled this rude emblem, and the claim
which it typified ; De Ruyter and Van
Tromp were beaten by him off Portland
in 1653, after a furious contest of two
days ; and next year. Van Tromp was
shot through the body, off the coast of
Holland, while gallantly animating his
men on the third morning of a battle,
which his energy alone had protracted
so long. Monk was the victor on this
occasion. The Dutch were glad to make
peace, and leave the dominion of the
ocean in the hands where it was, and
has ever since continued.

A severer trial awaited the Dutch
republic shortly afterwards. In 1668,
Louis XIV, profiting by the feebleness
of Spain, had entered the Low Countries
with an army, which bore down all op-
position. He soon conquered Belgium ;
he made himself master of Franche
Compte, and was fast extending his do-
minions on every side, when the Triple
Alliance, concluded at the Hague in 1 669,
arrested his ambitious career. Irritated
by the share which Holland had taken
in this transaction, Louis made great
preparations for revenge. The profligate
ministry of Charles II, of England, was
hired to support his views ; and in 1672,
he crossed the Rhine at the head of an
immense army. Basely deserted by
their natural ally, agitated by internal
factions, the Dutch had nothing but a
few undisciplined troops, and a general
scarcely arrived at manhood, wherewith
to oppose the progress of 130,000 vete-
rans, led on by Conde, Turenne, and
Vauban. The issue could scarce be
doubtful. Louis overran the country in
a few weeks ; and Amsterdam was soon
the last asylum of Dutch liberty. The
De Witts proposed surrendering, but the
States, with their young general, William,
Prince of Orange, at their head, deter-
mined on a braver expedient. Preferring
independence to every other advantage,
they opened the sluices of their sea-

NETHERLANDS.

491

dykes ; and Amsterdam once more be-
came an island of the ocean, from which
it had been gained. The king returned
into France ; his generals retired out of
Holland ; and before the triumphal arch
at the gate of St. Dennis, in honor of his
conquest, was completed, Louis possessed
no foot of ground within the conquered
territories. Far from yielding, the Dutch
in their turn became aggressors ; and
their young prince, now appointed Stad-
tholder, ever henceforth continued the
unwearied and successful adversary of
all the covetous schemes of Louis. By
his efforts the present war was ended in
1 679 ; and when he mounted the throne
of England, his augmented power still
thwarted the increasing projects of
France. In 1697, the treaty of Ryswick
concluded a new war of eight years, in
the conduct of which he had been inde-
fatigable, in the result of which he was
superior ; and before his death, he had
prepared the materials of that coalition
which, under Marlborough and Prince
Eugene, brought Louis to the brink of ruin.
The peace of Utrecht saved Louis from
absolute destruction, and consigned Bel-
gium to the throne of Austria, that of
Spain being now filled by a Bourbon.
The Dutch had exerted themselves vig-
orously in all those quarrels ; but from
this period their internal prosperity began
to langiush, their political importance
gradually to lessen. The English had
acquired their arts and manufactures, and
almost entirely supplanted their East In-
dia commerce. The American colonies,
added to this, gave the English navy an
irresistible preponderance. Holland still
continued diligent and contented ; but
the rise of neighboring nations had eclips-
ed its power. About the middle of the
last century, it was farther threatened
with the calamities of foreign invasion.
When Maria Theresa's right to the im-
perial throne was disputed in 1740, the
Dutch had taken up her side ; the French
that of theElector of Bavaria. During the
contest, Louis XV had penetrated into
the Netherlands ; and the Mareschal de
Saxe had conquered Belgium for him.
In 1748, the same general made an at-
tack on Holland. Bergen-op-Zoom had
fallen, Maestricht was falling ; and the

Dutch barrier must have been forced, had
not the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which
restored Belgium to Austria, while it se-
cured the deliverance of Holland, put a
stop to hostilities.

The Dutch took no part in the seven
years' war. A long period of outward
tranquillity was only disturbed by contests
between the people and the Stadtholder,
whose office had been declared heredi-
tary in the Orange family in the year
1747. The French Revolution, and the
victories of Dumourier, took Belgium
from Austria in 1792 ; it was recovered
next summer, but the recovery was only
for a year, and confirmed the victors in
their conquest. Those apostles of change
were eagerly welcomed by the Diitch
people soon after. But the latter had
quickly reason to repent of this predilec-
tion. The French oppressed Holland
with every species of tyranny ; even
Louis Bonaparte, for whom it had been
erected into a kingdom, gave it up in de-
spair. Various attempts to relieve it
failed, till at last, in 1814, the successes
of the allied sovereigns put the Low
Countries into their hands. The British
cabinet accomplished its often projected
scheme ; Belgium was united with the
seven provinces into the Kingdom of the
Netherlands ; and the Prince of Or-
ange, who had taken refuge in England,
now ascended the throne. On the 18th
of June, 1815, the great battle of Water-
loo, which decided the fate of the em-
peror Napoleon, was fought near Brus-
sels. The following account of this
memorable action is from Sir Walter
Scott's Life of Napoleon.

It was three o'clock on the afternoon
of the 1 7th, when the British came on
the field, and took up their bivouac for
the night in the order of battle in which
they were to fight the next day. It was
much later before Napoleon reached the
heights of Belle Alliance in person, and
his army did not come up in full force
till the morning of the 1 8th. Great part
of the French had passed the night in the
little village of Genappe, and Napoleon's
own quarters had been at the fai"m-house
called Caillou, about a mile in the rear
of La Belle Alliance.

In the morning, when Napoleon had

492

NETHERLANDS.

formed his line of battle, liis brother Je-
rome, to whom he ascribed the posses-
sion of very considerable military talents,
commanded on the left — Counts Reille
and D'Erlon the centre — and Count Lo-
bau on the right. Marscchals Soult and
Ney acted as lieutenant-generals to the em-
peror. The French force on the field
consisted probably of about 75,000 men.
The English army did not exceed that
number, at the highest computation.
Each army was commanded by the Chief,
under whom they had offered to defy the
world. So far tlie forces were equal. But
the French had the very great advantage
of being trained and experienced soldiers
of the same nation, whereas the English,
in the Duke of Wellington's army, did
not exceed 35,000 ; and although the
German Legion were veteran troops, the
other soldiers under his command were
those of the German contingents, lately
levied, unaccustomed to act together, and
in some instances -suspected to be luke-
warm to the cause in which they were
engaged; so that it would have been im-
prudent to trust more to tlioir assistance
and co-operation, than could not possibly
be avoided. In Bonaparte's mode of
calculating, allowing one Frenchman
to stand as equal to one Englishman, and
one Englishman or Frenchman against
two of any other nation, the inequality
of force on the Duke of Wellington's side
was very considerable.

The British army thus composed, was
divided into two lines. The right of the
first line consisted of the second and fourth
English divisions, the third and sixth
Hanoverians, and the first corps of Bel-
gians, under lord Hill. The centre was
composed of the corps of the prince of
Orange, withthe Brunswickers and troops
of Nassau, having the Guards, under gen-
eral Cooke, on the right, and the division
of general Alten on the left. The left
wing consisted of the divisions of Picton,
Lambert, and Kempt. The second line
was, in most instances, formed of the
troops deemed least worthy of confidence,
or which had suffered too severely in the
action of the 16th, to be again exposed
until extremity. It was placed behind
the declivity of the heights to the rear,
in order to be sheltered from the cannon-

ade, but sustained much loss from shells
during the action. The cavalry were
stationed in the rear, distributed all along
the line, but chiefiy posted on the left of
the centre, to the east of the Charleroi
causeway. The farm-house of La Haye
Sainte, in the front of the centre, was
garrisoned, but there was not time to pre-
pare it effectually for defence. The villa,
gardens, and farm-yard of Hougomont,
formed a strong advanced post towards
the centre of the right. The whole Brit-
ish position formed a sort of curve, the
centre of which was nearest to the ene-
my, and the extremities, particularly on
their right, drawn considerably back-
ward.

The plans of these two great generals
were extremely simple. The object of
the duke of VVellington was to maintain
his line of defence, imtil the Prussians
coming up, should give him a decided
superiority of force. They were expect-
ed about eleven or twelve o'clock ; but
the extreme badness of the roads, owing
to the violence of the storm, detained
them several hours later.

Napoleon's scheme was equally plain
and decided. He trusted, by his usual
rapidity of attack, to break and destroy
the British army before the Prussians
should arrive on the field; after which,
he calculated to have an opportunity of
destroying the Prussians, by attacking
them on their march through the broken
ground interposed betwixt them and the
British. In these expectations he was the
more confident, that he believed Grouchy's
force, detached on the 17th in pursuit of
Blucher, was sufficient to retard, if not
altogether to check, the march of the
Prussians. His grounds for entertaining
this latter opinion, were, as we shall af-
terwards show, too hastily adopted.

Commencing the action according to
his usual system, Napoleon kept his
Guard in reserve, in order to take oppor-
tunity of charging with them, when re-
peated attacks of column after column,
and squadron after squadron, should in-
duce his wearied enemy to show some
symptoms of irresolution. But Napoleon's
movements were not very rapid. His
army had suffered by the storm even
more than the English, who were in bi-

NETHERLANDS.

493

vouac at three in the afternoon of the
1 7th June ; while the French were still
under march, and could not get into line
on the heights of La Belle Alliance until
ten or eleven o'clock of the 18th. The
English army had thus some leisure to
take food, and to prepare their arms be-
fore the action ; and Napoleon lost sev-
eral hours ere he could commence the
attack. Time was, indeed, inestimably
precious for both parties, and hours, nay,
minutes, were of importance. But of this
Napoleon was less aware than was the
duke of Wellington.

The tempest, which had raged with
tropical violence all night, abated in the
morning ; but the weather continued
gusty and stormy during the Avhole day.
Betwixt eleven and twelve, before noon,
on the memorable 18th June, this dread-
ful and decisive action commenced, with
a carmonade on the part of the French,
instantly followed by an attack, com-
manded by Jerome, on the advanced post
of Hougomont. The troops of Nassau,
which occupied the wood around the
chateau, were driven out by the French,
but the utmost efforts of the assailants
were unable to force the house, garden,
and farm-offices, which a party of the
Guards sustained with the most dauntless
resolution. The French redoubled their
efforts, and precipitated themselves in
numbers on the exterior hedge, which
screens the garden wall, not perhaps
aware of the internal defence afforded
by the latter. They fell in great num-
bers on this point by the fire of the de-
fenders, to which they were exposed in
every direction. The number of their
troops, however, enabled them, by pos-
session of the wood, to mask Hougomont
for a time, and to push on with their
cavalry and artillery against the British
right, which formed in squares to receive
them. The fire was incessant, but with-
out apparent advantage on either side.
The attack was at length repelled so far,
that the British again opened their com-
munication with Hougomont, and that
important garrison was re-enforced by
colonel Hepburn and a body of the
Guards.

Meantime, the fire of artillery having
become general along the line, the force

of the French attack was transferred to
the British centre. It was made with
the most desperate fury, and received
with the most stubborn resolution. The
assault was here made upon the farm-
house of Saint Jean by four columns of
infantry, and a large mass of cuirassiers,
who took the advance. The cuirassiers
came with the utmost intrepidity along
the Genappe causeway, where they were
encountered and charged by the English
heavy cavalry ; and a combat was main-
tained at the sword's point, till the French
were driven back on their own position,
where they were protected by their artil-
lery. The four columns of French in-
fantry, engaged in the same attack, forced
their way foi'ward beyond the fann of
La Haye Sainte, and, dispersing a Bel-
gian regiment, were in the act of estab-
lishing themselves in the centre of the
British position, when they were attack-
ed by the brigade of general Pack,
brought up from the second line by gen-
eral Picton, while, at the same time, a
brigade of British heavy cavalry wheeled
round their own infantry, and attacked
the French charging columns in flank, at
the moment when they were checked by
the fire of the musketry. The results
were decisive. The French columns
were broken with great slaughter, and
two eagles, with more than 2,000 men,
were made prisoners. The latter were
sent instantly off for Brussels.

The British cavalry, however, follow-
ed their success too far. They got in-
volved amongst the French infantry, and
some hostile cavalry which were detach-
ed to support them, and were obliged to
retire with considerable loss. In this
part of the action, the gallant general
Picton, so distinguished for enterprise
and bravery, met his death, as did gen-
eral Ponsonby, who commanded the cav-
alry.

About this period the French made
themselves masters of the farm of La
Haye Sainte, cutting to pieces about two
hundred Hanoverian sharp-shooters, by
whom it was most gallantly defended.
The French retained this post for some
time, till they were at last driven out of
it by shells.

Shortly after this event, the scene of

494

NETHERLANDS.

conflict again shifted to the right, where
a general attack of French cavalry was
made on the squares, chiefly towards the
centre of the British right, or between
that and the causeway. They came up
with the most dauntless resolution, in
despite of the continued fire of thirty
pieces of artiller\', placed in front of the
line, and compelled the artillerymen, by
whom they were served, to retreat within
the squares. The enemy had no means,
however, to secure the gims, or even to
spike them, and at every favorable mo-
ment the British artillerymen sallied from
their place of refuge, again manned their
pieces, and fired on the assailants, — a
manosuvre which seems peculiar to the
British service. The cuirassiers, how-
ever, continued their dreadful onset, and
rode up to the squares in the full confi-
dence, apparently, of sweeping them be-
fore the impetuosity of their charge.
Their onset and reception was like a fu-
rious ocean pouring itself against a chain
of insulated rocks. The British squares
stood unmoved, and never gave fire until
the cavalry were within ten yards, when
men rolled one way, horses galloped
another, and the cuirassiers were in
every instance driven back.

The French authors have pretended,
that squares were broken, and colors
taken ; but this assertion, upon the united
testimony of every British officer present,
is a positive untruth. This was not,
however, the fault of the cuirassiers, who
displayed an almost frantic valor. They
rallied again and again, and returned to
the onset, till the British could recog-
nize even the faces of individuals among
their enemies. Some rode close up to
the bayonets, fired their pistols, and cut
with their swords with reckless and use-
less valor. Some stood at gaze, and
were destroyed by the musketry and ar-
tillery. Some squadrons, passing through
the intervals of the first line, charged the
squares of Belgians posted there, with as
little success. At length the cuirassiers
suffered so severely on every hand, that
they were compelled to abandon the at-
tempt, which they had made with such
intrepid and desperate courage. In this
unheard-of struggle, the greater part of
the French heavy cavalry were absolute-

ly destroyed. Bonaparte hints at it in
his bulletin as an attempt made without
orders, and continued only by the desper-
ate courage of the soldiers and their offi-
cers. It is certain, that in the destruc-
tion of this noble body of cuirassiers, he
lost the corps which might have been
most effectual in covering his retreat.
After the broken remains of this fine cav-
alry were drawn oflf, the French confined
themselves for a time to a heavy cannon-
ade, from which the British sheltered
themselves in part by lying down on the
ground, while the enemy prepared for an
attack on another quarter, and to be con-
ducted in a different manner.

It was now about six o'clock, and dur-
ing this long succession of the most fu-
rious attacks, the French had gained no
success, save occupying for a time the
wood around Hougomont, from which
they had been expelled, and the farm-
house of La Haye Sainte, which had
been also recovered. The British, on
the other hand, had suffered very severe-
ly, but had not lost one inch of ground,
save the two posts now regained. Ten
thousand men were, however, killed and
wounded ; some of the foreign regiments
had given way, though others had shown
the most desperate valor. And the ranks
were thinned, both by the actual fugitives,
and by the absence of individuals, who
left the bloody field for the purpose of
carrying oflT the wounded, and some of
whom might naturally be in no hurry to
return to so fatal a scene.

But the French, besides losing about
15,000 men, together with a column of
prisoners more than 2,000 in number,
began now to be disturbed by the opera-
tions of the Prussians on their right flank ;
and the secret of the duke of Wellington
was disclosing itself by its consequences.
Blucher, faithfid to his engagement, had,
early in the morning, put in motion Bu-
low'a division, which had not been en-
gaged at Ligny, to communicate with the
English army, and operate a diversion
on the right flank and rear of the French.
But although there were only about
twelve or fourteen miles between Wavre
and the field of Waterloo, yet the march
was, by unavoidable circumstances, much
delayed. The rugged face of the coun-

NETHERLANDS.

495

try, together with the state of the roads,
so often referred to, offered the most se-
rious obstacles to the progress of the
Prussians, especially as they moved with
an unusually large train of artillery. A
fire, also, which broke out in Wavre on
the morning of the ] 8th, prevented Bu-
low's corps from marching through that
town, and obliged them to pursue a cir-
cuitous and inconvenient route. After
traversing, with great difficulty, the cross-
roads by Chapelle Lambert, Bulow.with
the 4th Prussian corps, who had been
expected by the duke of Wellington
about eleven o'clock, announced his arri-
val by a distant fire, about half-past four.
The first Prussian corps, following the
same route with Bulow, was yet later in
coming up. The second division made
a lateral movement in the same direction
as the fourth and first, but by the hamlet
of Ohain, nearer to the English flank.
The emperor instantly opposed to Bulow,
who appeared long before the others, the
sixth French corps, which he had kept in
reserve for that service ; and as only the
advanced guard was come up, they suc-
ceeded in keeping the Prussians in check
for the moment. The first and second
Prussian corps appeared on the field still
later than the fourth. The third corps
had put themselves in motion to follow
in the same direction, when they Avere
furiously attacked by the French under
mareschal Grouchy, Avho, as already
stated, was detatched to engage the at-
tention of Bulcher, whose whole force
he believed he had before him.

Instead of being surprised, as an ordi-
nary general might have been, with this
attack upon his rear, Blucher contented
himself with sending back orders to
Thielman who commanded the third
corps, to defend himself as well as he
could upon the line of the Dyle. In the
meantime, without weakening the army
under his own command, by detaching
any part of it to support Thielman, the
veteran rather hastened than suspended
his march towards the field of battle,
where he was aware that the war was
likely to be decided in a manner so com-
plete, as would leave victory or defeat
on every other point, a matter of subordi-
nate consideration.

At half-past six, or thereabouts, the
second grand division of the Prussian
army began to enter into communication
with the British left, by the village of
Ohain, while Bulow pressed forward
from Chapelle Lambert on the French
right and rear, by a hollow or valley
called Frischemont. It became now
evident that the Prussians were to enter
seriously into the battle, and with great
force. Napoleon had still the means of
opposing them, and of achieving a re-
treat, at the certainty, however, of being
attacked upon the ensuing day by the
combined armies of Britain and Prussia.
His celebrated Guard had not yet taken
any part in the conflict, and would now
have been capable of affording him pro-
tection after a battle, which hitherto he
had fought at disadvantage, but without
being defeated. But the circumstances
by which he was surrounded must have
pressed on his mind at once. He had
no succors to look for ; a re-union with
Grouchy was the only resource which
could strengthen his forces ; the Rus-
sians were advancing upon the Rhine
with forced marches ; the republicans at
Paris were agitating schemes against his
authority. It seemed as if all must be
decided on that day, and on that field.
Surrounded by these ill-omened circum-
stances, a desperate effort for victory,
ere the Prussians could act effectually,
might perhaps yet drive the English from
their position ; and he determined to ven-
ture on this daring experiment.

About seven o'clock. Napoleon's Guard
were fonned in two columns, under his
own eye, near the bottom of the declivity
of La Belle Alliance. They were put
under command of the daimtless Ney.
Bonaparte told the soldiers, and indeed
imposed the same fiction on their com-
mander, that the Prussians whom they
saw on the right were retreating before
Grouchy. Perhaps he might himself be-
lieve that this was ti-ue. The Guard
answered for the last time, with shouts
of Vive PEmpereur, and moved resolutely
forward, having for their support four bat-
talions of the Old Guard in reserve, who
stood prepared to protect the advance of
their comrades. A gradual change had
taken place in the English line of battle,

496

NETHERLANDS.

^ifMk-^y

..^.J

)^..^v^^ ^rw^/:-- . ''c^,^ -'^^^^t^^^W^^^^^^^^f^ ^-l^^^S^

BaUle of Waterloo.

in consequence of the repe.ated repulse
of the French. Advancing by slow de-
grees, the right, which, at the beginning
of the conflict, presented a segment of a
convex circle, now resembled one that
was concave, the extreme right, which
had been thrown back, being now rather
brought forward, so that their fire, both
of artillery and infantry, fell upon the
flank of the French, who had also to sus-
tain that which was poured on their front
from the heights. The British were ar-
ranged in a line of four men deep, to meet
the advancing columns of the French
Guard, and poured upon them a storm of
musketry which never ceased an instant.
The soldiers fired independently, as it is
called ; each man loading and discharg-
ing his piece as fast as he could. At
length the British moved forward, as if
to close rovmd the heads of the columns,
and at the same time continued to pour
their shot upon the enemy's flanks. The
French gallantly attempted to deploy, for
the purpose nf returning the discharge.
But in tlioir eflbrt to do so, under so dread-
ful a fire, they stopt, staggered, became
disordered, were blended into one mass,
and at length gave way, retiring, or rather

flying, in the utmost confusion. This
was the last effort of the enemy, and Na-
poleon gave orders for the retreat ; to
protect which, he had now no troops left,
save the last four battalions of the Old
Guard, which had been stationed in the
rear of the attacking columns. These
threw themselves into squares, and stood
firm. But at this moment the duke of
Wellington commanded the Avhole Brit-
ish line to advance, so that whatever
the bravery and skill of these gallant vet-
erans, they also were thrown into disor-
der, and swept away in the general rout,
in spite of the efforts of Ney, who, hav-
ing had his horse killed, fought sword in
hand, and on foot, in the front of the bat-
tle, till the veiy last. That mareschal,
whose military virtues at least cannot be
challenged, bore personal evidence against
two circumstances, industriously circu-
lated by the friends of Napoleon. One
of these fictions occurs in his own bul-
letin, which charges the loss of the battle
to a panic fear, brought about by the
treachery of some unknown persons, who
raised the cry of, " Sauve qui pent."
Another figment, greedily credited at
Paris, bore, that the four battalions of

NETHERLANDS.

497

Old Guard, the last who maintained the
semblance of order, answered a summons
to surrender, by the magnanimous reply,
" The Guard can die, but cannot yield."
And one edition of the story adds, that
thereupon the battalions made a half wheel
inwards, and discharged their muskets
into each other's bosoms, to save them-
selves from dying by the hands of the
English. Neither the original reply, nor
the pretended self-sacrifice of the Guard,
have the slightest foundation. Cambrone,
in whose mouth the speech was placed,
gave up his own sword, and remained
prisoner ; and the military conduct of the
French Guard is better eulogized by the
undisputed truth, that they fought to ex-
tremity, with the most unyieldnig con-
stancy, than by imputing to them an act
of regimental suicide upon the lost field
of battle. Every attribute of brave men
they have a just right to claim. It is no
compliment to ascribe to them that of
madmen. Whether the words were used
by Cambrone or no, the Guard well de-
served to have them inscribed on their
monument.

Whilst this decisive movement took
place, Bulow, who had concentrated his
troops, and was at length qualified to act
in force, carried the village of Planche-
noit in the French rear, and was now
firing so close on their right wing, that
the cannonade annoyed the British who
were in pursuit, and was suspended in
consequence. Moving in oblique lines,
the British and Prussian armies came
into contact with each other on the heights
so lately occupied by the French, and
celebrated the victory with loud shouts
of mutual congratulation.

The French army was now in total
and inextricable confusion and rout ; and
when the victorious generals met at the
farm-house of La Belle Alliance, it was
agreed that the Prussians, who were fresh
in comparison, should follow up the chase,
a duty for which the British, exhausted
by the fatigues of a battle of eight hours,
were totally inadequate.

During the whole action. Napoleon
maintained the utmost serenity. He re-
mained on the heights of La Belle Alli-
ance, keeping pretty near the centre,
from which he had a full view of the field,
63

which does not exceed a mile and a half
in length. He expressed no solicitude
on the fate of the battle for a long time,
noticed the behavior of particular regi-
ments, and praised the English several
times, always, however, talking of them
as an assured prey. When forming his
Guard for the last fatal effort, he descend-
ed near them, half down the causeway
from La Belle Alliance, to bestow upon
them what proved his parting exhortation.
He watched intently their progress with a
spyglass, and refused to listen to one or
two aides-de-camp, who at that moment
came from the right to inform him of the
appearance of the Prussians. At length,
on seeing the attacking columns stagger
and become confused, his countenance,
said our informer, became pale as that of a
corpse, and muttering to himself, " They
are mingled together," he said to his at-
tendants, " All is lost for the present,"
and rode off the field ; not stopping or
taking refreshment till he reached Char-
leroi, where he paused for a moment in
a meadow, and occupied a tent which
had been pitched for his accommoda-
tion.

Meantime the pursuit of his discomfit-
ed army was followed up by Blucher,
with the most determined perseverance.
He accelerated the march of the Prus-
sian advanced guard, and despatched
every man and horse of his cavalry upon
the pursuit of the fugitive French. At
Genappe they attempted something like
defence, by barricading the bridge and
streets ; but the Prussians forced them
in a moment, and although the French
were sufficiently numerous for resistance,
their disorder was so irremediable, and
their moral courage was so absolutely
quelled for the m'oment, that in many
cases they were slaughtered like sheep.
They were driven frombivouac to bivouac,
without exhibiting even the shadow of
their usual courage. One hundred and
fifty guns were left in the hands of the
English, and a like number taken by the
Prussians in course of the pursuit. The
latter obtained possession also of all Na-
poleon's baggage, and of his carriage,
where, amongst many articles of curiosi-
ty, was found a proclamation intended to
be made pubhc at Brussels the next day.

498

PERSIA,

The loss on the British side during
this dreadful battle was, as the duke of
Wellington, no user of exaggerated ex-
pressions, truly termed it, immense. One
hundred officers slain, five hundred
wounded, many of them to death, fifteen
thousand men killed and wounded, (in-
dependent of the Prussian loss at Wavre,)
threw half Britain into mourning. Many
officers of distinction fell. It required
all the glory, and all the solid advantages,
of this iuimortal day, to reconcile the
mind to the high price at which it was
purchased. The commander-in-chief,
compelled to be on every point of danger,
Avas repeatedly in the greatest jeopardy.
Only the duke himself, and one gentle-
man of his numerous staff, escaped un-
wounded in horse and person.

It would be difficult to form a guess at
the extent of the French loss. Besides
those who fell in the battle and flight,
great numbers deserted. We do not be-
lieve, that of 75,000 men, the half were
ever again collected under arms.

The revolution in July, 1830, was soon
followed by one in Belgium. It may be
said to date its commencement from a
meeting, principally composed of citizens,
which was called at Brussels, August 24,
1830. It appears that the people of the
Belgian provinces were never cordially
united with Holland and the other Dutch
provinces. ^ King William (the prince of
Orange) attempted, but without much

success, to unite two millions of Dutch
Calvinists, engaged principally in com-
merce, with four millions of Belgian
Catholics, employed in agriculture and
manufactures, whose interests, language
and manners were widely opposed to the
Dutch. They also had some just cause
of complaint against some arbitrary mea-
sures of William's government. The
Belgians, therefore, rose and followed the
example of the French by throwing off
a government forced upon them against
their wishes. They made a formal decla-
ration of independence, October 4,1830.
After a short struggle with the Dutch
troops, France lent her aid in the con-
test ; and the European powers having
become mediators for the express pur-
pose of dismembering the countries, it
was finally settled that Leopold of Saxe
Coburg should become head of the fu-
ture kingdom. Leopold made his public
entry into Brussels, July 21, 1831, and
took the oath to observe the constitution
and maintain the national independence.
Since this period but little has occurred
to disturb the tranquillity of the two coun-
tries, with the exception of the attack on
the fortress at Antwerp, which the Dutch
were very unwilling to give up. It was
attacked by the French troops, and bravely
defended by general Chasse. The French
by using artillery of a most formidable
character, forced the garrison to capitu-
late, December 23, 1832.

PERSIA.

Sir William Jones divides the ancient
history of the Persians into three dis-
tinct periods : The " dark and fabulous,"
comprehending the ages preceding the
Kaianian dynasty ; the " heroic and poet-
ical," commencing with the Kaianian
dynasty and terminating with the acces-
sion of Ardisheer Babigan ; and the " his-
torical," which includes the reigns of the
Sassanian Kings.

The Persians rose into notice and
power by the conquest of Cyrus, who is
celebrated both in profane and sacred his-

tory. Cyrus was the son of a Persian
nobleman, and married the daughter of
the king of the Medes, and by this means
Persia and Media became one kingdom.
He conquered the Lydians, made himself
master of Sardis, their capital, and took
prisoner the king Crcesus, so celebrated
for his vast riches. He conquered Baby-
lon and subjected the greater part of
Asia Minor, and made himself master of
Syria and Arabia. The religion of the
ancient Persians was of great antiquity.
Zoroaster was the founder of the sect of

PERSIA.

499

Magi, in the eastern world, and particu-
larly in Persia. This sect adored the
sun, and paid great veneration to fire —
hence they were called fire-worshippers.
The conquest of the Grecian states
seems to have been a favorite object with
the Persians from the time of Cyrus.
They entered Greece under Xerxes and
others, but the Grecian states by uniting
drove the invaders from their country.
Alexander the Great, on his return from
Egypt, went into Assyria, where he was
met at Arbcla by Darius the Persian king
at the head of 700,000 men. A battle took
place, in which the Persians were defeat-
ed with the loss of 300,000 men. Darius
escaped, and fled from province to prov-
ince, until he was at last murdered by one
of his own officers. This ended the Per-
sian Empire, which submitted to the con-
queror 330 years before the christian era.
The Persian historians before the time
of Cyrus and Alexander the Great, and
even for a period afterwards, are so in-
termixed with fabulous accounts, that it
is difficult to ascertain the truth from their
records. We learn, however, from the
more authentic records of the Greeks,
that Persia on the death of Alexander
fell to Seleucus, who reigned also over
Syria, and whose descendants kept pos-
session of it for sixty-two years, when
one of the tributary chiefs, named Ar-
saces, revolted, and having slain Aga-
thocles, the viceroy of Antiochus Theos,
rescued Persia from the dominion of the
Seleucides, and established what is termed
the Parthian dynasty of the Arsacides.
Of this dynasty there were two branches ;
the first comprehending twenty kings,
who ruled over Persia for 270 years ;
and the reigns of the eleven monarchs of
the second branch included a space of
221 years. This brings us down to the
foundation of the Sassanian dynasty, at
which commences " the historical pe-
riod;" and here we may observe, that,
though the Persian accounts are embel-
lished with hyperbolical descriptions,
and blended with some fables, they are
more correct in the general narrative
than western writers, who confine their
history chiefly to those transactions in
which they themselves were more imme-
diately concerned.

Arduan, the last of the Parthian mon-
archs, at this time ruled over Persia,
when Ardisheer Babigan, the son of an
inferior officer in the public service, and
a descendant of Sassan, the grandson
of the celebrated Isfundear, had so dis-
tinguished himself by his courage and
his genius, that he was appointed gov-
ernor of Darabjird. This rapid rise in
his fortunes filled his mind with more
ambitious views, and soon led him to
grasp at the Persian sceptre. Having
represented to the Persian nobility the
disgrace of submitting to a foreign yoke,
and the honor and advantage to be gained
by a revolution, he brought many of
them over to his interest, and he and his
adherents got possession of Fars, Ker-
man, and Irak, before the king had taken
any steps to oppose his progress. Ardu-
an was now compelled to take the field,
and, having collected a numerous army,
resolved to stake his crown on a single
action. The hostile armies engaged on the
plain of Hoormuz, where Arduan lost both
his crown and his life. This battle raised
Ardisheer to the sovreignty of Persia.
The other provinces soon submitted to his
sway ; and he assumed the proud title of
Shahan Shah, or " king of kings." In
extending his empire towards the west,
he had to contend with the Roman ar-
mies ; and though the accounts given of
this war by western and eastern authors
are somewhat opposite, yet, upon the
whole, it would seem that the result was
favorable to the Persian arms. Having
established by wise regulations the tran-
quillity of his dominions, he restored to
its ancient purity the religion of Zoroas^
ter, which had fallen into neglect and
corruption during the Parthian rule. He
is said to have rebuilt the city of Madain
on the banks of the Tigris, and made it
the capital of the empire. After a most
prosperous reign of fourteen years, he
resigned his sceptre to his son Shahpoor,

Ardisheer is represented as a prince
of extraordinary wisdom and valor. —
Though born in a low station, he, by his
talents and intrepidity, delivered his coun-
try from thraldom, and restored the glory
of the Persian name. While he was al-
most adored by his subjects, his friend-
ship was courted by the greatest mon-

500

PERSIA.

archs of the age ; and his character was
held up as a model to his successors.

Shahpoor was a prince of considera-
ble reputation, but is chiefly distinguished
by his wars with the Romans. His first
achievement was the recovery of Juzcer-
ah, or the countries between the Tigris
and the Euphrates, and the capture of
the famous fort of Nisibis, which had
long resisted all his efforts to subdue it.
He then carried his arms into the Roman
territories ; he took the emperor Valerian
prisoner, and compelled his captive army
to receive an emperor of his own ap>
pointment. His success, however, was
not of long duration. He was defeated
by Odenatus, prince of Palmyrene, and
driven with immense loss within his own
boundaries. The latter years of the reign
of this monarch were employed in de-
corating his dominions with many cities
and public buildings. He built the city
of Shuster, and erected an immense
dyke, over which he brought the river
Karoon, in order to supply the adjacent
country with water. Nishapore in Kho-
rassan, and Shahpoor in Fars, owe their
existence to him ; and the sculptured
rocks, near the latter place, commemo-
rate his capture of a Roman emperor.

It was during the reign of Sliahpoor,
that Mani, the founder of the sect of the
Manichaeans, first began to propagate his
opinions. He attempted to reconcile the
doctrines of the Metempsychosis, as
taught by the Hindoos, and the two prin-
ciples of good and evil of Zoroaster,
with the tenets of the christian religion ;
but he and almost all his disciples were
afterwards put to death by order of king
Baharam, and the skin of the impostor
was stripped off, and hung up at the gate
of the city of Shahpoor.

A remarkable circumstance is recorded
of Hoormuz, the successor of Shahpoor,
before he ascended the throne. He was the
governor of Khorassan,and had been most
successful in establishing the tranquil-
lity of that imsettled province. But some
of his enemies had excited suspicions of
his fidelity in the breast of Shahpoor ;
of which Hoormuz was no sooner made
acquainted than he made one of his hands
to be cut off, and sent it to his father as
a mark of his devoted allegiance. Shah-

! poor was so struck with horror at the
deed, which his rash suspicions had
caused, that he immediately sent for him
to court, and treated him with the most
unbounded affection and confidence. This
good prince founded the city of Ram-
Hoormuz, and reigned only one year.

In the reigns of the three Baharams,
nothing remarkable occurred worth not-
ing. Their successor Narsi was a prince
of a mild disposition ; but he had the
misfortune to engage in war with the
Romans, who at that time had many great
generals. His arms were at first suc-
cessful. He defeated the emperor Gale-
rius, and subdued almost all Armenia ;
but his subsequent discomfitures forced
him to conclude an ignominious peace,
by which he ceded the province of Ju-
zeerah, and five districts east of the
Tigris

We pass over the reign of Hoormuz
II, as affording no event of importance,
to record the achievements of Shahpoor
II. On the demise of Hoormuz, Persia
was about to become a prey to all the
troubles which accompany a disputed
succession, when a lady of the harem
declared she was pregnant. The nobles
of the kingdom, in order to preserve their
country from the horrors of a civil war,
resolved to swear allegiance to the unborn
child of Hoormuz. This child proved to
be a male, and the unanimous voice of
the nobles bestowed upon him the name of
Shahpoor. His education was conduct-
ed with the most affectionate solicitude ;
and every care was taken that he should
imbibe those principles and views which
became his high destiny. During his
minority the kingdom was exposed to the
insults and ravages of the neighboring
tribes, particularly the Arabs, who car-
ried desolation into the fertile valleys of
Persia. But the young monarch took
signal vengeance upon these marauders ;
and their chastisement is perpetuated in
his title of Zoolaktaf, or " Lord of the
shoulders." He overran Yemen, put
many of the inhabitants to the sword,
and dislocated the shoulders of all his
prisoners who were able to bear arms.
He made no great attempt to extend his
dominions on the west during the life
of Constantine the Great. An improba-

PERSIA.

501

ble story is recorded of his having gone
to Constantinople in the disguise of an
ambassador from his own court, in order
to acquire an acquaintance with the Ro-
man empire, but being discovered, he
was imprisoned and treated with great
indignity.

The disorders which followed the death
of Constantine aflbrded Shahpoor an op-
portunity of recovering from the Romans
those provinces which they had wrested
from his grandfather. He therefore took
the field ; but though successful in many
engagements, the fort of Nisibis defied
all his efforts ; and in the battle of Sin-
gara he was severely repulsed, and was
forced to retire with the loss of his son.
Leaving the defence of the frontiers to
some of his generals, he turned his arms
against the Tartar tribes, many of whom
he subdued by force, while others yield-
ed without resistance to his authority.
The emperor Constans now made over-
tures for peace ; but Shahpoor claiming
Armenia and Juzeerah as belonging to
the Persian empire, the treaty was brok-
en oft', and preparations made for renew-
ing the war. Nothing decisive, however,
happened during the life of Constans.
But when Julian had assumed the pur-
ple, he resolved to break the Persian
power so eflectually, as to prevent them
for ever from again disturbing the fron-
tier provinces of the Roman empire.
He therefore took the field with an im-
mense army ; but the Persian monarch,
aware of his inferiority were he to risk
a pitched battle, retired into the interior
of his kingdom, and left his capital to be
pillaged by the Romans. Julian follow-
ed, and penetrated into the heart of Per-
sia, and, after a harassing march, and
much suffering from the intense heat of
the climate and the scarcity of provi-
sions, was surprised by Shahpoor, who
had collected all his forces ; and in a des-
perate engagement which ensued, the
Romans were completely routed, with
the loss of their emperor, who was so
badly wounded that he died the succeed-
ing night. The consequence of this vic-
tory was, an advantageous peace, by
which Persia recovered the five provin-
ces yielded by Narsi, and the strong fort
of Nisibis, which had for a long time

been the bulwark of the Roman power
in the east.

Shahpoor afterwards reduced Armenia
into a province of the empire, and hav-
ing raised his country to a state of the
greatest prosperity, he died at the age of
seventy-one. This prince, renowned for
wisdom and valor, was alike remarkable
for his knowledge of the human mind.
He used to say, " that words may prove
more vivifying than the showers of spring,
and sharper than the sword of destruc-
tion. The point of a lance may be with-
drawn from the body, but a cruel expres-
sion can never be extracted from the
heart that it has once wounded."

The names of Ardisheer H, Shahpoor
HI, Baharam IV, and Yezdijird Ulathin,
are all that is worth recording. Upon
the death of Yezdijird, the succession of
his son Baharam V, was opposed by the
luxurious nobles at the court of Madain.
This prince, while yet a child, had been
entrusted by his father to the care of
Noman, prince of Hirah, to be educated
after the manner of the Arabs ; and they
could not submit to be ruled by a mon-
arch whose manners and habits of life
were so different from their own. They,
therefore, raised to the throne another
prince of the royal family ; but Baharam,
having collected an army of Arabs, ob-
tained his right almost without a strug-
gle. The first acts of his reign were,
to reward Noman, who had educated and
assisted him in regaining his crown, and
to pardon those who had endeavored to de-
prive him of it. These acts, and his gen-
eral munificence and generosity, spread
joy over Persia, and gained him the af-
fections and esteem of his subjects. It
was during his reign that musicians and
minstrels were first introduced from In-
dia ; and Baharam, who rejoiced in the
happiness of his people, gave them such
encouragement, that 1 2,000 were induced
to settle in his dominions. This joyous
disposition of the monarch impressed his
neighbors with the belief that the mar-
tial spirit of the Persians had yielded to
the love of merriment and ease. Acting
upon this impression, the Khan of the
Hiatilla, or White Huns, a tribe of Tar-
tars who had taken possession of the
country beyond the Oxus, suddenly cross-

502

PERSIA.

ed that river with a mighty army, and
destruction and desolation marked his pro-
gress. Baharam saw the torrent rolling
towards his capital, without possessing
any means to repel it. He therefore
seemed to yield to its force ; and left his
kingdom a prey to the conqueror. Re-
tiring with a chosen body of Persian
warriors, he passed the straits of Der-
bent, and, coasting the Caspian, came
into Tartary. Here he refreshed his
troops ; and while the Tartars were feast-
ing in supposed security, believing that
he had taken refuge in the Roman em-
pire, he silently entered Persia, surpris-
ed their camp, and having slain their
chief with his own hand, drove them
with terrible slaughter across the Oxus.
This victory struck awe into the Tartar
tribes, and secured their forbearance
during the life of the conqueror.

The Christians, who, in the former
reign, had been encouraged and protected,
at this time suffered much from the per-
secutions of the Magi. These persecu-
tions, however, were chiefly owing to
the imprudence of the Persian Prelate,
who in a lit of zeal burnt to the ground
one of the Magian temples, which so
roused the indignation of the priests, that
they demolished all the Christian church-
es, and put the Christian bishop to death.
A war with the emperor Theodosius im-
mediately followed, which was attended
with various success ; but it was immor-
talized by the conduct of a Christian
bishop,which did more to secure the good-
will of Baharam to the Christians, than
all the threatenings of Theodosius. In
the beginning of the war, 7,000 Persian
prisoners, who had been brought to the
city of Amida, had fallen into extreme
distress. Acacius, bishop of that place,
having assembled his clergy, observed
that the Almighty preferred mercy to sa-
crifice, and proposed that the plate of
their church should be sold for the relief
of these captives. The proposal was
highly applauded. The Persians were
liberally and aflectionately treated during
the war, and at last dismissed with pre-
sents to their native country.

Baharam received the surname of Gour,
from his being enthusiastically devoted
to the chase, particularly of the gour, or

" wild ass," a diversion which he had
learned among the Arabs. It was while
pursuing this favorite amusement that he
lost his life, by his horse coming sudden~
ly upon a deep spring, and plunging into
it with his royal master, when both dis-
appeared. The body of the king was
never found, though every search was
made for it by his inconsolable mother.

Baharam Gour reigned eighteen years,
and was one of the best monarchs, and
most beloved by his subjects, that ever
ruled in Persia. His successor Yezdi-
jird II, was a prince of great knowledge
and experience, and received the title of
Sipahdost, or " The soldiers' friend,"
from his great attention to their wants
and comforts. In the only expedition
which he undertook against the emperor
of Constantinople, who had refused to
pay the usual tribute, he not only brought
that prince to compliance, but secured
the good opinion of the provinces through
which he passed. He compelled his
troops to pay for every thing they had,
to treat the iidiabitants with the greatest
civility, and to conduct themselves rather
like strangers who came to see the coim-
try, than like enemies disposed to de-
stroy it.

Yezdijird, before his death, had soli-
cited the nobles to support his favorite
son, Hoormuz III, on the throne, in op-
position to his elder brother Firoze, who,
in order to facilitate that measure, had
been appointed to the command of a re-
mote province. Firoze, as soon as he
heard of the accession of his brother,
took refuge with Khoosh-Nuaz, or " the
bountiful monarch," one of the kings of
the Hiatilla. This prince welcomed him
to his court, loaded him with kindness,
and supplied him with an army to recov-
er his birth-right. Hoormuz was dethron-
ed and put to death. A seven years'
drought immediately followed the eleva-
tion of Firoze, which was regarded as a
punishment from heaven for their crimes ;
but no sooner was his country relieved
from this calamity, than the ungrateful
prince employed all the resources of the
empire to destroy the generous benefactor
who had placed him on the throne. He
crossed the Oxus with his troops ; and
Koosh-Nuaz, unable to oppose him, re-

PERSIA.

503

tired at bis approach. But the king of
the Huns was saved by the patriotic de-
votion of one of his chief officers. This
person, after communicating his plan to
his sovereign, caused his body to be
mangled, with the loss of some of his
limbs, and to be laid on the road where
the Persian army should pass. Being
conveyed to Firoze, that prince demand-
ed the cause of such cruel treatment.
The artful Hun answered, that it was the
tyrant Koosh-Nuaz, who had punished
him for the advice which he had given,
as a faithful servant, to submit to any
conditions rather than engage in war with
the hero Firoze. " But I will be re-
venged," he added, " I will lead you by
a short route, where you shall, in a few
days, intercept the tyrant, and rid the
world of a monster." The situation and
words of the wounded chief established
the belief of his sincerity in the mind
of the Persian king; and he suffered
his army to be led by the direction of
the Tartar, till thinned with hunger and
fatigue, they were compelled to submit
to the mercy of the enemy. The gener-
ous Koosh-Nuaz, instead of punishing
the ungrateful Firoze, offered to conduct
him and the remains of his army safely
back to Persia, provided he took an oath
that he would not again invade his do-
minions. With this Firoze was obliged
to comply. But his soul could not brook
the recollection of his degradation; and
his first determination, on his return, was
to wipe away his disgrace by the ruin of
his benefactor. Having appointed a no-
bleman, named Sukhvar, regent in his
absence, he, in breach of his solemn
oath, and in defiance of the advice of
his sagest counsellors, led his army once
more against the bestower of his crown,
and now the preserver of his life. On the
approach of the two armies, the Tartar
prince presented, on the point of his lance,
the treaty to which Firoze had sworn ;
and besought him to desist, before he had
destroyed his fame for ever. But Firoze
nished to the attack. The Huns gave
way, and the Persians were received into
deep pits, which had been dug for the
purpose, and covered over with brush-
wood and earth ; when the incorrigible
injrratitude of the Persian monarch was

punished with the loss of his army and
his life.

Pallas, the son of Firoze, ascended
the throne, but his reign was of short
duration ; and the long reign of his suc-
cessor Kobad is remarkable, chiefly for
the encouragement which he gave to an
impostor of the name of Mazdak, who
propagated the popular doctrine of a com-
munity of females and of property. The
progress of this doctrine spread anarchy,
rapine, and lust, throughout the kingdom.
But the nobles, who cherished different
sentiments from their monarch, combined
for their own preservation, and having
confined Kobad, they placed his brother
Jamasp upon the throne. They would
also have imprisoned Mazdak, but his
followers were numerous, and he contriv-
ed to elude all their efforts. Kobad hav-
ing escaped from prison by the dexterity
and address of his sister, who, it is said,
was connected with him by other ties than
those of kindred, and is in fact called,
by western writers, his queen, fled to the
Tartar court, and by the assistance of
its monarch soon regained his throne.
On his return, he greatly reformed his
conduct, and though still secretly inclined
to the sect of Mazdak, he durst never
carry his notions into practice. This
prince carried on a long and successful
war with the Romans ; and not only ex-
tended his empire by his arms, but im-
proved it by the encouragement which he
gave to the arts, and died respected
abroad and beloved at home.

By the will of Kobad, the crown was
bequeathed to Chosroes, his favorite son,
who was surnamed Nousheerwan, or
" The Magnanimous." This prince was
distinguished by great abilities and mild-
ness of disposition, and is considered by
oriental historians as the most glorious
monarch that ever ruled in Persia. His
first efforts were directed to the proscrip-
tion of the pestilential and abominable
tenets of Mazdak, whom he ordered to
be executed, with many of his followers.
He then set himself to reform many
great abuses which had crept into the
government. He fixed the revenue and
taxes ; and the system which was then
established, continued to be followed for
many centuries. For the better adrainis-

504

PERSIA.

tration of justice, and the more easy
management of public affairs, he divided
the kingdom into four governments. —
Over each of these he appointed a gov-
ernor of the blood royal, and established
such regulations as seemed best adapted
to prevent the abuse of power in these
officers. He was indefatigable in his
endeavors to promote the prosperity of
his kingdom. He founded schools and
colleges, and gave great encouragement
to learned men of every country, who
resorted to his court. The famous fa-
bles of Pilpay were introduced by him
from India, and translated into Persian ;
and he also caused to be published, a
multitude of copies of a work entitled
" Ardisheer's Instructions for all Degrees
of Men," and obliged every family to re-
ceive one. In all these measures he was
assisted by the extraordinary wisdom and
virtues of his favorite vizier Abouzurg-
a-Mihir, who had been raised by the dis-
cernment of his master from the lowest
station to the first rank in the kingdom.
Nousheerwan very early entered into a
Avar with the Romans, during which An-
tioch was taken, and its inhabitants trans-
planted to the banks of the Tigris. We
cannot enter, however, into the long wars
which he waged with Justinian, and his
two successors, Justin and Tiberius ;
but the capture of Antioch, with the re-
duction of Syria, the conquest of Iberia
and Colchos, and his unopposed progress
to the shores of the Mediterranean, tes-
tify the ability and success with which
they were prosecuted. He was equally
successful in other quarters. He checked
the encroachments of the Huns, who had
seized a large territory south of the Ox-
us. He drove them beyond that river,
and extended his dominions as far as
Ferghana. The countries to the east
reaching to the Indus, some provinces
of India, and the finest districts of Ara-
bia, also acknowledged his sway.

Having settled the boundaries of his
vast dominions, Nousheerwan returned
to his capital, Madain, which he adorned
with many beautiful buildings, among
which was the palace, denominated " the
dome of Chosroes," which was consider-
ed one of the wonders of the East ; and
his court was crowded with ambassadors

from the greatest potentates of the world,
who came, loaded with the richest pre-
sents, to compliment him on his victo-
ries, and to court his friendship. But
the prosperous reign of this monarch was
clouded by the rebellion of his son Nous-
chizad. This prince had been educated
in the christian faith by his mother, who
was a christian captive of great beauty,
and of whom the king was passionately
fond, and was so impressed with the
truth of its doctrines, that he could not
be moved, either by the threats of the
Magi or the entreaties of his father.
Nousheerwan, who was a strict observer
of the worship of fire, dreading the evil
consequences of religious disputes among
his subjects, and fearing that many might
be induced to embrace the religion of the
heir-apparent to the throne, placed his
son in a kind of confinement. During
the absence of the king in Syria, a re-
port of his death had reached Persia,
upon which Nouschizad, having effected
his escape, drew together a considerable
force, of which many were christians ;
and continued to increase his army, even
after he had been informed that his father
was alive and well. As soon as Nous-
heerwan heard of this revolt, he despatch-
ed one of his generals against his rebel-
Uous son ; and the insurrection was
quelled by the death of the prince, who
fell in the first encounter.

Perhaps no monarch was ever more
zealous in promoting the general hap-
piness of his people than Nousheerwan.
His impartial administration of justice,
and his vigilance in detecting and pun-
ishing every act of oppression in his in-
ferior officers, gave confidence and secu-
rity to all. Many anecdotes are record-
ed of his strict adherence to justice,
which seems to have been a principal
feature in his character. He was sur-
named by the Arabians, Al-Malek, or,
" The Just ;" and Mahomed used to boast
of his good fortune in being born under
the reign of so just a king. A Roman
ambassador, one day, admiring the noble
prospect from the windows of the impe-
rial palace, remarked an uneven piece of
ground, and inquired the reason why it
was not made uniform. A Persian noble
replied, " It is the property of an old

PERSIA.

505

woman, who has objections to sell it, !
though often requested to do so by our
king ; and he is more willing to have his
prospect spoiled, than to commit vio-
lence." " That irregular spot," said the
Roman, " consecrated as it is by justice,
appears more beautiful than all the sur-
rounding scene." " This prince," says
Khondemir, " possessed in a sovereign
degree, as well the good qualities which
render amiable a private man, as the ex-
alted virtues which add lustre to a dia-
dem." He resisted the influence of that
luxury by which he was courted, neither
giving himself up to indulgence, nor per-
mitting it in others ; and he remained, to
the last hour of a life protracted to more
than eighty years, unconquered by pros-
perity.

With Nousheerwan expired the glory
of Persia. His son, Hoormuz HI, who
had been entrusted to the care of Abou-
zurg-a-Mihir, soon forgot the example of
his father, and the instructions of his vir-
tuous minister , and plunging into every
excess of indulgence and cruelty, ren-
dered himself hateful to his subjects, and
contemptible to his enemies. The prov-
inces of India and Arabia, which ac-
knowledged the power of Nousheerwan,
disdained to yield obedience to his un-
worthy successor ; and the Khan of Tar-
tary crossed the Oxus, and demanded a
free passage through Persia, under the
pretence of invading the Roman empire.
This chief, however, was opposed by
Baharam, the Persian general, with on-
ly 12,000 chosen troops, and slain in
the first engagement. In a subsequent
battle, the son of the Khan was taken
prisoner, and sent to Madain with 250
camels loaded with treasure. Hoormuz
was at first delighted with his general's
success ; but a worthless favorite mali-
ciously insinuated, that Baharam had re-
served the best of the spoil for his own
use, or, according to the Persian expres-
sion, " he had only sent the ear of the
cow." The suspicious temper of the
king immediately took the alarm, and,
instead of a habit of honor, the usual
present of Persian kings, he sent to Ba-
haram as a mark of disgrace, the apparel
of a woman, a distaft' and spindle. The
hardy warrior, arrayed in his new apparel,
64

presented himself to his army. " Behold,"
said he, "the reward of all my services."
The soldiers were filled with indignation,
and immediately hailed Baharam as their
king. The deposition and murder of
Hoormuz soon followed ; and his son
Khoosroo Purveez, who had collected a
considerable army to support his father's
throne, was completely defeated in the
battle of Nahrwan, and fled for refuge
to the emperor Maurice, where he met
with a most hospitable and friendly re-
ception.

Baharam assumed the reins of govern-
ment ; but his rule was short. Within
eight months of his elevation, he was de-
feated by Khoosroo, supported l)y an ar-
my of Romans, and, flying into Tartary,
was welcomed and protected by a people
whose armies he had often vanquished.
He was soon afterwards cut oflf by poi-
son, at the instance, it is alleged, of the
Persian king.

Khoosroo, during the life-time of the
emperor Maurice, maintained inviolable
his friendship with the Romans, many
of whom he treated with great favor and
distinction ; but upon the murder of that
prince by the centurion Phocas, he des-
patched an immense army into the Ro-
man territories, under the pretence of
avenging the death of his benefactor.
His generals overran and pillaged Syria
and Palestine ; sacked the city of Jeru-
salem ; and the true cross, attended by
a crowd of captive priests and bishops,
was borne in triumph to Madain. But
while his arms were every where victo-
rious, this monarch, who had given him-
I self up to every species of luxury and
self-indulgence, seemed to value his con-
quests only as they added to his pleas-
ures. The vast territories which his gen-
erals had subdued were exhausted, to add
to the magnificence of his palaces, and
swell the gorgeous pomp of his royal
person. He built a noble palace for every
season ; and his principal throne, called
Takh-dis, was supported with 40,000 sil-
ver columns, and in the concave over
them, which was formed to represent the
twelve signs of the Zodiac, and adorned
with a thousand globes of gold, were
seen all the planets and great constella-
tions performing their natural revolutions.

506

PERSIA.

Twelve thousand females, the most beau-
tiful in Persia, tilled his harem, 6,000
horses stood in the royal stables, 12,000
elephants followed his armies, and his
treasures were deposited in 100 vaults.
No monarch ever surpassed him in royal
luxury and splendor, and for thirty years
his arms were marked with complete
success. His victorious troops carried
the Persian banners to the frontiers of
Ethiopia, and added Arabia, Egypt, and
Colchos, to his dominions.

Put Khoosroo was aroused from his
dream of happiness and of conquest, by
the victories of the Emperor Heraclius.
This prince, who was as remarkable for
his weakness and indecision in the cab-
inet, as for his extraordinary valor and
skill in the field, had long endeavored by
negotiation, to avert the total overthrow
of the Roman name, and had even sent
deputies to express his desire to pur-
chase peace upon any terms. He was,
however, awakened from his lethargy by
the insulting answer of the Persian king.
" I will hearken to no terms, till your mas-
ter shall renounce his crucified God, and
adore the God of the Persians." Herac-
lius, upon this, took the field in person,
and in six glorious campaigns, stript
Khoosroo of all his conquests, overran
the finest provinces of his empire, des-
troyed his magnificent palaces, plundered
his hoarded treasures, and dispersed, in
every direction, the countless slaves of
his pleasures. The troops of Persia
were overthrown in every encounter ;
and Khoosroo was at last deposed by his
own subjects, and murdered by the com-
mand of his own son. Schirouch enjoy-
ed the reward of his parricide only eight
months ; and, during the four succeeding
years, the kingdom was so distracted by
intestine divisions, that seven sovereigns,
two of whom were daughters of Khoosroo
Purveez, were raised to the throne by the
ambitious nobles, and successively mur-
dered. Yezdijird III, the grandson of
Khoosroo, was next called to wield the
sceptre of Persia ; and he has obtained
celebrity only as being the last sovereign
of the house of Sassan ; and in whose
reign the Arabs accomplished the subver-
sion of the Persian empire.

The first attempt of Mahomed to ex-

tend his religion over Persia was in the
reign of Khoosroo Purveez, who was so
enraged at being called upon by an ob-
scure Arabian to renounce the religion
of his fathers, that he tore to pieces the
letter of the prophet ; and to that sacrile-
gious act, Mahomedan historians impute
all that prince's subsequent misfortunes.
The next attempt was made by the Ca-
liph Omar, who commanded a body of
Arabs to pass the Euphrates. They
were at first severely repulsed in several
engagements ; but by their valor and per-
severance they at last obtained an impor-
tant victory, which laid the foundation of
the Mahomedan power in that country.

The armies of the faithful soon ex-
tended the authority of their master from
the Euphrates to the Oxus, destroying
with savage fury every vistage of idol-
atry, and the inhabitants were every
where compelled to submit to the reli-
gion of the conquerors, or seek an asy-
lum in other lands. Lieutenants were
then appointed to the different districts of
the country, and Persia, for more than two
centuries, was held as a province under
the Arabian Caliphs. In process of time,
however, the fever of religious frenzy
abated, and the power of the caliphs de-
clined. The discontented and mutinous
armies of the impotent successors of
Omar and Aly were scarcely able to pro-
tect the capital, much less hold in sub-
jection the distant provinces of the em-
pire, whose governors exercised almost
regal power, carried on war Avith each
other, and gave no mark of allegiance to
the vicegerent of the prophet, except the
merely using his name in the public
prayers.

While the kingdom was thus divided
and distracted by the contentions of its
petty rulers, the sceptre of Persia was
won by the wisdom and valor of Yacoob-
ben-Leis, the son of a pewterer and a
robber. This daring chief was an inhab-
itant of Seistan, and was characterized
by great simplicity of manners. He pos-
sessed the devoted attachment of his fol-
lowers, and in no instance did he abuse
his success, by any wanton act of cru-
elty or oppression. Having first estab-
lished his authority in his native prov-
ince, he, from thence, carried his arms

PERSIA.

507

over the finest districts of Persia, and his
ambition even led him to threaten des-
truction to the power and the government
of the caliphs. He was, however, de-
feated in the vicinity of Bagdad ; but,
undismayed by his reverse, he recruited
his army, and returned again to the at-
tack of the capital. The caliph dreaded
the result, and despatched a messenger
to the camp of Yacoob. This leader,
though lying dangerously ill, having
commanded that his sword, some coarse
bread, and dried onions should be laid be-
fore him, desired the envoy to be introdu-
ced. " Tell your master," said he, " that,
if I live, that sword shall decide betwixt
us : if I conquer, I will do as I please ;
if he is victorious, that bread and those
onions, which thou seest, is my fare ;
and neither he nor fortune can triumph
over a man accustomed to such diet."
But the resolute chief survived only a
few days, and almost the whole of Per-
sia fell by succession to his brother Amer.

Mahmood, the next monarch of note,
was renowned, not only for his victories,
but he was a mimificent patron of genius ;
and it is to his love of literature, and the
encouragement which he gave to learned
men, that we owe the noble work of
Ferdosi, the Shah Namah, or " Book of
Kings," which contains almost all that
remains of the ancient history of his coun-
try. A splendid reward had been prom-
ised to the poet, upon the completion of
his task, but Mahmood had been persua-
ded by envious rivals to lessen the
amount. Ferdosi spurned the diminished
present, and after adding to his poem a
severe satire upon the king's want of
generosity, left the court, and retired to
his native city of Toos in Khorassan.
Sometime afterward the monarch saw his
error, but it was too late. The rich
present destined for the poet, entered the
gates of Toos, as the body of Ferdosi
was carrying to its sepulchre ; and we |
are told that his virtuous daughter rejected I
the wealth which had been denied to the '
unrivalled merit of her father. I

The conquests of Mahmood in the \
east, were uniformly marked by religious j
persecution, and his bigot zeal led him :
not only to destroy the idols, and pillage j
the temples of the Hindoo idolaters, but j

also to cover their cities with desolation.
In a popular eastern tale, the vizier of
this prince is represented as pretending
to be acquainted with the language of
birds, and as explaining the liberality of
an old owl, who, after wishing " Mah-
mood a long life," offered a hundred ru-
ined villages as a dowry to her daughter.
But while he was carrying the horrors of
war and of persecution into every country
which he visited, his own dominions en-
joyed perfect tranquillity, which was
greatly owing to his severe, but equitable
rule. The following instance of his de-
termined justice is recorded by all his
historians. " A poor man had com-
plained that a young noble of the court
came constantly to his house at night,
turned him out of doors, and slept with
his wife. The monarch bade him give
notice the next time this occurred. He
did as he was directed, and Mahmood
went with him to his house. When he
reached it, he put out a lamp that was
burning, and having found the paramour,
struck off his head with one blow of his
cimiter. He then called for a light, and,
after viewing the corpse, fell upon his
knees, and returned thanks to heaven,
after which he bade the astonished hus-
band bring him water, of which he drank
an immoderate quantity. ' You are sur-
prised at my actions,' said Mahmood,
" but know, that since you informed me
of the outrage you suffered, I have nei-
ther slept, eat, nor drank. 1 conceived
that no person, except one of my sons,
would dare openly to commit so great a
crime ; resolved to do justice, I extin-
guished the light, that my feelings as a
father might not prevent nie from doing
my duty as a sovereign ; my prayers were
a thanksgiving to the Almighty, when I
saw that I had not been compelled to slay
one of my own offspring, and I drank, as
you observed, like a man that was ex-
piring from thirst.' "

The successors of Mahmood were un-
able to maintain the glory which he had
acquired, and were soon swept from the
list of monarchs by the leader of a Tar-
tar tribe, who at first had been permitted
to lead their flocks over the rich pastures
of Khorassan, but who soon became mas-
ters of that province, and at last drove

508

PERSIA.

the monarchs of Ghizni beyond the lim-
its of Persia. The territory of this Tar-
tar tribe of Seljookee stretched from the
Oxus to the laxartes. But as soon as
their chief, Toghrul Beg, had got posses-
sion of Khorassan, he assumed the title
and state of a sovereign, and extending
his conquests to the west, overran Irak,
and, by the reduction of Bagdad, became
master of the person of the caliph Ul-
Kaim. Having completely subdued the
whole of Persia, he sought to strengthen
his authority by a close alliance with the
family of the successors of the prophet.
Ul-Kaim had married his sister, and he
himself demanded the daughter of the
commander of the faithful. The depend-
ent condition of the Caliph forbade him to
refuse compliance, but the aged bride-
groom enjoyed his union only for a few
months.

His nephew Alp-Arselan ascended the
throne, and upheld by his valor and gen-
erosity the glory of the empire which his
imcle had founded. His first enterprise
was directed against the tottering power
of Constantinople. He invaded Geor-
gia, and advanced into the province of
Phrygia ; but he found an enemy worthy
of the name, in the emperor Romanus.
The Persian armies were forced to fall
back upon their frontiers. A general en-
gagement followed, where the troops of
Romanus were at first successful ; but
the treachery and cowardice of one of
his principal ofiicers, who withdrew with
a large division of his forces, gave the
victory to the Persians. The courage
of Romanus, strengthened by despair,
was unable to retrieve his fortunes ; and
being at last wounded and overwhelmed
by numbers, he was taken prisoner, and
carried into the presence of his con-
queror. " What would you have done, had
fortune reversed our lot ?" demanded the
Persian. " I would have given you many
a stripe," was the reply. Alp-Arselan
smiled at his inoffensive rage ; and asked
what treatment he now expected from
him. " If thou art cruel," said Romanus,
"put me to death. If vain-glorious, load
me with chains, and drag me in triumph
to thy capital. If generous, grant me
my liberty." Alp-Arselan was generous.
He nobly released the emperor and all

his officers, and treated them with every
mark of friendship and regard.

*The Persian king now led his armies
to the conquest of the country of his
fathers. He crossed the Oxus without
opposition by a bridge, which he had
commanded to be thrown over that river ;
but here his career of conquest was clos-
ed. The protracted resistance of a small
fortress had retarded the progress of the
Persian army, which so irritated the
monarch, that he commanded its gallant
commander into his presence ; and, after
loading him with reproaches, ordered
him for execution. The brave soldier
drew his dagger and rushed towards the
sultan. The guards interposed ; but Alp-
Arselan, who considered himself une-
qualled as an archer, seized his bow, and
ordered them to stand back. He, how-
ever, missed his aim, and before he could
draw another arrow, he fell under the
dagger of his prisoner.

After a series of intestine wars, the
reigning princes were all swept away
by the inundation of the Tartars under
Genghis Khan. This destroyer of the
human race divided his immense con-
quests among his four sons, when Persia,
Khorassan, and Cabul, were assigned to
Tuli Khan, who survived his father but a
few years, and was succeeded by his son,
the celebrated Hulakoo Khan.

This monarch having captured Bagdad,
and extirpated the race of the caliphs,
fixed his residence at Maragha. In this
delightful spot he spent the remainder of
his life, enjoying the society of learned
men, and promoting every work of sci-
ence to the utmost of his power. Phi-
losophers and astronomers were assem-
bled from every part of his dominions,
who, under the direction of his favorite
and learned minister Nasser-u-deen,
formed those astronomical tables, known
under the name of the tables of Eel-
Khannee. The remains of a building
situated on the summit of a low mountain
near Maragha still marks the spot sacred
to science, where these learned men
carried on their observations. Hulakoo
died before his observatory was comple-
ted, and bequeathed his sceptre to his
son Abaka, a prince equally renowned
for courage and wisdom and moderation.

PERSIA.

509

The reigns of this prince and of his
successors, Ahmed; Arghoun, and Key
Khatou, are marked by no events of im-
portance, except the attempt of the latter
to introduce a paper currency throughout
his dominions, which however cost him
both his crown and his Hfe. This weak
prince having exhausted his treasury by
his unexampled prodigality, listened to
the schemes of one of the officers of the
revenue, who proposed to substitute a
paper exchange in lieu of specie in all
commercial transactions ; and by this
means it was expected that all the gold
and silver in the country would flow into
the royal coffers, and give life and vigor
to the government. For this purpose
banking houses were erected in every
city and town in Persia, where notes of
various value were regularly issued ; and
each note contained a positive mandate
for all his majesty's subjects to receive
them, on pain of punishment. This
measure, however, was so unpopular,
that it lasted but a few days, when it was
repealed ; but it lost the monarch the
confidence of all ranks ; and he was soon
after deposed and slain by a confederacy
of his disaffected nobles, at the head of
which was Baidu Khan, the grandson of
Hulakoo. Baidu, however, enjoyed the
crown but a few months, when he fell by
the hand of his nephew Ghazan Khan.

This prince, however, refused to as-
cend the throne till he was regidarly
elected, like his Mogul ancestors, by the
assembled chiefs or ameers of the empire.
He then set himself to reform the many
abuses which had crept into the govern-
ment during a succession of weak princes.

After his death the kingdom was torn
by intestine divisions, and could offer but
a feeble resistance to the victorious
Tamerlane. This insatiable conqueror
marked his progress by desolation and
ruin. Many provinces were turned into
deserts by the destructive ravages of his
countless hordes ; and even submission
did not exempt their unfortunate inhabi-
tants from pillage and massacre. Ispahan
opened its gates on his approach, but a
heavy contribution was levied on its citi-
zens. An imfortunate occurrence, how-
ever, involved this city in ruin. The
inhabitants were one night roused by the

sound of a drum, which a young black-
smith had been beating for his amuse-
ment. They rushed together to ascertain
the cause of their alarm, and, becoming
irritated by the expressions of misery
and distress which burst from all ranks,
they vented their rage by the massacre
of nearly three thousand Tartar soldiers
who had been quartered in the city. On
the morning the gates were shut, and the
citizens called to arms ; but the resis-
tance of despair could not save them
from the fury of Tamerlane, who doomed
Ispahan, as an example to the other cities
of the earth. He would listen to no
terms. The Avails were carried by
storm ; and, besides giving up the city
to pillage, he commanded that every
soldier should bring him a certain number
of heads. In this horrid massacre seventy
thousand heads were raised in pyramids
as monuments of savage revenge.

Persia now became a province of the
empire of Tartary, and continued to be
ruled by the descendants of Tamerlane,
till the invasion of a tribe of Turkomans
under Uzun Hussun, who became sole
master of the empire in 1468.

Shah Ismail, the next monarch of note,
was descended from a race of holy men,
who were Sheahs, or adherents of the
family of Aly, and who had long been
settled at Ardebil, where they lived as
retired devotees. Their reputed sanctity
had attracted many disciples, and had
acquired them the reverence and respect
of the temporal rulers of their country.

Though Sultan Khodah-bundah, about
two centuries before, had embraced the
faith of the sect of Aly, yet it was to Is-
mail that it owed its establishment as the
religion of the empire ; and it was prin-
cipally to the nature of its tenets, that he
was indebted for the rise of his fortunes.
From the sanctity of his own character,
and also of that of his ancestors, he was
regarded by his followers as one raised
up and favored by heaven for the propa-
gation of the new faith. They gloried in
the name of Sheah, or " sectary," and
vowed eternal hostility against all Son-
nites. So enthusiastic were they in this
feeling, that many of his soldiers dis-
dained to wear armor when fighting under
Ismail, but bared their breasts, and court-

510

PERSIA.

ed death in the midst of their enemies, ex-
claiming, " Sheah ! Sheah!" to mark the
holy cause for which they fought. The
memory of Ismail is still cherished with
affection in Persia ; and the dynasty, of
which he was the founder, ruled over
this country for more than two centuries.

His son Tamasp was only ten years
of age when he ascended the throne.
Though not distinguished by great abili-
ties, this prince possessed a kind and gen-
erous disposition, was not wanting either
in spirit or in prudence. During a long
reign of fifty-three years, which was al-
most periodically disturbed by the inva-
sion of the Turks, on the one hand, and by
the inroads of the Usbegs on the other,
he maintained the integrity of the empire,
and added Georgia to the conquests of
his father. His generous reception of
the emperor Hoomayoon, when driven
from the throne of India, is remembered by
his countrymen with national pride ; and
the munificent and royal hospitality which
that prince experienced, and the effectual
assistance which he received to replace
him on his throne, called forth the praise
even of distant nations. It was during
the reign of this prince, that Queen Eliza-
beth accredited an English merchant,
named Jenkinson, to visit the court of
Persia, for the purpose of extending the
commerce of her kingdom ; but Tamasp,
who was most bigoted in his religious
sentiments, told him that he had no need
of the aid of infidels, and bade him depart.

For nearly ten years, subsequent to
the death of Shah Tamasp, the empire
was torn by the contentions of his chil-
dren, when his grandson Abbas was raised
to the throne by the chiefs of Khorassan.

Having restored tranquillity throughout
the empire. Shah Abbas set himself to
promote its general welfare and improve-
ment. He fixed his residence at Ispa-
han, which he made the capital of his
dominions, and greatly beautified ; and
its population was more than doubled du-
ring his reign.

There have been few sovereigns more
deserving of the title of Great than Shah
Abbas, if we consider the substantial
benefits which he rendered to his country.
Though distinguished as a military lead-
er, and possessed of great means, he

deemed the improvement of his dominions
a nobler object than the pursuit of con-
quest. He attended to the cultivation
and commerce of Persia beyond all for-
mer monarchs, and his liberal policy at-
tracted to his dominions Europeans from
almost every country in Christendom,
who enjoyed during his reign the most
abundant toleration. The impression
which his noble munificence in the erec-
tion of so many useful public buildings
made upon the minds of his subjects, has
descended to their children ; and the
ready answer, which is received to every
inquiry respecting the founder of any an-
cient building in this country, is, " Shah
Abbas the Great," which is given not
from their knowledge of the fact, but
from the habit of considering him as the
author of all improvements.

During the greater part of his reign,
Persia enjoyed an internal tranquillity
which had been unknown for centuries ;
and the impartial Chardiii has summed
up his character in this respect in few
words. " When this great prince ceased
to live, Persia ceased to prosper." But
notwithstanding this high eulogy, we
cannot forget the many cruelties of which
he was guilty, particularly towards the
members of his own family, which nei-
ther the stern dictates of policy nor the
jealousy of power can ever justify. This
monarch died at the age of seventy, and
bequeathed the sceptre of Persia to his
grandson Sam Meerza, the son of Suffee
Meerza.

Previous to the time of Abbas the
Great, the Persian princes had been
brought up as soldiers, and had often the
command of the armies ; but the jealousy
of that sovereign, led him to change en-
tirely this system of education ; and sub-
sequent to the death of his sons, the
princes of the Suffavean dynasty were
from their infancy immured in the harem,
and associated only with women and
eunuchs. His successors consequently
bore indelible marks of this pernicious
system. Their characters were formed
by their condition. Inexperienced and
effeminate, they trusted the direction of
public affairs to their ministers, and revel-
ed in every sensual gratification. Ef-
feminacy begat cowardice, and cowardice

PERSIA.

511

cruelty ; and all who were at any time
denounced as dangerous to their power,
were immediately destroyed.

Sam Meerza was seventeen years of
age when he was taken from the harem
and set upon the throne of the Great
Abbas. He was a tyrant without one
redeeming quality. Every male of the
blood-royal, however distantly related,
and every officer of rank or reputation,
were either put to death or deprived of
sight ; and the list of his victims was
swelled by a great number of females of
the highest rank, among whom were his
aunt, his mother, and his queen. He died
at Kashan, after a reign of fourteen years,
every one of which presented the same
horrid and disgusting scene of barbarous
cruelty.

Abbas II was not ten years old at the
death of his father, and fell of course into
the hands of his ministers, who happened
to be men of devout and austere habits.
But the restraint in which he was kept
only led him to indulge the more when
he escaped from their authority ; and
though naturally humane and generous,
yet in his drunken frolics he committed
the most wanton cruelties. His excesses,
however, were in a great degree confined
to the circle of his court. His subjects
at large knew him only as one of the most
generous and just monarchs that ever
ruled in Persia. During his reign the
country enjoyed complete tranquillity ;
embassies from almost every nation in
Europe, as well as from India and Tar-
tary, visited his court, and experienced
his kindness. Commerce flourished ; and
his hospitality and attention to strangers,
attracted vast numbers to his dominions.
His excessive indulgence brought on an
inflammation in the throat, of which he
died in the thirty-fourth year of his age.

The reign of Hussein, one of his suc-
cessors, is memorable chiefly for the in-
vasion and subjugation of the empire by
the Afl*ghans in 1722. This race had
long inhabited the mountainous region
between Persia and India. Divided into
tribes, where the chief and his followers
enjoyed the same savage freedom, they
opposed every attempt to reduce them to
one society, whose common danger and
wants would have cemented their union,

and rendered them formidable to their
neighbors. In consequence of this dis-
union, they were never able to resist any
serious attack, and their country was long
divided between the monarchs of Persia
and India. They were, in general, how-
ever, able to maintain a considerable de-
gree of independence by balancing be-
tween these two powerful states.

Mahmood, one of the AfTghan princes,
being proclaimed sovereign of Candahar,
contemplated with high hopes the subju-
gation of Persia. This unfortunate coun-
try was at this period depressed by the
vacillating measures of its pusillanimous
ruler. The energies of the empire were
extinguished by effeminacy and palsied
by superstition. An unusual denseness
in the atmosphere, accompanied with an
extraordinary redness in the appearance
of the sun on the horizon, which contin-
ued for nearly two months, was converted
into a symbol of divine wrath, and prince
and people anticipated the destruction of
the capital. Every measure which fanati-
cism could suggest was adopted to avert
the threatenings of heaven ; but their
fears were confirmed by the intelligence
that the army of the Affghan prince was
within a few days march of Ispahan.
This army, it is said, did not exceed
twenty thousand warriors, while the Per-
sian forces within the walls of the city
were more than double its numbers. But
treachery and cowardice laid Persia at
the feet of Mahmood, and after a long
siege, imexampled in horrors,* Ispahan

* The dreadful extremities to which the inhab-
itants of Ispahan were reduced, during this siege,
are described by several eye-witnesses. " The
flesh of horses, camels, and mules, were so dear,
that none but the king, some of the nobles, and
the wealthiest citizens, could afford to purchase
it. Though the Persians abhor dogs as unclean,
they ate greedily of them, as well as that of other
forbidden animals, as long as they were to be ob-
tained. After these supplies were gone, they fed
upon the leaves and bark of trees, and on leather,
which they softened by boiling, and when this sad
resource was exhausted, they began to devour
human flesh. Men with their eyes sunk, their
countenances livid, and their bodies feeble and
emaciated with hunger, were seen in crowds en-
deavoring to protract a wretched existence, by
cutting pieces from the bodies of those who had
just expired. In many instances, the citizens
lew each other, and parents murdered their chil-
dren to furnish the horrid meal. Some more virtu-

512

PERSIA.

opened her gates, and Hussein resigned
his crown to the Aff'ghan conqueror.

The measures which Mahmood adopt-
ed at the commencement of his reign,
were such as to conciUate the good opin-
ion of his new subjects, and to promise
prosperity to Persia. His first care was
to reheve the inhabitants from famine.
He received into favor all those nobles
who had maintained their fidelity to Shah
Hussein, while he banished or put to
death those who had proved false to their
duty. European factories were encour-
aged and confirmed in all their privileges,
and Christians of all nations were allowed
the public performance of their religious
duties. But all this was but as a gleam of
sunshine before a tempest. It was an
eflbrt of virtue, which his cruel and ca-
pricious nature was unable to support.
He stood amidst the wreck of a mighty
empire, and he became alarmed at the
magnitude of the ruins with which he
was surrounded. His army had been
greatly reduced, and he dreaded an in-
surrection in the capital. In order to
relieve his fears, he had recourse to
measures the most cowardly and savage
recorded in history. The miseries of
the siege were but as a prelude to the
bloody tragedy which was to follow ; the
different acts of which were, the murder
of three hundred nobles with all their
male children ; the destruction of three
thousand guards whom he had taken into
pay ; the massacre of every Persian who
had ever been in the service of the former
government ; the plunder of European
and other foreigners ; and the murder of
thirty-nine princes of the blood. Such
horrible cruelties could only have pro-
ceeded from a mind, overwhelmed by the
most servile fears, or under the influence
of insanity ; and we find that this prince
soon after was seized with madness in its
most dreadful form, and in the paroxysms
of which, according to some accounts, he
not only tore ofl'his own flesh, but ate it.
He died under the most excruciatins

ous, poisoned themselves and families, that they
might escape the guilt of preserving life by such
means. These evils were increased by the cruelty
of the Affghans, who put to death, without dis-
tmclion of age or sex, all who tried to escape from
this scene of calamity."

tortures of mind and body, in the prime
of life, and after having sat upon the
throne of Persia only three years.

The son of Hussein who had escaped
from Ispahan at the time of the siege,
was, by the assistance of Nadir Kooli, a
warlike chieftain, enabled to defeat Ash-
raff", the successor of Mahmood. He
entered Ispahan amidst the acclamations
of his people ; but he is said to have
burst into tears when he beheld the de-
faced and solitary halls of his glorious
ancestors. Ashraff* had led off his forces
towards Shiraz, carrying with him the
old men, women, and children of his
tribe, upon mules and camels, and all the
spoil that he could collect. Accounts,
however, daily arrived of the dreadful
excesses which they committed on their
march, and Nadir Kooli was urged by
his sovereign to pursue the fugitives.
But this chief had other views than re-
storing a weak prince to the throne of
his fathers. He saw the sceptre within
his own grasp, and lost no opportunity
of securing his future elevation. He
therefore required the power of levying
money, as essential to enable him to
extirpate the Aflghans. This demand
opened the eyes of Tamasp to, his own
critical situation ; but the soldiers would
march under no other leader, and he was
obliged to comply. Though it was the
depth of winter, Nadir led his forces
towards Shiraz ; and in a few months
Persia was relieved from her barbarous
oppressors. Few of the Affghans esca-
ped death, and hardly any returned to
their native country. They either per-
ished from want and fatigue in the desert,
or were taken and sold for slaves. Such
was the termination of this extraordinary
usurpation, in which a small band of
foreigners, seldom exceeding thirty thou-
sand, held in subjection the mass of a
great nation ; and during the seven years
in which they exercised dominion in
Persia, " nearly a million of her inhabi-
tants had perished, her finest provinces
had been rendered desert, and her proud-
est edifices levelled with the dust."

On his return. Nadir Kooli was hailed
as the deliverer of his country ; and, as
a reward for his great services, received
the grant of Khorassan, Mazenderan,

PERSIA.

513

Seistan, and Kerraan, with the power of
exercising the privileges of an indepen-
dent sovereign. The pageantry of Ta-
masp was now drawing to a close. Un-
der the pretence of his having concluded
an ignominious peace with the Turks,
while Nadir was quelling a rebellion of
the Aflghans in Khorassan, he vi^as de-
throned by his victorious general, who
raised the infant son of Tamasp to the
throne, and accepted the office of regent
of the empire. Nadir now entered into
a war with the Ottoman Porte, which,
after a long and doubtful struggle, ter-
minated with the recovery of all the
posessions which the Turks had seized
during the AfTghan invasion. The suc-
cessful issue of this war stimulated the
ambition of the regent; and the opportune
death of the infant king presented to him
a vacant throne.

On the plains of Chowal Mogan, and
at the great festival of the Nouroze, Nadir
had assembled the nobles and chiefs of
the empire ; and from them, after much
affected humility, he condescended to
accept the crown, upon the condition
that the nation should abandon the doc-
trines of the Sheahs, and embrace the
Sonnee faith. This desire of Nadir to
change the religion of his country was
evidently prompted by the hope that it
would destroy that veneration and attach-
ment which the Persians cherished for
the Suffavean dynasty, by Avhose founder
the Sheah faith was first established.
The nation at large, however, continued
attached to their favorite tenets, which
they openly embraced at the death of
Nadir Shah.

The accession of Nadir Shah was
immediately followed by the reduction of
the province of Candahar, which was
possessed by the Affghans ; and the rapid
conquest of Hindostan, from whence he
returned laden with the richest treasure,
calculated to amount to nearly seventy
millions sterling. His subjects began
now to feel the benefit of their sovereign's
triumphs. Taxes were remitted for three
years ; and Nadir was regarded as the
destined restorer of Persia to its former
glory. Within five years, this indefatiga-
ble conqueror had not only expelled the
Affghans, but had also subdued the mon-
65

archs of Candahar, India, Bokharah, and
Khaurizm, and had extended the limits
of the empire to the Oxus on the north,
and the Indus on the east.

Hitherto Nadir had exercised his pow-
er with comparative moderation ; but a
circumstance occurred at this time,whicli
seemed to produce a dreadful change in
his disposition and character. While
marching through one of the forests of
Daghestan, in an expedition against the
Lesghees, a ball from a concealed assas-
sin wounded him in the hand and killed
his horse. His suspicions fell upon his
oldest son Reza Kooli, a prince of great
valor and acquirements, and who was
much beloved by his countrymen; and
his suspicions were so heightened by
the gross misrepresentations of infamous
courtiers, that in a moment of rage, he
ordered the prince to be deprived of sight.
" Your crimes," said Nadir, "have forced
me to this dreadful measure." "It is not
my eyes you have put out," replied Reza
Kooli, " but those of Persia." No sooner
was the punishment inflicted than the
tyrant was penetrated with remorse, and
vented his fury upon all around him. Fifty
noblemen, who were present, were put
to death, on the pretext that they should
have offered their lives to save the eyes
of a prince who was the glory of their
country. From this time Nadir became
gloomy and irritable; and his conduct
during the last five years of his life,
exceeded in cruelty the deeds of the
most bloody tyrants. His murders were
not confined to individuals ; the inhabi-
tants of whole cities were massacred;
and, according to his partial historian,
" men left their abodes, and took up their
habitations in caverns and deserts, in the
hope of escaping his savage ferocity."
The only troops that enjoyed his favor,
and upon vvliom he placed any reliance,
were the Affghans and Tartars, who were
of the Sonnee persuasion ; and so suspi-
cious was he of the fidelity of his coun-
trymen, who, in general, adhered to the
Sheah tenets, that in a state of frenzy
he proposed to put to death every Persian
in his army ; bxit the bloody purpose was
prevented by his death ; and he was
assassinated by some of his chief officers,
who had been marked as his next victims.

514

PERSIA.

The next ruler of Persia was Kurreem
Khan, who is celebrated for his virtues ;
his descendants forfeited by their crimes
that power which he had attained, and
were supplanted by Aga Mahomed Khan
Kujur. His principal opponent was
Looft Aly Khan, who long stniggled
against the most fearful odds in support
of his birth-right.

Hajee Ibrahim, the prime minister,
and governor of Shiraz, a nobleman of
the highest talents and acquirements, and
who had been the means of placing
Looft Aly Khan upon the throne, had
become alarmed for his own safety from
the irrascible disposition of his master ;
and, as a measure of self-preservation,
seized upon Shiraz, and invited Aga Ma-
homed to take possession of it. A strong
detachment was immediately despatched
to the support of Hajee Ibrahim, but it
was attacked and defeated by the Per- j
sian prince. Another army, of superior |
force, and out-numbering the troops of
Looft Aly more than ten to one, met with
the same fate ; when Aga Mahomed was
under the necessity of advancing in per-
son with an overwhelming force, which
he conceived Avould at once terminate
the war. But the brave Looft Aly was
still undismayed, and, animated by the
most heroic courage, he determined upon
one great effort for his crown. He sur-
prised the advanced guard of the enemy,
which he defeated, and pursuing the fugi-
tives to their camp, attacked, with a
band of a few hundred men, an army of
more than thirty thotisand. Favored by
the darkness of the night, and the terror
which his name inspired, he had dispers-
ed almost the whole of the enemy, and
was about to enter the tent of the Kujur
chief, when he was stopped by the assur-
ance of one of his followers that Aga
Mahomed was among the fugitives. De-
ceived by this report, he dispersed his
troops to plunder in other directions, re-
serving for himself the jewels and trea-
sures of the royal pavilion. But when
the morning dawned, he was astonished
to hear the public crier calling to prayers,
which announced to all that Aga Ma-
homed Khan was still at his post. Looft
Aly, awakened from his dream of vic-
tory, found himself in the midst of his

enemies, and fled with precipitation, to
avoid being made prisoner. Aga Ma-
homed marched his army to Shiraz ; and
from this time he may be considered the
actual sovereign of Persia.

The mind of Looft Aly Khan was still
unsubdued. Though struggling against
the most adverse circumstances, he still
cherished the hope of better fortunes.
He had still a few faithful followers, who
had never forsaken him ; and with these
this most undaunted of warriors deter-
mined again to take the field. After a
variety of fortune, he took the city of
Kerman by assault, and once more as-
sumed the style of a sovereign ; but this
was the last of his glorious achievements.
Aga Mahomed hastened, with all the
forces he could collect, to crush a foe
who seemed to rise with rencAved energy
from every fall. He invested the city
with an immense army ; and posted a
strong body of men opposite every gate-
way, to prevent the escape of his rival.
The defence was maintained with the
most heroic ardor for four months ; but
treachery effected what superiority of
numbers coxdd not accomplish. The
citadel was given up to the Persian
troops ; and Looft Aly and his brave fol-
lowers, after a severe contest of three
hours, were overpowered by numbers,
and obliged to retire. At night the
young prince crossed the ditch by a
bridge of planks, and, accompanied by
three attendants, threw himself upon the
enemy's lines with a courage strength-
ened by despair, and effected his escape.
When Aga Mahomed found in the morn-
ing that Looft Aly was beyond his reach,
he gave vent to the cruel passions of his
nature, and wreaked his vengeance upon
the innocent inhabitants of Kerman. All
the males of mature age were command-
ed to be put to death, or deprived of
sight; and twenty thousand women and
children were granted as slaves to his
soldiers.

Looft Aly Khan was soon afterwards
betrayed into the hands of his merciless
enemy, who, after treating him with the
most brutal indignity, tore out his eyes,
and sent him prisoner to Teheran. But
this gallant prince, even in the wretched
state to which he was reduced, was still

PERSIA.

515

an object of dread ; and the fears of the
tyrant could only be allayed by his death.
Such was the fate of the last prince of
the Zund dynasty, which had held the
government of Persia for nearly half a
century. But their implacable enemy
was determined upon their extirpation ;
and every one, who, from his birth, could
have formed the most remote pretensions
to the throne, was either put to death or
deprived of sight ; and not only the mem-
bers of this tribe, but all who had been
the active supporters of the family of
Kurreem Khan, were removed to the
most distant quarters of the kingdom.

Aga Mahomed, having now relieved
himself from all internal foes, resolved
upon the conquest of Georgia. During
the troubles which succeeded the death
of Kurreem Khan, Heraclius, the prince
of that province, had preserved it in a
state of tranquillity, and had transferred
his allegiance from the sovereigns of
Persia to those of Russia. His motive
for this measure was declared to be a
desire to release his Christian subjects
from the violence and oppression of Ma-
homedan superiors, and to place them
under the protection of a great nation of
their own religion. But it was not to be
expected that any monarch of Persia
would tamely suffer the alienation of one
of the finest provinces of the empire.
Aga Mahomed, therefore, was determined
to insure success by the magnitude of
his force. Sixty thousand men assembled
at Teheran, and proceeded without resis-
tance till within about fifteen miles of
Teflis, the capital of the province, where
they were met by the forces of Herac-
lius, amounting to one-fourth of their
number. The battle which ensued was
bravely contested ; but the Georgians,
overpowered by numbers, were compel-
led to fly. Teflis submitted to the con-
querors, and was given up to massacre
and to pillage. In describing the scene
of carnage which followed, a Mahomedan
historian observes, "That on this glori-
ous occasion, the valiant warriors of Per-
sia gave to the unbelievers of Georgia a
specimen of what they Avere to expect at
the day of judgment." Youth and beauty
alone were spared, and fifteen thousand
of these were led into bondage.

The subjection of Georgia was follow-
ed by that of Khorassan ; and Aga Ma-
homed was contemplating the conquest
of Bokharah, when he was recalled by
the intelligence that the Russians had
recovered Georgia, and were threatening
Aderbijan. He hastened to Teheran ;
j but, as the season was too far advanced
to commence operations that year, he
summoned the chiefs of the kingdom to
meet him in the spring with all their ad-
herents, for the purpose, as he said, "of
punishing the insolent unbelievers of Eu-
rope, who had dared to invade the terri-
tories of the faithful." Persia, however,
was relieved from the impending invasion
by the death of the Empress Catharine,
when the Russian army was recalled by
her successor. But, notwithstanding the
retreat of the Rnssians, Aga Mahomed
determined to overrun Georgia, and had
advanced as far as Sheshah, when he
was arrested by the hand of an assassin.
Being one day disturbed by a dispute
between two of his servants, he was so
enraged at the noise which they made,
that he commanded them both to be in-
stantly put to death. Saaduck Khan
Shekakee, a nobleman of high rank,
having interceded for their pardon, was
refused ; but as it was the night of Fri-
day, and sacred to prayer, their execution
was delayed till next morning. These
men knew that their sentence was irre-
vocable, and, as they were still permitted
by their infatuated master to perform
their usual avocations about his person,
they, as a measure of self-preservation,
I took advantage of their situation, and de-
riving courage from despair, poniarded
the monarch as he laid asleep in his
tent. Thus perished one of the most
cruel, but at the same time one of the
ablest monarchs that ever ruled in Persia.
The character of this extraordinary
man, however, must be viewed in refer-
ence to the distracted state in which he
found his country, and his desire to se-
cure its future tranquillity. The great
object of his life was, to acquire power,
1 and to render it permanent in his own
I family ; and he scrupled at no measures
j for the accomplishment of his purpose.
j In his early life he had become a pro-
1 found adept in the art of dissimulation.

516

PERSIA.

While his success was still uncertain,
he controlled every passion that could
obstruct his rise ; but, when the mask
was no longer necessary, he gave full
scope to the feelings of his savage spirit.
Every chief whom he deemed in any
way likely to aspire to the throne, or
disturb the peace of the kingdom, was
either put to death or deprived of sight ;
and, among his victims were two of his
own brothers. To such a height did he
carry his barbarous revenge, that he or-
dered the bones of the virtuous Kurreem
Khan and of Nadir Shah to be dug up
and removed to Teheran, where they
were deposited at the entrance of the
palace, that he might enjoy the unmanly
and disgusting gratification of trampling
upon the graves of two of the principal
foes of his family. This monarch at-
tempted to justify his barbarous proceed-
ings by the plea of necessity ; and, when
speaking of his successor, the present
king of Persia, he used often to exclaim,
" I have shed all this blood, that the boy,
Baba Khan,* may reign in peace." The
passion of avarice in this monarch was
almost as strong as his love of power ;
and he had recourse to the most unjusti-
fiable means in the gratification of it.
When he wished to plunder any of his
nobles, or principal officers, he was in
the habit of selling them for a stipulated
smn, and the purchaser, in order to ena-
ble him to raise the money, was vested
with power over every thing belonging
to the person bought, except his life.
He is even said to have at one time com-
bined with a religious mendicant to obtain
money from his courtiers. He ordered
a considerable sum to be given him in
the presence of his principal officers,
with the secret understanding that it was
to be returned with the half of what he
received from the others ; but the wilj^
beggar found means to escape with all
his gains, and the courtiers inwardly re-

♦ Baba signifies " child," and was the name
by which the present king of Persia was familiarly-
known till the death of his uncle. His proper
name was Futteh Aly.

joiced in the disappointment of their
monarch's cupidity. His conduct, how-
ever, to the aged Shah Rokh, the grand-
son of Nadir Shah, could only proceed
from a heart where the love of wealth
had eradicated every feeling of humanity.
This weak prince was supposed to have
concealed many precious stones of great
value, particularly a ruby of extraordinary
size and lustre, which had once decora-
ted the crown of Aurengzebe ; but as he
solemnly denied the possession of them,
Aga Mahomed hiad recourse to torture.
After a variety of pains, a circle of paste
was put upon the head of his victim, and
boiling lead poured into it. The ruby
was discovered, which filled the tyrant
with joy, but Shah Rokh survived only a
few days. The person of this monarch
was extremely slender, and, unless upon
occasions of ceremory, always dressed
in the plainest manner. His beardless
and shrivelled face resembled that of an
aged and wrinkled woman, and the ex-
pression of his countenance, at no time
pleasant, was horrible when clouded, as it
very often was, with indignation. With
the meanest vices, Aga Mahomed pos-
sessed the most splendid talents. During
his reign, agriculture revived, and com-
merce flourished under his protection.
He restored complete tranquillity to a
distracted kingdom, and fixed his family
upon a splendid throne.

Futteh Aly Shah, the nephew and ap-
pointed successor of Aga Mahomed, after
a short struggle, was proclaimed king,
and has hitherto been enabled to main-
tain the internal peace of his dominions.
With respect to his frontier provinces,
however, he has not been so successful.
Georgia has become a province of Rus-
sia, and many of the chiefs of Khorassan
yield him only a nomhial obedience.
Owing to the comparative mildness and
justice of his rule, the inhabitants of Per-
sia have enjoyed a state of happiness
and prosperity to which they had long
been strangers ; and he may be regarded
as holding a high rank among the sover-
eigns of his country.

POLAND.

517

POLAND.

Poland formed a district of ancient
Sarmatia ; and was successively ravaged
by those various hordes of barbarians
who plundered the south of Europe, and
overturned the Roman empire. Its early
history, like that of most other nations,
is involved in obscurity and fable. That
it originally consisted of several indepen-
dent prhicipalities is sufficiently evident;
but the period when it became incorpo-
rated under one sovereign is not clearly
ascertained. It was, for many ages,
according to the opinion of the best
writers, governed by an elective chief,
bearing the title of duke, or general ; but
no regular dynasty was established until
the accession of Piaste in 840. Of this
election, which, however, did not take
place till the state was on the very verge
of ruin, in consequence of the hostility
and obstinacy of two rival factions, the
Polish nation had much reason to be
proud. The wise administration of this
prince restored peace and tranquillity
among all orders of the state ; and, after
a reign of twenty years, spent in advan-
cing the true interests of his subjects, he
died in 860, at a very venerable old
age. So dear was his memory to the
Poles, that, until last century, they gave
his name to his successors in the
throne (Piastes) who were natives of
the kingdom.

The family of Piaste filled the throne
of Poland for upwards of five hundred
years. The most illustrious princes of
this house were Miecislaus, who, towards
the end of the 10th century, introduced
Christianity into his dominions ; Boles-
laus, his son, a warlike and intrepid prince,
who was the first that obtained the title
of king, an honor conferred on him by
the Pope ; Casimir I, a virtuous and pa-
cific sovereign, who was called to the
throne* after he had assumed the monastic
habit in the abbey of Cluny ; Casimir II,
surnamed the Great, who was a liberal
patron of letters, and founded the academy
at Cracow, — who encouraged industry,
commerce, and the arts, and furnished
the nation with a code of written laws.

He died in 1370, and was doomed to be
the last of his illustrious i'amily.

He was succeeded by his nephew
Louis, king of Hungary, at whose death
the Poles elected his youngest daughter,
Hedwigua, in his room. To obtain the
hand of this princess, Jagellon, grand
duke of Lithuania, embraced the Chris-
tian faith, and was baptized by the name
of Uladislaus. With Jagellon commenced
a new line of princes, who swayed the
sceptre of Poland for two hundred years.
He united his hereditary dominions to
those of Poland, conquered Samogitia,
and defeated the knights of the Teutonic
Order in the great battle of Tannenberg,
in 1410. Casimir took Western Prussia
under his protection, and forced the Teu-
tonic knights to pay him homage for the
remainder. Under Sigismond 1, Prussia
was changed into a secular dukedom.
Sigismond Augustus effected the same
thing in regard to Courland : the empire
of the Teutonic order was at the same
time placed under the government of a
duke, and made entirely dependent on
the crown of Poland. In the reign of
this monarch, Poland had reached its
highest pitch of dominion and gloiy.
He saw Lithuania, Livonia, Volhynia,
Podolia, and Kiow, submit to his sover-
eignty. But with him terminated, in
1572, the male line of the house of Ja-
gellon,— " a family," says alearned writer,
" as wise and virtuous as celebrated and
brave, — a family under whom Poland
saw herself enjoy internal tranquillity
and the respect of neighboring nations ;
under whom she was ruled by wise, es-
tablished laws, and was rendered emi-
nent by the multitude of her scholars in
every department of human knowledge."

After an interregnum of about a year,
two powerful candidates appeared for
the throne, Henry de Valois, brother to
Charles IX, king of France, and Maxi-
milian of Austria, of whom the former
being elected, he soon, by his youth and
accomplishments, gained the aflections
of his people. But he had not enjoyed
the sceptre of the Jagellons above four

518

POLAND,

months, till he inherited, in consequence
of the death of his brother, that of Valois;
and he abandoned the cheering hopes
which the esteem and confidence of his
adopted subjects held out to him, for the
troubles with which his natural subjects
were convulsed, an(Jk,of which he soon
became the victim.

On the abdication of Henry, the con-
tentions of rival factions again revived ;
and it was not without considerable diffi-
culty that Stephen Batthori, prince of
Transylvania, was elected his successor;
an honor which he gained, not more on
account of his own many qualifications,
than of his having married Anne, daugh-
ter of king Sigismond Augustus. Bat-
thori, a prince equally eminent for bravery
and virtue, restored peace to Dantzick,
the inhabitants of which had rebelled
against him ; retook Livonia ; chastised
the Czar of Russia for having invaded
his dominions, carrying cruelty and de-
vastation along with him ; and raised a
new militia, composed of Cossacks, a
tribe brave and barbarous, whom he uni-
ted to his kingdom by granting them a
territory on the Dneiper, and by confer-
ring on them several important privileges ;
favors which they abundantly repaid by
defending Poland from the incursions of
the Tartars, and by making the Turks
and Russians respect her. He died in
1586, leaving behind him a character for
wisdom, intrepidity, and patriotism, which
(ew Polish sovereigns have been enabled
to outshine.

The death of Batthori was a signal for
the renewal of civil commotions. Four
candidates appeared for the crown, each
supported by a separate party, brave and
resolute ; and much blood was spilt ere
the successful candidate, Sigismond of
Sweden, nephew to the widow of Bat-
thori, could be put in possession of the
throne. Having soon afterwards obtained
the crown of his native dominions, Sigis-
mond neglected not to avail himself of
the assistance of Poland against the
Swedes, with whom he was extremely
unpopular, and who were endeavoring to
throw off his yoke. But the Poles, jealous
of their liberty, were not much devoted
to the cause, and felt no great disappoint-
ment in their king's being deprived of his

hereditary states. This loss, however,
which the subsequent monarchs of Poland
wished to repair, gave birth to almost
continual wars with Sweden, equally
fatal to both nations ; for though, on the
one hand, they brought Poland to the
very verge of submission to the Swedish
yoke, they conducted, on the other, the
Swedes to Pultowa, that tomb of their
glory and their power.

Sigismond, having lost the throne of
Sweden, aspired to that of Russia, but
without success. But he was more un-
fortunate still in a war in which he was
engaged with the great Gustavus Adol-
phus, king of Sweden ; for he was com-
pelled to forfeit to that monarch Livonia,
and the towns of Elbing, Memel, Braun-
berg, and Pillau. He died in 1629, worn
down with cares and misfortunes, and
was succeeded by his son Uladislaus,
who established public tranquillity, and
reigned not without glory ; but the inter-
regnum that followed his death was char-
acterized by a disastrous and bloody war
with the Cossacks, occasioned by several
perfidious attempts on the part of the
Polish nobles to make encroachments
on their privileges and independence.
That barbarous people, who felt that their
very existence as a separate tribe was
endangered, becoming desperate, van-
quished their enemies in two great bat-
tles ; and John Casimir, successor of
Uladislaus, Avas obliged to conclude with
them a dishonorable peace. Poland was
again ravaged by the Swedish army, and
Charles Gustavus would undoubtedly
have made the conquest of it, had not
the bad policy of Denmark drawn into
that country, almost to the total ruin of
it, the whole military force of the com-
mon enemy. Nor did this circumstance,
favorable as it unquestionably was, prove
the entire safety of Poland. By the treaty
of Oliva, (1660,) Casimir was forced to
cede Livonia to Sweden, Smolensko and
Kiow to Russia, and to Brandenburgh
the sovereignty of Prussia. With this
diminution of her territory, Poland ex-
perienced a diminution also of her power ;
and from this period she ceased to be
regarded as one of the first nations of
Europe. Casimir indeed gained several
decisive victories in a war with the Rus-

POLAND.

519

sians ; but these came too late, either to
gratify the king,or to prove advantageous
to his people. He had already verged
into a state of melancholy and despair,
and Poland was delivered over to all the
horrors of a civil war.

In such circumstances, Casimir, who,
at every period of life, had shown a deep-
rooted attachment to the exercises of de-
votion, and the pursuits of literature, re-
solved to renounce his crown, and to
spend the remainder of his days in soli-
tude and peace. Though undaunted in
opposing the public enemies of his coun-
try, he shuddered to encounter the agita-
tions and enormities of internal rebellion.
His abdication took place in 1668, and
the Diet absolved him from all the en-
gagements he had made to his people,
and particularly from the oath of the
pacta conventa ; obligations entered into
by every sovereign at his election. Casi-
mir survived this event four years, when
he died in the abbey of St. Germains in
P'rance, whence his body was removed
to be interred at Cracow.

After an interregnum of a year, Casi-
mir was succeeded by Michel Coributh,
duke of Wisniowiecki. Though the
reign of this prince was short, he aliena-
ted the minds of the nation and the army
on account of his lethargy in defending
the republic against the invasion of the
Turks, and of the shameful treaties which
he ratified with them. The glory of the
Polish arms, however, was well main-
tained by John Sobieski, a warrior of
extraordinary merit, and than whose there
occurs not a more illustrious name in the
annals of his country.

Sobieski, raised to the sovereign au-
thority on the death of Wisniowiecki, did
not long want an opportunity of increas-
ing his own glory, as well as that of his
nation. The Turks had, at this time, car-
ried their conquering arms into Austria,
and were laying siege to Vienna. The
fate of Christendom was thought to be
involved in that of the Austrian capital ;
and had not the exorbitant power of that
empire been a source of uneasiness and
fear to the neighboring states, almost all
the nations of Europe would have been
in arms to cliastise these infidels. So-
bieski, however, either did not experience

these feelings, or was enabled to over-
come them. He levied 40,000 men for
the assistance of the emperor ; put him-
self at their head ; and his valor and
genius decided the terrible battle (1683,)
which forced Soliman to raise the siege
of Vienna, and eventually, with the loss
of almost his whole army, to withdraw
into his own territories.

The inhabitants of Vienna received
their deliverer with the most lively de-
monstrations of gratitude ; and exclama-
tions of joy accompanied him to the very
threshold of the chapel, whither he went
to return thanks to the God of battles for
the success of his arms. When Te
Deum was chanted, he himself joined
very cordially in the service. A sermon
was delivered on the occasion from a
text, which the clergyman, in extremely
bad taste, seems to have selected as pe-
culiarly appropriate : " There was a man
sent frotn God, whose name was John."

But the joy which Sobieski must have
felt in having performed so important a
service to the Austrians, and in receiving
their congratulations, was moderated by
his unpopularity with his own subjects.
In this foreign expedition the Poles
found that their treasury had been drain-
ed, and that many of their countrymen
had perished ; while as a compensation
for these evils, no substantial advantage
to the republic had resulted, or could be
expected to result from it. His wish to
make the crown hereditary in his own
family, exasperated and disaffected the
nobles ; and the consequence was, that,
after his death, which took place in 1696,
after a reign of twenty-three years, his
children were ungratefully excluded from
the throne. Another great cause of his
unpopularity, was the cession of certain
lands to Russia ; for which, however, in
return, he was promised assistance in
the meditated conquest of Moldavia and
Wallachia, — schemes which a new as-
pect of affairs made it not necessary to
prosecute.

Whatever suspicions the Poles may
have attached to his memory, Sobieski
was undoubtedly a great man. Endowed
with strength of body, and vigor of mind ;
skilled in the laws, the constitution, and
political relations of his country ; as elo-

520

POLAND.

quent and wise in council, as enterprising '
and enthusiastic in the field, he possessed
all the virtues and qualities necessary for I
a great warrior or an accomplished mon-
arch. The nobleness and elevation of ,
his mind were clearly shadowed forth in j
the lineaments of his countenance, and j
the dignity of his personal appearance.
He possessed a peculiar art of profiting !
by the least advantage, and was charac- '
terized by a sure and quick sagacity of fore- 1
seeing and preventing danger. Reading
and study formed the amusements of his
private hours ; he was master of several
languages, and he delighted in conversing
with men of letters. His court was bril-
liant, and filled with strangers of rank
and distinction. All the powers of Eu-
rope sent ambassadors to him ; he re-
ceived an ambassador even from the king
of Persia, to congratulate him on his vic-
tories, and to ask his friendship and
alliance.

Enthusiasm, which was a predominant
feature in his character, imparted an
oracular tone of authority and majesty to
all his words and expressions, which, on
this account, are still commemorated and
applauded. When taking his departure
from Warsaw in his campaign against the
Turks, he said emphatically to the am-
bassadors at his court, " Tell your mas-
ter that you have seen me mount ray
horse, and that Vienna is safe !" In this
expedition, though the greater part of his
army were well mounted, one battalion
was so extremely ill clothed, that prince
Lumboriski advised him for the honor of
Poland, not to exhibit it before the allies.
Disregarding this suggestion, he exclaim-
ed, when the battalion was passing be-
fore the allied troops, " Examine these
men attentively ; they are invincible ; and
have sworn, that in time of war they will
wear no other dress but that of the ene-
my ; in the last war they were clothed
after the Turkish fashion." After the
defeat at Vienna, a gilt stirrup which had
belonged to Mustapha having been found,
" Take that stirrup to the queen," cried
he, " and tell her, that he, to whom it
belonged, is conquered." And at the
same time he wrote to the queen, " that
the grand vizier had made him his heir,
and that he had found in his tent the

value of several millions of ducats. So,"
added he, " say not of us what the Tar-
tar women say when they see their hus-
bands return empty-handed, You are not
men, since you come home without booty .'"
Such was John Sobieski, the last il-
lustrious monarch that filled the throne
of Poland. His character, with all its
defects, we delight to contemplate, as it
aflbrds us a bright spot on which to pause
amid the general gloom. " The spirit of
discord and anarchy," says Mr. Coxe,
" was laid for a time by his transcendent
genius. Under his auspices Poland seem-
ed to revive from the calamities which
had long oppressed her, and again to re-
cover her ancient splendor ; such is the
powerful ascendancy of a great and su-
perior mind." The contentions which
followed his death we have no time at
present to describe. It maybe sufficient
to remark that, though the prince of Conti
had been elected by a majority of votes,
Augustus, elector of Saxony, backed by
a powerful army, was ultimately declared
successor to Sobieski. Augustus began
his reign auspiciously by concluding a
peace with the Turks, by which Kami-
nieck and Podolia were added to his do-
minions. But this was the only favora-
ble transaction in which, during a long
reign, he was engaged. Charles XII,
the celebrated king of Sweden, having
invaded his territories, compelled him to
surrender the crown to Stanislaus Lec-
zinski, a Pole of noble rank, whose ele-
vation, however, was of but short contin-
uance. The battle of Pultowa dissipated
the Swedish power, and Augustus was
restored through the friendship of Rus-
sia, thoiigh not without making the most
inglorious concessions to that nation.
Surrounded by Russian and Saxon troops,
bound to obey every order he received from
the court of Petersburg, his reign was
without authority and without honor. He
was succeeded, at his death, in 1733, by
his son of the same name, though not
without the most formidable opposition
on the part of the French king, who es-
poused the cause of Stanislaus, whose
daughter he had married. Augustus II
had even less merit than his father. His
reign was an unvaried scene of anarchy
and rebellion. So extremely unpopular

POLAND.

521

was he, and so completely divested of
any thing like power, that, when driven
from Saxony, his patrimonial dominions,
the Poles would scarcely afford him an
asylum among them. And after an in-
efficient and unhappy reign, he died at
Dresden in 1764, and was, not unfortu-
nately, doomed to be the last of his fami-
ly who attempted to wield the sceptre of
Poland. This ill-fated country had been
for some time regarded by Russia, and
not without reason, as a tributary prov-
ince ; and accordingly Catharine II,
when the throne became vacant, com-
pelled the diet to elect for king Stanis-
laus Poniatowski, under the name of
Stanislaus Augustus, — a Pole of noble
rank, who, having resided in Petersburg,
had by his address and abilities rendered
himself agreeable to the empress. He
was an amiable and patriotic, though not
a very energetic character. Whatever
had been his talents, however, Poland
before his time was rapidly hastening to
decay ; and during his reign he saw it com-
pletely erased from the chart of the world.
This plan, for the dismemberment of
Poland, it is thought, was at first contem-
plated by Prussia ; but Russia and Aus-
tria readily enough embraced it, though
all these kingdoms at different periods
owed much of their glorj', and even their
very existence, to the country which they
thus resolved to destroy. A great pro-
portion of Poland was thus seized upon
by these kingdoms, and a treaty to this
effect was signed by their plenipoten-
tiaries at Petersburg, in Febnaary, 1772.
The partitioning powers having forced
the Poles to call a meeting of the diet,
threatened, if the treaty of dismember-
ment was not unanimously sanctioned,
that the whole kingdom should imme-
diately be laid under military execution,
and be treated as a conquered state. The
glory of Poland was past ; and though
some of the nobles, rather than be the
instruments of bringing their country to
ruin, chose to spend their days in ex
ile and poverty, the measure was at
length agreed to ; and .Stanislaus him-
self, threatened with deposition and im-
prisonment, was prevailed upon to sanc-
tion it. Europe, though astonished at
what was taking place in Poland, re-
66

mained inactive. The courts of London,
Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, in-
deed, sent remonstrances against this
usurpation ; but remonstrances without a
military force will, as in the case before
us, be always unavailing.

" Oh bloodiest picture in the book of time,
Sarmatia fell, unwept, without a crime !"

A large portion of the eastern provin-
ces were seized by Russia ; Austria ap-
propriated a fertile tract on the south-
west ; while Prussia acquired a commer-
cial district in the north-west, including
the lower part of the "Vistula. Poland
was thus robbed of 70,000 square miles,
or about a fourth of her whole territory.

Stanislaus, thus deprived of a great
part of his dominions, did not, however,
give way to unavailing sorrow and de-
spondency; he exerted himself strenu-
ously to promote the happiness and pros-
perity of that portion wliich was left him.

Poland had been too long the scene
of anarchy and opposition, to be so easily
reconciled to obedience and tranquillity.
A few of the nobles, irritated at the sacri-
fice of some of their privileges, repaired
to the court of Petersburg ; and their
representations corresponding with the
ambitious views of the empress, she im-
mediately despatched an army into Po-
land under the pretext of guaranteeing
the constitution as established in 1772.
The Poles were not backward in making
preparations to oppose her. All animosi-
ties were forgotten in the desperate strug-
gle ; the nobles hesitated not to surren-
der their plate and valuable jewels to
enrich the treasury' ; every rank and
class of men in the' state were resolved
to conquer or die in the defence of their
liberties and independence. In vain,
however, prince Poniatowsky, general of
the army, (nephew of the king,) support-
ed, by the intrepid Kosciusko, performed
prodigies of valor. Catharine was almost
every where triumphant. And a letter
written by her to Stanislaus, threatening
to double or triple her forces unless he
yielded, induced that benignant monarch,
in order to prevent the farther effusion
of human blood, to surrender at discre-
tion. He was removed to Grodno, to
await the determination of the empress.
Nor did she allow her intention to re-

522

POLAND.

main long concealed. In the beginning
of 1793, a manifesto was published by
the courts of Russia and Prussia, declar-
ing that, to remove from their respective
frontiers the dangerous influence of the
anarchical principles recently proclaimed
in Poland, they had resolved to unite to
their dominions several of the provinces
of that kingdom.

The constitution of 1791 was ordered
to be annulled, and every paper relative to
it to be delivered up. 'I'hese orders the
council hesitated to obey ; and Iglestrom,
the Russian ambassador, to deprive them
of all power of resistance, immediately is-
sued a mandate to reduce their military
force to 16,000 men. The army was as
indexible and patriotic as the council ;
the gallant Madalinsky put himself at
the head of the troops, who refused to
lay down their arms. The spirit of re-
sistance was inveterate, and was widely
diffused ; and the Russians, to see their
orders put into execution, marched into
Poland with a numerous army. The
ruthless conduct of these invaders drove
the Poles to desperation : the peasantry
were compelled to lodge, to feed, to trans-
port their enemies from place to place
without remuneration. Such degrada-
tion roused the spirit of the nation ; and
the brave Kosciusko, Avhose name will
ever adorn the history of his unfortunate
country, suddenly appeared, (1794,) sur-
rounded by a very considerable number
of the armed peasantry, and by his skill
and intrepidity supported, for a while, the
falling honor of his country. This great
man having driven the Russians out of
Cracow, this city became the centre of
the patriotic army; and having issued a
proclamation, expressed in the most en-
ergetic terms, calling on every rank and
class of men to shake off their disgrace-
ful fetters, and to conquer or perish in
defence of their country, the appeal was
not made in vain : he was immediately
elected generalissimo of the national
troops, and received the support of the
nobility, who, having proclaimed the con-
stitution of 1791, departed for their re-
spective estates to arm and assemble
their vassals. And the success of Kos-
ciusko corresponded for a while with the
justness of his cause, and the bravery

with which he supported it. A body of
troops amounting to six thousand men,
having marched towards Cracow to give
him battle, was completely defeated ;
they lost one thousand men, with eleven
cannon, and their general Wononzow
was taken prisoner. This was the sig-
nal for general hostility. The Russians,
who had seized upon Warsaw, and were
attempting to become masters of the
arsenal, were resolutely attacked by the
inhabitants, and, after three days of the
most bloody engagements, were driven
from the city. Similar achievements
were performed in other towns. Poland
was all in arms ; and her troops amount-
ed to 60,000 men, exclusive of the peas-
antry, who were armed with pikes. Rus-
sia and Prussia in the mean time marched
110,000 troops against Poland ; and Ko-
sciusko made a skilful retreat upon War-
saw, which he defended for ten weeks
against the Prussians, who, after losing
20,000 men in an inglorious and unavail-
ing siege, found it prudent to withdraw
into their own territories.

Kosciusko, thus freed of the Prussians,
marched to oppose the new Russian
troops, who, during the siege of Warsaw,
had conquered Lithuania and Volhynia.
The eyes of all Europe were placed upon
him, but fortune had declared against
him ; and though he and his brave com-
panions in arms performed feats of valor,
the Russians (19th October) gained a
signal victory, Kosciusko himself being
dreadfully wounded, and taken prisoner.*

* The subsequent fate of this brave man it may
not be improper to state. Having recovered a
little from his wound, he was advancing forward
a few steps, when a Cossack aimed at him a
dreadful blow, which would inevitably have proved
mortal, had not a Russian general (to whose wife
Kosciusko, when she was his prisoner, had shown
the most disinterested generosity) stopped his
arm ; and when the officer was requested, (if he
really wished to render him a service,) to allow
the soldier to put an end to his existence, he
spared his life, but made him a prisoner. Kosci-
usko having been removed to Petersburg, was con-
fined in the fortress there, till, on the accession of
Paul, the late emperor, (1796,) who showed great
liberality to the persecuted Poles, he was set at
liberty, and permitted to remam either in the
Russian dominions, or to emigrate to America.
He preferred the latter. He afterwards returned
to France. When the allies entered Paris, in
1815, he was then residing in that capital : and

POLAND.

523

The fate of Poland was now irrevocably
sealed, the whole kingdom being in the
power of the Russians, with the single
exception of Warsaw, whither they im-
mediately marched their victorious army.
The Polish troops in that city, "few but
undismayed," resolved to make a desper-
ate resistance; but how could 10,000
men withstand the impetuosity of five
times that number ? The suburb Praga
was taken by assault, and, after eight
hours of the most obstinate defence,War-
saw was obliged to surrender at discre-
tion. But the implacable Russians, com-
manded by the infamous Suwarrow, were
not yet satisfied. About ten hours after
the battle was finished, they set fire to
the city, and plundered and massacred
the inhabitants in the most brutal man-
ner ; no age or sex escaped their vio-
lence ; they perpetrated deeds at the
bare idea of which humanity shudders,
and of which even the history of Poland
affords few examples.

Poland being thus overthrown, the two
usurping powers were about to form a
partition of it betwixt them, when Austria
unexpectedly stept forward, and declared
that she could not permit the entire de-
struction of Poland, unless she were al-
lowed to share in the division. The
consequences of a refusal they were not
willing to encounter ; and Austria had
thus her ambitious views realized, with-
out having incurred the smallest danger
or expense. Stanislaus, who had all this
while remained in his capital, was at
length removed to Grodno a second time,
where he was compelled to resign his

some Polish soldiers having recognised him, could
not sufficiently express their gratitude and vene-
ration for a man, who, then weighed down with
years and misfortunes, had done and suffered so
much to redeem the fading glory of their country.
He died in France; but through the intervention
of the emperor Alexander, king of Poland, his
remains were restored from a foreign grave, and
reposited at Cracow in a vault, which formed the
cemetery of the kings of Poland, and which con-
tains the ashes of the illustrious Sobieski. On the
summit of Mount St. Bronislawa, near Cracow, a
tumulus of the Carpathian marble has lately been
raised to the memory of Kosciusko. The emperor
Alexander, who seems to wish to make amends
to Poland for the barbarous rapacity of his prede-
cessors, has also removed to the same cemetery
the dust of Stanislaus Poniatowsky.

crown, and M^as thence carried to Peters-
burg, where he resided as a state pris-
oner in solitude and exile till his death,
which took place in February, 1798.

The Polish nobles who escaped the
dungeons of the partitioning powers,
hastened either to Venice or Paris. At
this latter place a confederacy was form-
ed, which maintained a correspondence
with a similar society at Vienna. These
societies sent their emissaries to the
friendly courts of Europe for the purpose
of entering into negotiations in favor of the
Poles. But the death of Catharine, the
empress of Russia, put an end to the
plans of the confederates. Her succes-
sor, the emperor Paul, treated the Poles
with so much clemency that they became
somewhat reconciled to his government.
He set at liberty the gallant Kosciusko,
and offered him a high military post in
his service. He liberated twelve thou-
sand Poles who had been sent into exile in
Siberia by Catharine. During the French
revolution a great number of the Poles
entered into the service of the French.
They expected much from Napoleon,
who, by his promises to restore their
country to its freedom, induced many of
them to shed their blood in his service.
The Poles, however, deceived by his
promises, did not despair. The modera-
tion of Alexander made their servitude
more endurable ; but no sooner had
Nicholas ascended the throne of Russia,
and sanctioned the barbarities of his bru-
tal brother Constantine, than the old
spirit revived. The successful example
of France, followed by Belgium, roused
them to action and inspired them with
the liveliest hopes. The following ac-
count of the last revolution is from a re-
cent work entitled " History of the Revo-
lutions in Europe."

It was on the 29th of November, 1830,
that the insurrection at Warsaw burst
forth. Secret societies had existed in
that city since 1818, for the express pur-
pose of securing the liberty and nation-
ality of Poland.

" As early as 1821, Russia had com-
menced a system of proscription against
these secret societies ; and in 1825, a
conspiracy was kindled into flame at Pe-
tersburg, which it was thought could be

524

POLAND.

traced to Warsaw. The societies had
members throughout Poland and Lithu-
ania, Podolia and Volhynia, and even the
old provinces of the Ukraine, which it
might be supposed had long since lost
all recollections of Polish glory. These
associations were formed during the reign
of the emperor Alexander, to whom some
of the patriots had vainly looked for a bet-
ter state of things. After the death of
Alexander, his successor, Nicholas, was
crowned king of Poland at Warsaw, May,
1829.

"The diet assembled in 1830, and in
spite of all the endeaA-^ors of the emperor,
many patriots were elected. Nicholas
opened this assembly in person, but failed
to overawe the liberals from impeaching
ministers for violating the charter. This
liberal diet was closed June 28th. * Such
freedom of discussion could not be en-
dured by a despotic monarch, whose un-
varying aim has been to tread out every
spark of liberty in the northern parts of
Europe. The archduke Constantine was
made viceroy of Poland, and by his mon-
strous atrocities became universally de-
tested by the Poles.

" The ardent hopes and wishes of the
Polish patriots at length burst forth into
flame. At 7 in the evening, the hour
agreed upon, fifteen intrepid youths sal-
lied forth determined to seize on Con-
stantine, whose residence was about two
miles from Warsaw. They rushed into
the palace of the Belvider, where the
usual guard consists of sixty men, first
wounding the director of police, who fled.
They next killed general Gendre, a Rus-
sian infamous for his crimes. The strug-
gle alarmed Constantine, who instantly
rose from his bed and escaped undressed
by a secret door, that was closed after
him by his valet just as they were on
the point of reaching him, and had sup-
posed themselves secure of their victim.
Constantine instantly fled to his guards.
Thus disappointed, this band retired to

* The constitution of Poland, issued by Alex-
ander, emperor of Russia, in 1815, contained
many important provisions. The diet, composed
of two houses, was to be assembled once every
two years ; yet in violation of this provision, none
was convoked from 1820 to 1825, and only one
under the emperor Nicholas.

their companions in arms, who awaited,
at the bridge of Sobieski, the result of
this movement. In returning to the city
they had to pass the barracks where the
guards, though already mounted, were
unable to attack them on account of a
precautionary measure of Constantine in
surrounding the barracks with a deep and
wide ditch, passed onlyby narrow bridges.
The guards fired upon the insurgents ;
but the latter were so advantageously sit-
uated, and returned the fire so well that
they killed three hundred of the guards,
and retreated with the loss of only one
of their number.

" By this time the streets of Warsaw
were filled, some houses had been set on
fire, and the cry resounded " To arms, to
arms, Poland is up, God for our country !"
The inhabitants rushed to arms. The
state prisoners were liberated ; the stu-
dents of the university and the school of
engineers joined the insurrection ; the ar-
senal was forced, and in an hour and a
half from the first cry of hberty, 40,000
men were in arms. Soon the fourth Po-
lish regiment joined the populace, and
presently the rest of the Polish soldiers.
When Constantine heard of this, he fell
back with two Polish regiments of guards,
and was permitted to retire by the mag-
nanimous Poles unmolested to the fron-
tier. Chlopicki was appointed general-in-
chief, and four days afterwards declared
dictator by the provisional government.
Although a soldier of undisputed bravery,
he has been blamed for suffering the
grand duke to escape when he might
have captured him, and for losing time in
trying to negotiate with the emperor Ni-
cholas.

" The diet that assembled in twenty-
days after the breaking out of the revolt,
confirmed Chlopicki dictator ; but on his
refusing assent to the manifesto of Janu-
ary 9th, 1831, in which the wrongs of
Poland were so feelingly portrayed, he
was deposed. Instantly a supreme na-
tional council was formed, and prince
Adam Czartoryski appointed president,
when a spirited proclamation was issued,
informing the polish soldiers that Chlo-
picki had resigned the glorious task of
i conducting them to combat.
I " Russia had now brought into the field

POLAND.

525

against Poland 200,000 men, while Po-
land had about 50,000 equipped for the
fioht — a fearful disparity in numbers.
Through the influence of the aristocracy,
the command of the army was given to
prince Radzvil.

" The Russian invading army rendez-
voused, on the 20th of January, at various
points of the western frontier of the em-
pire. It was composed, according to
the report of field-marshal Diebitsch, of
105 battalions of infantry, 135 squadrons
of cavalry, with 396 pieces of artillery,
and 1 1 regiments of Cossacks. The
army crossed the Polish frontiers on
the 5th of February. The advance of
the Polish army was at Biala, the right
near the high road to Warsaw, the left
at Lomeza on the Narew. On the ad-
vance of the Russians, the Polish corps
fell back, the right on Warsaw, and the
left on Modlin and Pultusk. On the 1 8th
of February, the Russian head-quarters
were established at Minsk, ten miles
from Warsaw, and their advance pushed
to Melisna, within five miles of that city.
The Russian left rested on the Vistula
above Warsaw, and tlie right on the Bug
near its junction with the Narew, its
centre protected with woods and artillery.

"On the 18th, the Polish army of
50,000 men had its right on Grokow,
with Praga in the rear, and the left
thrown back opposite the right wing of
the enemy.

" The reconnoissances of the 19th and
20th, were resisted by the Poles and led
to a severe battle. According to the Rus-
sian account, the heat of the battle was
during the early part of the day confined
to the left, count Pahlen's advanced guard,
which was attacked as soon as it had
cleared the defile near Grokow, and com-
pelled to retreat two miles. The advanced
guard, under general Rosen, was attack-
ed at the same time, advancing from Ok-
anief. On the arrival of Diebitsch, he
sent a re-enforcement under general Toll,
with several battalions and 20 cannon, to
the relief of count Pahlen. A furious
charge was now made by the Russians,
with Diebitsch in person, which changed
the fortune of the day, and at 4 o'clock,
the Russian wings united, when the
Poles were driven from the field of bat-

tle. For three days after this action the
Russians made no onward movement, but
asked an armistice for the burial of the
dead, which was granted.

" Early on the 25th, the Russians hav-
ing received" a re-enforcement of 25,000
men, felt prepared for action. They
drew forth their whole army in front of
the forest, and commenced an attack on
the Polish left wing, near Jublonna. Gen-
eral Uminski received this attack with
great bravery and repulsed the enemy,
taking six cannon, which he spiked, and
drove the Russians to the forest. He
then attacked the Russian centre with
dreadful slaughter, and drove them from
their position. Diebitsch had calculated,
with the great strength of his left wing,
to crush the Polish right, situated near
Grokow, under the command of Chlopic-
ki and Skrzynecki. The Russians made
six tremendous charges, and were as of-
ten repidsed with great loss ; a seventh
charge made against a new regiment, put
it in disorder, and caused it partially to
retreat. Two regiments of cuirassiers
were then sent against the faltering regi-
ments ; the latter being aided with the
Polish lancers, rallied, rushed on the re-
giments of cuirassiers, and cut them to
pieces, of which only forty escaped, twen-
ty prisoners only being taken, mostly
officers, and among them the commander
of one of these regiments. This affair
decided the day, when the Russians were
obliged to withdraw from the field of bat-
tle into their strong-holds in the forest of
Milosna. This battle was fought with
great fury. General Chlopicki, who was
in the centre, had two horses killed un-
der him, and was wounded. Forty thou-
sand Poles here withstood the shock of
one hundred and fifty thousand of their
enemy ; and at the close of the battle,
nearly 15,000 Russians lay weltering ou
the plain, and several thousand prisoners
were taken.

" After the battle, prince Radzvil gave
up the command of the army ; when
Skrzynecki, who had displayed extraor-
dinary bravery and skill, was chosen
commander-in-chief. But this step led
to the rankling enmity of Krukowiecki,
the second in command to Chlopicki,
who thenceforward meditated revenge,

526

POLAND.

plotted, and afterwards proved a traitor
to his country.

" The first step of Skrzynecki was to
attempt to negotiate with Diebitsch.
When he found his advances repelled, he
prepared for the unequal struggle.

" The ice in the Vistula had now bro-
ken up, and the swamps were filled from
the melting snow, and the roads were al-
most impassable for artillery and cavalry.
Skrzynecki now determined to act on the
offensive. On learning that Diebitsch
had divided his forces, he led the Polish
army of 25,000 men to Praga, and on the
31st, favored by the darkness of the
night, approached the Russian camp, and
fell upon the advanced guard of general
Geismar, at Wawar, consisting of 8,000
men, intrenched in a very strong position,
which force he nearly destroyed, captu-
ring 4,000 prisoners, and taking a num-
ber of cannon. General Uminski had
previously been despatched towards Os-
trolenka, to keep in check the corps of
general Sacken and the guards who were
advancing there. While the Polish ad-
vanced guard were engaged in combat at
Wawar, general Rybinski, with his di-
vision, attacked the enemy's right, and
carried it by the point of the bayonet ;
destroyed one entire regiment, and forced
another to lay down their arms. The
combat lasted two hours. Colonel Ro-
marino's brigade here also distinguished
itself. Skrzynecki next fell upon the
corps of general Rosen, posted at Dembe
W^ielski with 20,000 men, who were un-
able to withstand the impetuous attack of
the Poles. The Russians fled by way of
Minsk, and made several efforts to sus-
tain their positions as they received re-
enforcemenls, but were unable to sustain
them. It was at 5 o'clock, P. M. when
they arrived at Dembe Wielski, a posi-
tion strongly fortified, and the resistance
was obstinate. But the force of the ar-
tillery from the centre, and the vigor of
the assault, completely routed the Rus-
sians, who fled with precipitation.

" By this masterly movement of the
Polish commander-in-chief, 20,000 Rus-
sians were thrown hors-de-combat, and
many superior officers were captured du-
ring this day, so glorious to the Polish
arms, besides taking two standards, fif-

teen wagons filled with ammunition, some
thousand muskets, and fifteen pieces of
cannon. This victory occasioned but
small loss to the Poles, owing to the ra-
pidity and surprise with which their
movements were executed. The regi-
ment of scythemen (leucheurs) having
demanded arms, the muskets left on the
field of battle were assigned them. The
combat lasted till 10 at night. The ar-
my had then been actively engaged, fight-
ing and marching, twenty hours.

" On the 9lh, the Polish army gained a
considerable victory, taking several can-
non, and from 3,000 to 4,000 prisoners ;
among them were 300 officers of differ-
ent ranks. The head-quarters on the
10th were at Seidlec ; and on the same
day, at that place, marshal Diebitsch suc-
ceeded in uniting all his forces. From
this time the Polish cause appears to
have declined.

" General Dwernecki with a valiant
corps entered Volhynia, surrounded by
Russian corps under generals De Witt,
Keuts, and Rudiger. Dwernecki passed
the Bug on the 1 0th, and on the 1 1 th
routed some Russian forces, took a num-
ber of prisoners, some transports, and
baggage. The left wing of the Russian
army, stationed at Kock, upon Veprez
and Rudje-w, fell back, and marshal Die-
bitsch, baffled in his attempts, retired
with the army across the river Bug,
alarmed for his safety. Insurrections
spread in his rear, in the provinces of
Lithuania and Volhynia. A violent in-
surrection broke out at Wilna on the 28lh
of March.

" General Chrzanovvski, with 8,000
men, cut his way through the Russians,
and penetrated as far as the fortress of
Zamosc. The greatest enthusiasm now
spread through the Polish province of
Samogitia. This expedition of Chrzan-
owski, by forcing his way through the
enemy's detachments, was one of great
daring. In three days he defeated the
Russians three times, and took 800 pris-
oners. These movements in Volhynia
occasioned great uneasiness to the Rus-
sians, and obliged them to change their
plan — that of attempting Warsaw in front
by Praga. On the last days of April,
Diebitsch retired with the Russian army

POLAND.

527

beyond the river Bug. The barbarities
of the Russians during this warfare
against the patriots in Lithuania, were of
the most revoking kind.

" April 26th, general Dwernecki sur-
rendered his force, consisting of 4,000
men and 17 pieces of cannon, to the Aus-
trians. He had been pursued by a su-
perior force, and was under the necessity
of passing into the Austrian dominions.
Diebitsch, with the principal Russian
army, retreated in the direction of the
Bug and Narew, to gain the Prussian
frontier, to relieve the suffering state of
the army. At Thorn there was a great
supply of provisions, ammunition, &c,
waiting his approach.

" The Polish government issued a
manifesto against Prussia for her shame-
ful violation of the principle of non-inter-
ference. This conduct of Prussia des-
troyed all the advantages gained by Po-
lish valor. The Prussians furnished
supplies of every kind, and constructed
bridges over the Vistula for the passage
of the Russian army. In many instances
when the Russian troops were forced by
the Polish soldiers into the Prussian do-
minions, they were suffered to return
with their arms, while the Poles in all
similar cases were retained prisoners.

" The conduct too of Austria was most
outrageous. While the brave Dwernecki,
the ' cannon provider,' was withstanding
a greatly superior force on the Austrian
frontier, the Russians passed over neu-
tral ground to outflank him. He was
followed in his retreat by the Russians
who were allowed to retire, while the
brave, patriotic, and devoted champions
of Poland were obliged to surrender
themselves prisoners of war to the Aus-
trian forces stationed on the frontier.

" While a Polish corps was at Minsk,
Skryznecki united all his corps on the
left, crossed the Bug, and forced his way
to Ostrolenka, a flank movement of 80
miles, and defeated the Russian guards
at Tychosin. He then sent forward 300
Polish officers to Lithuania, there to or-
ganize the patriot forces.

" The sanguinary battle of Ostrolenka
was fought on the 26th of May, in which
20,000 Poles were opposed to 60,000
Russians. This battle was fought with

an inveteracy unexampled — quarter was
out of the question. The Poles having
succeeded in passing to the right bank
of the Narew, they attempted to destroy
the bridge. This they were unable to
efl'ect, as the Russians were protected
by a numerous artillery placed on the op-
posite bank. Several regiments of Poles,
under a most galling fire, attempted to ar-
rest the progress of the Russians. The
combat was for a long time one of slaugh-
ter ; they fought man to man, and thou-
sands were killed by being thrown into
the dyke which passes along the marshy
shore of the Narew. The battle did not
end till 12 o'clock at night, when the ex-
hausted Russians retrograded as far as
the bridge, and the Polish army com-
menced a retrograde movement unmoles-
ted, and fell back on Praga. The loss
of the Poles in this battle has been stated
at 4,000 men. The Russians suffered
very severely and had three generals
killed. The Russian guards are said
to have displayed great bravery in the
action. It was the object of Diebitsch
to cut off the retreat of the Poles. The
second Polish corps under General Lu-
bienski displayed great gallantry on the
25th : it forced its way, at the point of
the bayonet, in a retreat from Chirch-
nowiec, through 40,000 Russians.

" It was subsequently ascertained that
a correspondence had been kept up by trai-
tors and Russian agents in Warsaw, by
whose means Diebitsch was informed
of the plans of the Polish commander-in-
chief, and led to the disastrous battle of
Ostrolenka. On the same day that the
battle of Ostrolenka was fought, General
Chlapowski gained a victory over the
Russians at Mariampol, commanded by
General Sacken.

" The Russian commander-in-chief,
Diebitsch, died suddenly at Klechewo,
June 19th, at that time the head-quarters
of the Russian army. He had been su-
perseded a short time previous to his
death by Paskewitch, who had greatly
distinguished himself in the war against
the Persians. Shortly afterwards, the Arch
Duke Constantine died very suddenly.

" June 29th, a conspiracy was this day
timely discovered in Warsaw, which was
to set the Russian prisoners, thirteen

528

POLAND.

thousand in number, at liberty. Several
disaffected officers attempted to bring
about a counter-revolution to favor the
Russians. It was to be accompUshed
as follows : the prisoners having been
allowed to go at large, they were to be
supplied with arms ; and on a signal be-
ing given the powder mill was to be blown
up, when a general attack was to be
made on the citizens and national guard.
General Janowski, one of the traitors, to
save himself, made the discovery of this
horrid conspiracy just in time to save
Warsaw.

" On the 1 4th of July, General Chrzan-
ski was attacked by General Rudiger's
corps, on this side of Minsk, five miles
from Warsaw ; when the Russians were
defeated and forced to retreat, having
3,000 men killed, 900 prisoners taken,
and 1,000 muskets. On the 12th, the
main army of Paskewitch was encamped
between Sisno and Kikal, and on the
same day a great part of it passed the
Vistula between Warsaw and the Prus-
sian frontier, having received from Thorn
a great number of barges and materials
for bridges. The Prussians, to facilitate
the passing of the Russians, had con-
structed a bridge over the Vistula at
Drewenca.

"On the 13th of Aug. General Skryz-
necki resigned the command of the army
to General Dembinski, compelled, by the
force of circumstances, to do so, in order
that faction might have no further pre-
text to injure his country. His letter of
resignation on this occasion, is full of
generous devotion to the cause of his
country. The patriotic club, irritated
with the measures of government and
dissatisfied at not seeing General Jan-
owski condemned, determined to take
violent measures. To these acts they
were instigated by the base Krukowiecki.
On the 15th of August, at 8 A. M. the
club formally demanded that Skryznecki
should be ordered to Warsaw. They
then proceeded to the castle, that was
protected by 200 of the national guard,
who made scarcely any resistance. On
the same day, the patriotic club demand-
ed the death of Janowski ; and on the
16th, the state prisoners concerned in
the conspiracy for a counter-revolution,

were murdered in their rooms by the
clubists. Thirty-five persons were thus
put to death without ceremony ; among
them were Generals Janowski, Bulkow-
ski, Hurtig, Salacki, and Benlhouski, the
Russian chamberlain, Fustiane, &c.

" During the night. General Krukowi-
ecki was appointed governor of the city.
He sent for a re-enforcement, and his first
measures were to put a stop to these
horrors. August 17th, the government
was dissolved, and Krukowiecki was
placed at the head of the new govern-
ment, with very extended powers. He
caused the arrest of the president and
ten of the club, and appointed General
Prondzynski to the chief command in
the army.

" From the time that Krukowiecki came
into power, he took measures to deliver
Warsaw to the Russians, and made every
attempt to induce the diet to demand an
amnesty, and sent the main part of the
Polish army to the right side of the Vis-
tula, when the thunder of the Russian
artillery was breaking over the devoted
city. The proposals of Krukowiecki
were repelled by the diet with indigna-
tion, who declared to the suspicious de-
puties, ' rather will we die here in our
places than stain the honor of our coun-
try.' The traitor was deposed at mid-
night and a new governor of the city
named, which gave new vigor to the
fainting defenders of Warsaw.

" On the 6th of September, at daybreak,
the Russian army of 100,000 men and
300 pieces of cannon, advanced to storm
Warsaw, which was defended with great
heroism. On the 8th, after two days
hard fighting, it surrendered to Field
Marshal Paskewitch. The Russians
had 20,000 slain in storming Warsaw.
The Poles lost about half that number in
its defence.

" The government and the most distin-
guished citizens retired with the main
body of the army, under the new com-
mander-in-chief, Rybinski, upon Modlin
and Plozk. The army, however, kept
in three divisions instead of unhing,
which could thus offer but a feeble resis-
tance to the Russian forces. As a last
resource, the Poles crossed the frontiers
into the Austrian and Prussian dominions.

PORTUGAL.

529

Upwards of 1 ,500 of the most distinguish-
ed leaders of the Polish revolution were
arrested and imprisoned at Warsaw ; and
to complete the measures of oppression
and vengeance, the Russian troops fired
upon the prisoners confined in one of the
wings of the prison, under the pretence
of a revolt among the prisoners, though
it was known that three-fourths of these
were imprisoned for political offences.

" Of twenty-two Polish generals that
became, in a mannei", prisoners under
the amnesty, the greater part were sent
to distant parts of the Russian empire,
and but four returned to Poland. The
soldiers were marched by thousands to

Siberian exile, linked together by the
wrists to bars of iron. The nobles were
treated in the same ignominious manner,
with their heads shaved, and consigned
to the dungeons and mines of Siberia ;
and the children were torn from their
mothers, and carried off to glut the ven-
geance of the Autocrat of all the Rus-
sia's.

" Numbers of the patriots that escaped
after the fall of Warsaw, when the army
passed the frontiers, have gone into vol-
untary exile, and are now mourning over
the calamities of their country, the loss
of their homes, their wives, and their
children."

PORTUGAL

The early history of Portugal, like
that of most other states, is involved in
obscurity and fable ; and though the Por-
tuguese writers lay claim to a regular de-
scent from Tubal, and to other honors
which existed only in their own imagi-
nations, yet it is allowed by all impartial
inquirers, that we have no authentic me-
morials of that kingdom, prior to the time
of Hamilcar, the famous Carthaginian
general. Nor even from this period,
which is comparatively recent, have we
any regular accounts of its history.
All indeed we know with certainty is,
that it was conquered by Hamilcar ; that
it was the scene of various military op-
erations between the Romans and Car-
thaginians, for the two subsequent centu-
ries ; and that in the time of Augustus it
was finally conquered by the Romans,
and constituted a Roman province. It
remained in this state during the first
four centuries of the Christian era ; but
in the sixth, on the downfall of the Ro-
man power, it fell into the hands of the
barbarians, who overran the south of Eu-
rope, particularly the Goths and Vandals.
The Moors from the North of Africa,
early in the eighth century, having landed
in Spain, extended their conquests to
Portugal, which continued in their pos-
session till the eleventh century. The
67

Spaniards, having long struggled to ex-
pel these infidels from their territories,
and having succeeded in driving them
from the greater part of the country, and
in establishing the kingdom of Castile
and Leon, penetrated into Portugal, and
conquered a part of it from its barbarous
invaders in the reign of Alphonso VI, of
Castile. This monarch having acquired
great glory by his expulsion of the
Moors, Henry, grandson of the first duke
of Normandy, anxious to share in this
glory, passed over into Spain, and en-
tered the service of the Castilian mon-
arch. After signalizing his valor in va-
rious engagements the king raised him
to the highest military honors, and the
better to attach so brave an officer to his
service, bestowed on him his natural
daughter Theresa in marriage, and, as
her portion, such portions of Portugal as
were not in the hands of the Moors.
This he governed under the title of Earl
or Count, till his death, which happened
in 1112, in the seventy-seventh year of
his age. The name of Count Henry
forms the first great authentic era in the
annals of Portugal. And he seems to
have been worthy of the success and
honors he experienced. On his death-
bed, he is said, to have recommended to
his son and successor to protect and prop-

>30

PORTUGAL,

agate the Christian faith ; to treat his
subjects as his children ; to grant them
equitable laws, and to cause them to be
impartially administered.

Alphonso, who succeeded him, being un-
der age, the kingdom during his minority
was governed by the queen-mother, assist-
ed by two able ministers. During this mi-
nority, those jealousies and hostile opera-
tions which have ever since obtained be-
tween the Spanish and Portuguese monar-
chies first appeared. Alphonso, however,
■when he came of age, made peace with the
king of Castile and Leon ; and although
the latter afterwards entered the Portu-
guese territories, and was preparing to
commit great devastations, a reconcilia-
tion was again effected on the interces-
sion of the pope's legate, all places and
prisoners on either side having been
delivered up. The queen-mother, how-
ever, was of a disposition incapable of
remaining long in peace. After she had
made a treaty with her foreign enemies,
a quarrel took place between her and
her own son, which having terminated in
a civil war, not only were her troops
completely defeated, but herself was
made prisoner ; in which situation she
continued duringthe remainder of her life.

Alphonso had not long gained uncon-
trolled possession of his dominions, when
they were attempted to be overrun by
the Moors. He was not, however, slow
in opposing them. And a general en-
gagement, 1139, having taken place on
the plains of Ourique, on the banks of the
Tagus, the infidel army was overthrown
with tremendous slaughter : an event
which not only redounded to the honor
of Alphonso, l)ut which laid the founda-
tion of the Portuguese monarchy. Al-
phonso was proclaimed king by his sol-
diers on the field of battle ; a title which
he enjoyed till his death, and which was
for generations retained by his descen-
dants. At a subsequent period he caused
himself, with great ceremony, to be se-
lected and crowned king before an as-
sembly of the states, on which occasion
he solemnly renounced all dependence
on the crown of Spain, declaring, that if
any of his successors should consent to
do homage or pay tribute to that power,
he was unworthy of possessing the king-

I dom of Portugal. But though Alphonso
had attained to this dignity, he did not
allow himself to enjoy it in inglorious
tranquillity. While he made several un-
successful irruptions into the territories
of the king of Castile, who had now as-
sumed the title of emperor of Spain, he
at the same time contimied with unabated
ardor to extirpate the Moors, who were
i still in possession of a great portion of
his dominions. Lisbon being in their
hands, he reduced it by means of a fleet
of French, English and Flemish adven-
turers, who, in their way to the Holy
Land, anchored at the mouth of the Ta-
gus, whose assistance he requested and
obtained in a cause not entirely foreign
to that in which they were embarked.
He made many successful expeditions
against the Moors, and became master of
four of the six provinces of which Portu-
gal now consists. He died in 11 85, ce-
lebrated for courage, patriotism, and for
his love and patronage of learned men.

His son Sancho, who succeeded him,
was worthy of his distinguished prede-
cessor. Though, before his accession,
he had been remarkable for a restless
and warlike disposition, he had no sooner
obtained possession of the throne than
he became a lover of peace, and began,
with great assiduity, to repair or rebuild
the cities that had suffered by the late
wars, and to make what compensation
he could for the injuries and losses his
subjects had sustained. Although thus
pacifically inclined, the state of the na-
tion did not permit him to remain long
in peace. The Moors still infested the
southern parts of his dominions, over
whom he obtained several signal victo-
ries, and added considerably to the ex-
tent of his territories. He died at an
advanced age with the reputation of the
best sovereign that had ever filled the
throne of Portugal.

For some time after his death, no event
of importance occurs in the Portuguese
annals. In the thirteenth century, the
Moors were expelled by Alphonso HI,
from Algarve and the south of the king-
dom ; and, in the subsequent century, the
Portuguese made occasional descents on
the coast of Africa with various success.
But the wars asainst the Moors were

PORTUGAL

531

unhappily succeeded by hostilities with
the kings of Castile, which have engen-
dered such implacable hatred between
the two nations. The reign of Deniz,
{an enlightened and patriotic prince, who
is justly denominated the father of his
country,) notwithstanding some occa-
sional treaties of peace, may be regarded
as almost one continued series of warfare
with the Castilians. But at length, in
the reign of John I, hostilities between
these two nations were carried on, if
possible, with greater vigor and animos-
ity. The king of Castile, having laid
pretensions to the crown of Portugal, in-
vaded that kingdom at the head of the
whole forces of his dominions. Having
entered the province of Alentejo, and
besieged the town of Elvas without effect,
he found it necessary to retire into his
own territories, determined, however, to
invade Portugal a second time, and lay
waste the whole country. But the second
expedition was not more successful than
the first. He was completely defeated ;
and John was firmly established on the
throne of Portugal. The Castilians con-
sented to a truce of three years, which was
afterwards improved into a lasting peace.
But the fame of John is not confined
to his victories over the Castilians, or to
successful expeditions made by himself
in person into the Moorish territories.
These, though they show him to have
been a man of talents and courage, are
not the events by which he is best known
to posterity. With his name the history
of navigation and the progress of discov-
ery are inseparably connected: a depart-
ment of enterprise and skill in which
Portugal has gained almost unrivalled
distinction. At the period at which we
are arrived, the art of navigation was still
very imperfect. "Though Africa," says
Dr. Robertson, " lay so near to Portugal,
and the fertility of the countries already
known on that continent invited men to
explore it more fully, the Portuguese had
not ventured to sail beyond Cape Non.
That promontory, as its name imports,
was hitherto considered as a boundary
which could not be passed. But the
nations of Europe had now acquired as
much knowledge as emboldened them to
disregard the prejudices and to correct

the errors of their ancestors. The long
reign of ignorance, the constant enemy
of every curious inquiry, and of every
new undertaking, Avas approaching to its
period. The light of science began to
dawn. The works of the ancient Greeks
and Romans began to be read with ad-
miration and profit. The sciences culti-
vated by the Arabians were introduced
into Europe by the Moors settled in Spain
and Portugal, and by the Jews, who were
very numerous in both these kingdoms.
Geometry, astronomy, and geography,
the sciences on which the art of naviga-
tion is founded, became objects of studious
attention. The memory of the discoveries
made by the ancients was revived, and
the progress of their navigation and com-
merce began to be traced. Some of the
causes (particularly the inquisition) which
have obstructed the cultivation of science
in Portugal during this century and the
last, did not exist, or did not operate in
the same manner in the fifteenth century ;
and the Portuguese, at that period, seem
to have kept pace with the nations on this
side the Alps in literary pursuits." Such
were the circumstances of the age when
king John, urged partly by ambitious
motives, and partly instigated to the
measure in order to find employment for
the restless spirit of his subjects, fitted
out two armaments, the one destined to
attack the Moors settled on the coast of
Africa, the other, consisting only of a
few vessels, appointed to sail along the
western shore of Africa bounded by the
Atlantic ocean, and to discover the un-
known countries situated there. The
expedition against the Moors ended suc-
cessfully ; while, what was still more
important, the vessels sent on the discov-
ery doubled that formidable cape which
had terminated the progress of former
navigators, and proceeded 160 miles be-
yond it, to Cape Bojador. " As its rocky
"clifl^s," says the historian just quoted,
" which stretched a considerable way
into the Atlantic, appeared more dreadful
than the promontory they had passed,
the Portuguese commanders durst not
attempt to sail round it, but returned to
Lisbon, more satisfied with having ad-
vanced so far, than ashamed of having
ventured no farther."

532

PORTUGAL,

Inconsiderable as this voyage was, it
increased the passion for discovery which
began to arise. Nor was Portugal de-
ficient in men of talents and enterprise,
capable of giving it a proper impulse and
direction. Not only was John himself
anxious to patronise and forward any
plan which had for its object the progress
of discovery, but prince Henry, his fourth
son, was, from his great talents and ardent
enthusiasm, peculiarly formed for espous-
ing a cause which might prove not only
beneficial, but splendid and honorable.
He had cultivated, according to Dr. Rob-
ertson, the arts and sciences, which were
then unknown and despised by persons
of his rank. He had applied, with pecu-
liar fondness, to the study of geography,
and had acquired such knowledge of the
habitable globe, as discovered the great
probability of finding new and opulent
countries by sailing along the coast of
Africa. Under such distinguished pa-
tronage, an impulse was given to the
spirit of discovery unknown before, and
which was attended with the most brilliant
results. Not only were the islands Porto
Sancto, Madeira, Cape de Verd and the
Azores, discovered and taken possession
of, but, ere long, the western coast of
Africa was traced, and Bartholomew Diaz
had descried that lofty promontory which
bounds this great continent on the south ;
which the discoverer himself denomina-
ted the Stormy Cape, but to which the
king, his master, as he now entertained
no doubts of having found the long desir-
ed route to India, gave a name more in-
viting, and of better omen, the Cape of
Good Hope. These great events had
taken place during the successive reigns
of John, Edward, Alphonso V, and John
II ; and, in the reign of Emanuel, the
next monarch, Vasco de Gama, a man of
noble birth, possessed of virtue, prudence,
and courage, was despatched by his
sovereign, with three vessels, to follow
the route which Diaz had pursued, and,
if possible, to double that promontory,
which was justly regarded as opening a
way to the East. After struggling for '
four months with contrary winds, Gama, \
during an interval of calm weather, ac-
complished the object for which he had
set out. After doubling that formidable [

cape, he directed his course towards the
north-east, along the African continent.
He landed at Melinda, on the Zanquebar
coast, and afterwards crossed the Indian
ocean, he arrived at Calecut, on the coast
of Malabar. And having obtained not
oidy some commodities peculiar to that
place, but many rich productions of the
eastern parts of India, he returned to
Portugal by the same route, and landed
at Lisbon in September, 1499, two years,
two months, and five days, from the time
he had left that port, and after having
performed a voyage, the longest as well
as the most difficult that had yet been
accomplished. In about a year after
this date, Cabral discovered that exten-
sive country in South America, now
known by the name of Brazil, and which
till lately formed so important a portion
of the territories of the kings of Portugal.
This great progress in navigation, and in
the discovery of unknown regions, of
which we have given but a brief sketch,
was accomplished ere the termination
of the fifteenth century ; and the two last
important voyages, those of De Gama
and Cabral, were performed five and
seven years respectively from the time
when the New World was discovered
by the illustrious Columbus. In the
history of navigation Portugal holds an
eminent place, both from the number, the
early date, and the magnificence of her
discoveries ; and, as previously mention-
ed, the only circumstance which pre-
vents her being entirely unrivalled in this
great department, is her refusing, though
urgently solicited, to patronise and pro-
mote that bold voyage of discovery me-
ditated by Columbus, which was, at a
subsequent period, undertaken under the
auspices of Spain, and which, contrary
to the expectation of the Portuguese,
forms the greatest achievement in the
history of the art to which it belongs.
Nor was Columbus the only distinguished
person in this department that Portugal
overlooked. Magellan, a Portuguese,
and the first that circumnavigated the
globe, was also denied patronage and
encouragement in his native country ;
and having in consequence applied to
Charles V, of Spain, that monarch did
himself honor by taking him under his

PORTUGAL.

533

protection, and assisting in promoting his
bold and interesting design.

The successful voyages of the Portu-
guese were soon celebrated throughout
Europe, and excited the deepest interest.
With some, they roused a spirit of emu-
lation ; but the Venetians, with the quick-
sighted descernment of merchants, early
foresaw, and feared that it would prove
the ruin of that lucrative branch of com-
merce with the East, which had contri-
buted so largely to enrich and aggrandize
them. Nor were their fears ill founded.
The Portuguese did not fail immediately
to avail themselves of the route they had
discovered to India. The wisdom and
prudence of king Emanuel were not more
conspicuous in the vigorous and judicious
measures adopted at home for monopoli-
zing the commerce of that opulent region,
than in his nomination of officers to take
the supreme command in Asia; men
who, for military and political sagacity,
for integrity and love of country, have
certainly not been surpassed by persons
in similar situations. And their measures
were not only planned in wisdom, but
"carried into effect with the greatest activ-
ity. In twenty-four years after the voyage
of Gama, the Portuguese had rendered
themselves masters of Malacca, which
was the centre of the trade of the East.
They had also formed settlements at Goa
and Diu, by which they engrossed the
trade of the Malabar coast. In every
part of India they were received with
respect ; in some they had absolute com-
mand; and they thus rapidly diverted
from its ancient channels the commerce
of India, and were also enabled to import
into Europe the various productions pe-
culiar to that country in greater abun-
dance than had hitherto been effected.
The Venetians now felt that decrease of
their Indian trade which they had dread-
ed. This state of things they were re-
solved to counteract. And, sensible that
their own naval force was inadequate to
the task, they incited the Sultan of the
Mamelukes to fit out a fleet to attack
those unexpected invaders of a monopoly
of which he and they had long enjoyed
imdisturbed possession. But the Portu-
guese were not unprepared to defend
themselves. The formidable squadron

seut out agninst them they encountered
with matchless courage, entirely defeated
it, and became more thoroughly masters
of the Indian Ocean than before. Year
after year, they extended their connection
with the East, till they established there
a commercial empire of great opulence
and extent. And Emanuel, who laid the
foimdation of it, had the satisfaction of
living- to see it almost completed. Every
part of Europe was supplied by the Por-
tuguese with the productions of the East;
and this quarter of the globe had now
little or no intercourse with India, except
by the Cape of Good Hope.

Emanuel, who died in 1522, crowned
with years and glory, was succeeded by
his son John III, a prince who extended
his acquisitions in India, colonized the
Brazils, and effected some salutary im-
provements at home. But the praise, to
which, in other respects, he is entitled,
is much qualified, if not entirely armuUed,
by his introduction of the inquisition : an
event to which, in no mean degree, the
rapid subsequent decline of the Portu-
guese monarchy is to be attributed.
From this date, the Portuguese annals
are distingiiished by nothing that is great
or splendid. Sebastian, who succeeded
John (1557) was, partly from natural dis-
positions, and in part from a defect in his
education, remarkable for rashness, ob-
stinacy, and want of discrimination.
Wishing to distingTiish himself in a war
against the infidels, he undertook two
crusades into Barbary. For this pur-
pose, he levied large armies, he induced
the principal nobility to rally round his
standard, neglected all domestic and in-
ternal improvements, and thus sacrificed
the true interests and hopes of his king-
dom to personal vanity, and the meanest
ambition. And continuing inflexible in
his purpose, in opposition to the impor-
tunities of his allies and more judicious
subjects, he left Lisbon (1578) with a
formidable fleet, and having landed in
Barbary, was met by Muley Moloch, the
Moorish king, and defeated with incred-
ible slaughter, himself slain, and his army
either cut oft" or taken prisoners. By this
signal defeat, the kingdom was at once
exhausted of men, money, and reputa-
tion, and placed in circumstances to be-

534

PORTUGAL.

come an easy prey to the ambition or
rapacity of any state that might wish to
make the attempt. Cardinal Henry, who
succeeded Sebastian, only reigned two
years ; and the male line of the royal
family having become extinct, and the
kingdom being completely devoid of re-
sources for self-defence, Philip II, the
celebrated king of Spain, soon succeeded
in adding it to his paternal dominions,
though various attempts were made by
the people to retain their independence,
and though Elizabeth, queen of England,
fitted out a fleet to drive Philip from the
territories he had so unjustly seized.
The Spanish monarch, however, having,
in opposition to every obstacle, firmly
seated himself on the throne of Portugal,
the Portuguese, roused at length by
many injuries, and a native love of lib-
erty, made a successful insurrection in
1640, expelled the Spaniards from their
territories, and conferred the crown on
the duke of Braganza, a descendant, by
the female line, of the royal family. This
revolution, which forms so important an
era in Portuguese history, being the al-
most unanimous voice of the nation, was
attended with little or no efl^usion of
blood. Nor were all the attempts of the
king of Spain able to regain possession.
A fierce war between the tvi^o kingdoms
raged for many years. Portugal gained
several distinguished victories ; and at
length, in 1668, hostilities were termi-
nated in favor of Portuguese indepen-
dence, through the interposition of Charles
II, king of England, who had married a
princess of Portugal.

Alphonso was successor to the duke
of Braganza, who reigned under the title
of John IV. Alphonso being of a weak
constitution, of great imbecility of mind,
ill-educated, and addicted to mean com-
pany and low pleasures, his mother en-
deavored, by every artifice and intrigue,
to get liim deprived of the crown, which
she meant to place on the head of his
younger brother Don Peter. This she
was unable to accomplish ; but after her
death, Alphonso, from various circum-
stances, was compelled to sign a resig-
nation of the kingdom, and his brother
Avas declared regent, and invested Avith
all the powers of royalty. Alphonso's

wife having transferred her affections to
Don Peter, a circumstance which had
led her to induce her husband to submit
to the resignation — their marriage hav-
ing been declared null by the chapter of
Lisbon, and the regent having gained a
papal dispensation, and the consent of
the states, married the lady who had
been his brother's wife. On the death
of Alphonso, the regent succeeded by the
title of Peter II. Peter, having died in
1706, was succeeded by his son John V.
In 1750, on the death of John, Don Jo-
seph ascended the throne, a prince whose
reign, though not distinguished for any
thing enterprising or heroic, is probably
one of the most memorable, but most re-
volting periods in Portuguese history. It
is deeply stained with domestic blood,
and rendered odious by the most shock-
ing cruelty. In 1758, the king was at-
tacked by assassins, and narrowly escaped
with his life. The families of Aveira
and Tavora, in consequence of an accu-
sation, afterwards proved to be unfounded,
exhibited against them, of having con-
spired against his majesty's life, were
cruelly destroyed by torture. On various
pretences execution succeeded execution,
with awful rapidity. An earthquake
overwhelmed the city of Lisbon, and
shook the whole kingdom to its centre.
A famine threatened to accomplish what
this visitation had left undone. And in
addition to these and similar calamities,
the Portuguese dominions were invaded
by Spain with a powerful army ; their
capital threatened ; their prince almost
determined to save himself by flight;
evils from which they could not have
been saved, had not England interposed
to bring about a peace, Avhich was con-
cluded in 1763. During this reign the
management of public affairs was in the
hands of the celebrated marquis de Pom-
bal, a minister of unbounded authority,
which he not unfrequently directed to
the most cruel and arbitrary proceedings,
and whose removal from office, in the
subsequent reign, excited joy throughout
all ranks of the community.

Joseph, who died in 1777, having left
no sons, was succeeded by his daughter
Mary, whom he had married, by dispen-
sation from the pope, to Don Peter, her

PORTUGAL.

535

uncle, with a view of preventing the
crown from falling into a foreign family.
The queen having fallen into a state of
religious melancholy, the prince of Brazil
published an edict (1792) declaring that
as his mother, from her unhappy situa-
tion, was incapable of managing the af-
fairs of government, he would place his
signature to public papers, till the return
of her health, but that no other change
should take place in consequence of her
indisposition. From this unhappy state
she was doomed never to recover. She
attained, however, to very advanced
years, and at her death was succeeded
by her son. In the beginning of the war
with France, Portugal took a feeble part
conjunctly with England and Spain ; but
after Spain had made peace with France,
a war took place between the former
country and Portugal, which, however,
was productive of no very important
events, and which was terminated by
treaty in 1801. On the rupture of the
peace of Amiens, and the renewal of the
French war, Portugal remained for some
rime neutral ; but having, at length, de-
termined in favor of France, she advanc-
ed, from time to time, large sums of
money to that power, and at last went so
far as to order her ports to be shut against
the ships of war and merchant vessels
of England. She now found herself
placed in peculiar and extremely danger-
ous circumstances — virtually at war with
Great Britain, a power Avith which she
had for centuries been intimately con-
nected, whose friendship had often avert-
ed from her impending ruin, and from
whose hostility she had every thing to
dread — and leagued with France, her
ancient enemy, in whom she could place
no confidence, and whose armies, having
invaded Spain, were rapidly advancing
to Lisbon, to possess or to destroy it. In
such circumstances the government hesi-
tated long what steps to adopt. Distrust-
ful of Bonaparte, expecting no assistance
from any foreign power, and aware that
the internal resources of the nation were
inadequate to its defence, the royal fam-
ily of Braganza abandoned a kingdom
which they could not defend, and emi-
grated to Brazil. In November, 1807,
they sailed from the Tagus, in a fleet of

eight sail of the line, carrying with them
about 18,000 Portuguese subjects, in-
cluding many persons of distinction. And
from this period, Rio de Janeiro, the cap-
ital of Brazil, may be regarded as the
seat of the Portuguese government. On
the removal of the royal family the coun-
cils of state attended them ; and the king
was represented in Lisbon by a regency,
and the councils by committees ; and no
other important alteration took place in
consequence of the departure of the court
to the Brazilian colony.

Nor were the views of the king of
Portugal, in regard to the views of Bona-
parte, unfounded. The French imme-
diately took possession of Lisbon, and
the administration of the new government
was conferred on Jmiot, now dignified
with the title of duke of Abrantes. They
were not, however, allowed long to retain
possession of the Portuguese territories.
England, having resolved to assist Spain
and Portugal in their resistance to French
usurpation, despatched an army to the
latter country, and having defeated the
enemy at Vimeira, compelled them to
evacuate Portugal, by the convention of
Cintra. Portugal, however, was not yet
freed from foreign aggression. The in-
vading armies of France having met with
considerable success in Spain, having
taken Madrid, and forced Sir John Moore
to make a precipitate retreat from the
peninsula, Portugal was again attempted
to be overrun and subdued. Three
armies were collected on its frontiers,
one under marshal Soult, in Gallicia,
another under general Lapisse, at Sala-
manca, and a third on the banks of the
Tagus, under marshal Victor. Had these
armies been concentrated, and placed
under the management of one command-
er, the object the French had in view,
notwithstanding the bravery of the Portu-
guese and the English forces, must soon
have been realized, and Portugal have
fallen a prey to her ambitious and un-
principled invaders. These armies, how-
ever, being thus disunited, — fearing to
be severally committed, and not knowing
the views and operations of each other,—
lost the precious moment for action, in
suspense, inactivity, or petty movements.
Souh, indeed, having entered Portugal

536

PORTUGAL.

on the north, took Chaves and Oporto,
with great slaughter, and gained several
important advantages. Victor and La-
pisse, having, at length, united their
forces, had forced the passage of the
Tagus, and were making rapid advances
towards Lisbon. But this success was
but of short duration. Chaves and Oporto
were soon recaptured. A decisive vic-
tory was gained over Soult on the banks
of the Douro, attended with the loss of
the greater part of his army : and aban-
doning all his artillery and wheel-car-
riages, he was himself obliged to flee be-
yond the frontiers of the kingdom,whither
he was soon followed by Victor and La-
pisse, without having accomplished any
thing, either to undermine in any degree
the resources of Portugal, or afford them
the hope of greater success by a subse-
quent invasion.

Another attempt, however, the French
yet resolved to make. Massena entered
(1810) Portugal, with an army of 72,000
men, which could be opposed only by
about 50,000, one half of Avhich number
was composed of young Portuguese levies,
devoid of skill or experience. Almeida
was besieged and taken ; Coimbra fell
Avithout opposition ; and the enemy was
thus advancing, with great rapidity, to
the capital. But the British and Portu-
guese armies were not in the mean time
inactive. The route by which Massena
meant to force his way to the capital,
having become apparent, the rival com-
mander placed his forces in such posi-
tions as were most likely to frustrate his
intentions ; all roads that might favor his
progress were destroyed ; cannon were
planted on the most inaccessible parts, to
harass his march ; and the inhabitants
of a district of nearly 2,000 square miles,
on the banks of the Tagus, in the neigh-
borhood of Lisbon, where this defensive
position was taken up, were directed to
retire, with what of their substance they
could convey, and to destroy what could
not be removed, so that no support might
be afforded the army of the enemy. And
these precautionary steps were attended
with complete success. So soon as the
French general came within sight of the
formidable works by which he was to be
opposed, he made an instant halt, struck

with dismay and astonislunent ; and hav-
ing remained without any movement foi
a month, (during which time he was
much harassed by the irregidar Portu-
guese troops,) he retrograded towards
Santarem. He was followed by the
British to Cartaxo, where the two armies
remained in sight of each other, for nearly
five months, without coming to any de-
cisive engagement. The English, in
the mean time, received abundant sup-
plies of provisions from Lisbon ; while
the French, after having exhausted the
country in their rear, were experiencing
scarcity and famine to such a degree,
that their ranks were rapidly thinning
with hunger. From this circumstance,
and with a loss of 30,000 men, they were
obliged to retreat ingloriously to Spain,
in a state of the most squalid and ghastly
wretchedness. Nor was the condition
of those Portuguese less miserable, who,
driven from their homes, had retired into
the woods or mountains, where they were
doomed to spend the winter months, with-
out shelter, in the open air, subsisting
merely on roots and herbs. Many of
them died in consequence of their suffer-
ings ; while those who survived returned
to their desolate homes, with bodies
emaciated from hunger, and with intel-
lects impaired by the fears and miseries
of their unhappy and perilous situation.
The French, having received some re-en-
forcements at Salamanca, returned again
to Portugal, to prevent Almeida from fall-
ing into the hands of the British ; but
having completely failed in the attempt,
they found it necessary soon to retreat —
and with this expedition the scene of war
closed in Portugal ; for though some por-
tions of the frontier districts were after-
wards included in the theatre of hostili-
ties, yet the subsequent events belong
rather to the history of Spain than of
Portugal.

Though Portugal, after the battle of
Waterloo, and the dissolution of the gov-
ernment of Bonaparte, enjoyed external
peace, the state of the country was by no
means tranquil. Symptoms of dissatis-
faction, indeed, soon became manifest.
The absence of the court, the little influ-
ence enjoyed by the regency, the urgent
calls for money from the provinces, a

PORTUGAL.

537

large standing army, and its command,
in a great degree, continued in foreign
hands, formed the most powerful circum-
stances that led to the convulsions that
were soon to ensue. Portugal felt that
the order of nature was inverted, and that
the parent state had become a dependant
on her own colony. Conspiracy was first
manifested in the army. Ten thousand
men, having been ordered to embark for
Brazil, revolted, and showed so much
determination, that the regency was com-
pelled to yield to their wishes. This
was the first step in a revolution, which,
in 1820, gave to Portugal a new aspect,
and whi<;h, much to the honor of the
inhabitants, was efiected without blood-
shed.

The Assembly of the Cortes com-
menced framing a constitution, and a
code of laws ; and while they thus
were employed in promoting the best
interests of the nation, they seemed to
enjoy the afiections and confidence of
the people. This, however, was not
the case ; for, when they had almost
succeeded in establishing the consti-
tution and administration of the king-
dom on the most liberal and enlighten-
ed principles, all their operations were
superseded, and their authority destroyed
by a counter revolution. The revolution
of 1820, indeed, was too fundamental,
too far removed from the previous order
of things, to be permanent. A very lib-
eral system of government cannot be ex-
pected to exist in a country where the
priesthood enjoy such overwhelming rev-
enues and power as in Portugal, and
Avhere this order, the military, and the
officers of state, comprise a fifth of the
male population. The counter revolu-
tion, therefore, which took place in 1823,
and which, like that of 1 820, was achiev-
ed by the n)ilitary, was effected with a
facility which evinces that the liberal
institutions, which the Cortes had estab-
lished, had little or no hold on the affec-
tions of the great mass of the people.
This change, howeA^er, was owing, not
more to the prejudices and sympathies
of the nation reverting to the dynasty
imder which they had been educated,
than to the personal character of the
monarch, a moderate and humane prince,

who had returned from Brazil in 1820,
to endeavor, by his presence, to coun-
teract the innovations which were then
introduced. The revolution of 1 823 was
also accomplished without bloodshed ;
in every part of the kingdom, it was
brought about by the intervention of the
military, but without the least appearance
of violence or hesitation ; and yet so
rapidly was the measure efiected, that,
though the first steps in it were taken on
the 29th of May, John made his public
entry into Lisbon on the 5th of June, as
the absolute and uncontrollable head of
the new constitution.

King John died at Lisbon in 1826, and
Pedro his son, the emperor of Brazil,
was the successor to the throne of Por-
tugal. As soon as Pedro heard of his
father's death, he declared his determin-
ation to remain in Brazil, and to abdicate
the throne of Portugal in favor of his
daughter. Donna Maria de Gloria, (who
was born in 1819,) on condition that his
brother Don Miguel, the king's youngest
son, should marry her, and that a free
constitution should be adopted as con-
tained in a charter which he sent over
from Brazil. The legal part of the mar-
riage ceremony was actually performed
at Vienna, and to Don Miguel wore com-
mitted full powers to act as regent of
Portugal on behalf of his niece and bride.
Miguel who resided at Vienna, returned
to Lisbon in the spring of 1828, having
first visited Paris and London, at both
which places he professed his determina-
tion to adhere to the constitution. His
professions, however, were insincere ;
for in a short time he altered his title of
regent to that of king. Pedro, exasper-
ated at the perfidy of his brother, abdi-
cated the throne of Brazil in favor of his
son Don Pedro d' Alcantara, then eight
years old, and embarked on board of an
English frigate. The affairs of his daugh-
ter were at this time in a desperate state ;
the aboi-tive attempts of the patriots of
Oporto had altogether failed, and the
reign of Don Miguel was established
with the apparent consent of the people
so firmly, that little hope remained of
shaking it. A gleam had appeared in
the unexpected capture of the island of
Terceira, which proved the harbinger of

538

ROME.

success. An expedition from thence
landed at Oporto, where the arrival of
Don Pedro, at this critical time, infused
fresh liopes. The contest at that town
and its vicinity was tedious ; hut at length,
after considerahle perseverence and en-
ergy, Pedro succeeded in reaching Lis-
bon on the 28th of July, 1833, establish-

ed himself there as regent to his daughter,
and on the 2'2nd of September she also
arrived, and was formally acknowledged
as constitutional queen of Portugal. Pe-
dro having established his daughter's
throne, died suddenly at Lisbon in Sep-
tember 1834, in the thirty-sixth year
of his ase.

ROME

Although we cannot conjecture with
certainty as to the era when Italy was
first peopled, we have every reason to
believe that it was inhabited by a refined
and cultivated nation many ages before
the Roman name was known. These
were the Etruscans, of whom there exist at
this day monuments in the fine arts, which
prove them to have been a splendid, lux-
urious, and highly polished people. Their
alphabet resembling the Phoenician, dis-
poses us to believe them of eastern ori-
gin. The Roman historians mention
them as a powerful and opulent nation
long before the origin of Rome.

The rest of Italy was divided among
a number of independent tribes or na-
tions, comparatively in a rude and uncul-
tivated state ; Umbriams, Ligurians, Sa-
bines, Veientes, Latins, ^Equi, Volsci, &c .
Ijatium, a territory of fifty miles in length
and sixteen in breadth, contained forty-
seven independent cities or states.

The origin of the city and state of Rome
is involved in great uncertainty. Diony-
sius supposes two cities of that name to
have existed, and to have perished before
the foundation of the city built by Romu-
lus. The vulgar account of the latter is,
that it was founded 752 B. C. by a troop
of shepherds or banditti, who peopled their
new city by carrying off the wives and
daughters of their neighbors the Sabines.

The great outlines of tlie first consti-
tution of the Roman government, though
generally attributed to the political abili-
ties of Romulus, seem to have a natural
foundation in the usages of barbarous na-
tions. Other institutions bear the traces
of political skill and positive enactment.

Romulus is said to have divided his
people into three tribes, and each tribe
into ten curiee. The lands he distributed
into three portions ; one for the support
of the government, another for the main-
tenance of religion, and the third he di-
vided into equal portions of two acres
to each Roman citizen. He instituted a
senate of 100 members, (afterwards in-
creased to 200,) who deliberated on and
prepared all public measures for the as-
sembly of the people, in whom was vest-
ed the right of determination. The Pa-
trician families were the descendants of
those centum patres.

The king had the nomination of the
senators, the privilege of assembling the
people, and a right of appeal in all ques-
tions of importance. He had the com-
1 mand of the army, and the office of Pon-
I tifex Maximus. He had, as a guard,
twelve lictors, and a troop of horsemen
I named Celeres or Equit.es, afterwards
! the distinct order of the Roman knights.
I These regulations are of positive institu-
: tion ; others arose naturally from the state
I of society.

I The patri potestas is of the latter na-
', ture, being common to all barbarous
I tribes. The limitation of all arts to the
I slaves arose from the constant employ-
j ment of the citizens in warfare or in
agriculture.

The connection of patron and client
was an admirable institution, which at
once united the citizens, and maintained
a useful subordination.

The Sabines were the most formidable
enemy of the early Romans ; and a wise
policy united for a whiiC the two nations

ROME.

539

into one state. After the death of Romu-
lus, who reigned thirty-seven years, Nu-
ma, a Sabine, was elected king. His
disposition was pious and pacific, and he
endeavored to give his people the same
character. He pretended to divine in-
spiration, in order to give the greater au-
thority to his laws, which in themselves
were excellent. He multiplied the na-
tional gods, built temples, and instituted
different classes of priests, Flamines,
Salii, Sic, and a variety of religious cere-
monies. The Flamines officiated each
in the service of a peculiar deity ; the
Salii guarded the sacred bucklers ; the
Vestals cherished the sacred fire ; the
Augurs and Aruspices divined future
events from the flight of birds, and the
entrails of victims. The temple of Ja-
nus was open in war, and shut during |
peace. Numa reformed the calendar, '
regulating the year at twelve lunar
months, and distinguished the days for j
civil occupation from those dedicated to '
religious rest. Agriculture was lawful
on the latter, as a duty of religion. Nu- :
ma reigned forty-three years. j

TuUus Hostilius, the third king of
Rome, of warlike disposition, subdued
the Albans, Fidenates, and other neigh-
boring states. The Sabines, now dis- ;
united from the Romans, were among the
most powerful of their enemies. TuUus
reigned thirty-three years. ;

Ancus Martins, the grandson of Numa,
was elected king on the death of Tullus.
He inherited the piety and virtues of his
grandfather, and joined to these the ta-
lents of a warrior. He increased the
population of Rome, by naturalizing some
of the conquered states ; enlarged and
fortified the city, and built the port of
Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber. He
reigned gloriously twenty-four years. '

Tarquinius Priscus, a cuizen of Corinth,
popular from his wealth and liberality,
was elected to the vacant throne. He
enlarged the senate by 100 new members
from the Plebeian families. This body
consisted now of 300, at which number
it remained for some centuries. Tarquin
was victorious in his wars, and he adorn-
ed and improved the city with works of
utility and magnificence. Such were
the Circus or Hippodrome ; the walls of ,

hewn stone ; the Capitol ; the Cloacae,
those immense common sewers, which
lead to the belief that the new Rome had
been buih on the ruins of an ancient city
of greater magnitude. Tarquinius was
, assassinated in the tliirty-eighth year of
his reign.

Servius Tullius, who had married the
daughter of Tarquinius, secured by his
own address, and the intrigues of his
mother-in-law, his election to the vacant
throne. He courted popularity by acts
of munificence ; discharging the debts
of the poor, dividing among the citizens
his patrimonial lands, improving the city
with useftd edifices, and extending its
boundaries. The new arrangement which
he introduced in the division of the Ro-
man citizens, is a proof of much politi-
cal ability, and merits attention, as on it
depended many of the revolutions of the
Republic.

From the time that the Romans had
admitted the Albans and Sabines to the
rights of citizens, the Urban and Rustic
tribes were composed of those three na-
tions. Each tribe being divided into ten
curicB, and every curia having an equal
vote in the Comitia, as each individual
had in his tribe, all questions were deci-
ded by the majority of suffrages. There
was no pre-eminence between the curuB,
and the order in which they gave their
votes, was determined by lot. This was
a reasonable constitution, so long as the
fortunes of the citizens were nearly on a
par; but, when riches came to be unequal-
ly divided, it was obvious that much in-
convenience must have arisen from this
equal partition of power, as the rich
could easily, by bribery, command the
suffrages of the poor. Besides, all the
taxes had hitherto been levied by the
head, without any regard to the inequali-
ty of fortunes. These obvious defects
furnished to Servius a just pretext for an
entire change of system. His plan was,
to remove the poorer citizens from all
share of the government ; while the
burden attending its support should fall
solely on the rich.

All the citizens were required, under
a heavy penalty, to declare upon oath
their names, dwellings, number of their
children, and amount of their fortune.

540

ROME.

After this numeration or census, Servius
divided the whole citizens, without dis-
tinction, into four tribes, named, from the
quarters where they dwelt, the Palatine,
Suburran, Collatine, and Esquiline. Be-
sides this local division, Servius distribu-
ted the whole people into six classes,
and each class into several centuries or
portions of citizens, so called, not as ac-
tually consisting of a hundred, but as be-
ing obliged to furnish and maintain 100
men in time of war In the first class,
which consisted of the richest citizens, or
those who were worth at least 100 mino',*
there were no less than ninety-eight cen-
turies. In the second class, (those worth
75 minoi,) there were twenty-two centu-
ries. In the third, (those worth 50 mi-
n<B,) were twenty centuries. In the fourth,
(those worth 25 min<s,) twenty-two centu-
ries. In the fifth, (those worth \2minm,)
thirty centuries. The sixth, the most
numerous of the whole, comprehending
all the poorer citizens, furnished only
one century. Thus the whole Roman
people were divided into 193 centuries,
or portions of citizens, so called, as fur-
rushing each a hundred soldiers. The
sixth class was declared exempt from all
taxes. The other classes, according to
the number of centuries of which they
consisted, were rated for the public bur-
dens at so much for each century.

The poor had no reason to complain
of this arrangement ; but something was
wanting to compensate the rich for the
burdens to which they were subjected.
For this purpose Servius enacted, that
henceforth the Comitia should give their
votes by centuries ; the first class, con-
sisting of ninety-eight centuries, always
voting first. Thus, although the whole
people were called to the Comitia, and
all seemed to have an equal suffrage,
yet, in reality, the richer classes deter-
mined every question, the sufl^rage of the
poor being merely nominal ; for as the
whole people formed 193 centuries, and
the first and second classes contained
120 of these, if they were unanimous,
which generally happened in questions
of importance, a majority was secured.
Thus, in the Comita Centuriata, in which

♦ About £300 «terling.

the chief magistrates were elected, peace
and war decreed, and all other important
business discussed, the richer classes
of the citizens had the sole authority,
the votes of the poor being of no avail.
And such was the ingenuity of this poli-
cy, that all were pleased with it: the rich
paid their taxes with cheerfulness, as
the price of their power ; and the poor
; gladly exchanged authority for immuni-
ties. The census, performed every five
i j^ears, was closed by a lustrum, or expi-
atory sacrifice ; and hence that period of
lime was called a lustrum.

Servius was assassinated after a reign
of forty-four years, by his infamous
daughter TuUia, married to Tarquinius,
the grandson of Priscus, who thus paved
the way for his own elevation to the
throne. The government of Tarquin,
surnamed the proud, was systematically
tyrannical. He ingratiated himself with
the lower orders, to abase by their means
the power of the higher ; but insolent,
rapacious, and cruel, he finally disgusted
all ranks of his subjects. A rape com-
mitted by his son Sextus, on Lucretia,
the wife of Collatinus, who, unable to
survive her dishonor, stabbed herself in
presence of her husband and kindred,
roused their vengeance, and procured, by
their influence with their countrymen,
the expulsion of the tyrant, and the utter
abolition of the regal dignity at Rome,
509 B. C.

The whole structure of the constitu-
tion of the Romans under the monarchy .
has been by most authors erroneously at-
tributed exclusively to the abilities of
Romulus, a youth of eighteen, the leader
of a troop of shepherds or banditti.
This chimerical idea we owe to Diony-
sius of Halicarnassus. The truth is,
the Roman government, like almost eve-
ry other, was the gradual result of cir-
cumstances ; the fruit of time, and of
political emergency.

The constitution of the Roman senate
has occasioned considerable research,
and is not free from obscurity. It is pro-
bable that the kings had the sole right
of naming the senators, that the consuls
succeeded them in this right, and after-
wards, when these magistrates found too
much occupation from the frequent wars

ROME,

541

in which the state was engaged, that
privilege devolved on the censors. The
senators were at first always chosen from
the body of the Patricians, but afterwards
the Plebeians acquired an equal title to
that dignity. In the early periods of the
republic, the people could not be as-
sembled but by the senate's authority ;
nor were the plebiscita of any weight till
confirmed by their decree. Hence the
early constitution of the republic was ra-
ther aristocratical than democratical. —
From this extensive power of the senate,
the firs! diminution was made, by the cre-
ation of the Tribunes of the people ;
and other retrenchments successively
took place, till the people acquired at
length the predominant power in the
state. Yet the senate, even after every
usurpation on their authority, continued
to have, in many points, a supremacy.
They regulated all matters regarding reli-
gion ; they had the custody of all the pub-
lic treasure ; they superintended the con-
duct of all magistrates ; they gave au-
dience to ambassadors, decided on the
fate of vanquished nations, disposed of
the governments of the provinces, and
took cognizance, by appeal, in all crimes
against the state. In great emergencies
they appointed a Dictator, with absolute
authority.

At the period of the abolition of the
regal government, the territory of the
Romans was extremely limited. The
only use they made of their victories was
to naturalize the inhabitants of some of
the conquered states, and so increase
their population. Thus their strength
being always superior to their enterpri-
ses, they laid a solid foundation for the
future extension of their empire.

In the accounts given by historians of
the strength of the armies, both of the
Romans in those early times, and of the
neighboring states their enemies, we
have every reason to believe there is
much exaggeration. The territories from
which those armies were furnished, were
incapable of supplying them.

In the continual wars in which the
republic was engaged, the Romans were
most commonly the aggressors. The
causes of this seem to have been the
ambition of the consxils to distinguish

their short administration by some splen-
did enterprise, and the wish of the sen-
ate to give the people occupation, to
prevent intestine disquiets.

The regal government subsisted 244
years, and in that lime only seven kings
reigned, several of Avhom died a violent
death. These circumstances throw doubt
on the authenticity of this period of the
Roman history. It is allowed that, for
the five first centuries after the building
of Rome there were no historians. The
first is Fabius Pictor, who lived during
the second Punic war. Livy says that al-
most all the ancient records were destroy-
ed when Rome was taken by the Gauls.

Rome under the consuls. — There-
gal government being abolished, it was
agreed to commit the supreme authority
to two magistrates, who should be annu-
ally elected by the people from the Patri-
cian order. To these they gave the name
of Consules ; " a modest title, (says Ver-
tot,) which gave to understand that they
were rather the coimsellors of the repub-
lic than its sovereigns ; and that the only
point they ought to have in view was its
preservation and glory." But, in fact, their
authority differed in scarcely any thing
from that of the kings. They had the su-
preme administration of justice, the dis-
posal of the public money, the power of
convoking the senate, and assembling the
people, raising armies, naming all the
officers, and the right of making peace
and war. The only difference was, that
their authority was limited to a year.

The first consuls were Brutus and
Collatinus, the husband of Lucretia.
Tarquin was at this time in Etruria, where
he got two of the most powerful cities,
Veii and Tarquinii, to espouse his cause.
He had likewise his partisans at Rome ;
and a plot was formed to open the gates
to receive him. It was detected ; and
Brutus had the mortification to find his
two sons in the number of the conspi-
rators. He condemned them to be be-
headed in his presence.

The consul Valerius, successful in an
engagement with the exiled Tarquin, was
the first Roman who enjoyed the splen-
did reward of a triumph. Arrogant from
his recent honors, his popularity began to
decline ; and in the view of recovering

542

ROME.

it, he proposed the law, termed from him
the Valerian, which "permitted any cit-
izen who had been condemned to death
by a magistrate, or even to banishment
or scourging, to appeal to the people, and
required their consent previously to the
execution of the sentence." This law
gave the first blow to the aristocracy, in
the constitution of the Roman republic.

For thirteen years after the expulsion
of Tarquin, the Romans were involved
in contmual wars on his account. Of
these the most remarkable was that with
the Etrurians under Porsenna ; a war
fertile in exploits of romantic heroism.

Soon after this period began those do-
mestic disorders, which continued long
to embroil the republic. Great com-
plaints had arisen among the poorer
classes of the citizens, both on account
of the inequality of property from the
partial distribution of the conquered lands,
which the higher ranks generally contri-
ved to engross to themselves, and from
the harsh policy by which it was in the
power of creditors to reduce to a state of
slavery their insolvent debtors. As there
was no legal restraint on usury, the poor,
when once reduced to the necessity of
contracting debts, were left entirely at
the mercy of their creditors. These
grievances, felt in common by a large
proportion of the citizens, excited much
discontent, which, from complaints long
disregarded, grew at length into a spirit
of determined resistance. The wars re-
quired new levies; and the plebeians po-
sitively refused to enrol their names, un-
less the senate should put an end to their
oppression, by decreeing at once an abo-
lition of all the debts due by the poor to
the rich. The emergency was critical,
as the enemy was at the gates of Rome.
The consuls found their authority of no
avail ; for the Valerian law had given
any citizen condemned by them a right of
appeal to the people. An extraordinary
measure was necessary, and a dictator
was created for the first time ; a magis-
trate who, for the period of six months,
was invested with absolute and unlimited
authority. Lartius, nominated to this
high office, armed the twenty-four lictors
with axes, summoned the whole people
to the Comitia, and calling over the

names, under the penalty of death to any
citizen who should dare to murmur, en-
rolled all such as he judged most fit for
the service of their country. This ex-
pedient became henceforward a frequent
and certain resource in all seasons of
public danger.

The death of Tarquin removed one
check against the tyranny of the higher
over the lower orders ; for the latter had
hitherto kept alive a salutary apprehen-
sion, that, in case of extreme oppression,
they would be under the necessity of
calling back their king. When this fear
was at an end, the domineering spirit of
the Patricians, exceeding every bound
both of good policy and humanity, drove
the people at length to deeds of mutiny
and rebellion. An alarm from the enemy
gave full weighttotheir power, and made
the chief magistrates of the state solemn-
ly engage their honor to procure a redress
of their grievances, as soon as the public
danger was at an end. The promise, ei-
ther from a failure of will or of power,
was not fulfilled, and this violation of
faith drove the people at length to ex-
tremities. Bound by their military oath
not to desert their standards, they carried
them along with them ; and the whole
army in military array, withdrew from
Rome, and deliberately encamped on the
Mons Sacer, at three miles distance from
the city ; and here they were soon joined
by the greatest part of the people. This
resolute procedure had its desired effect.
The senate deputed ten persons, the most
respectable of their order, with plenary
powers ; and these, seeing no medium of
compromise, granted to the people all
their demands. The debts were solemnly
abolished ; and for the security of their
privileges in future, they were allowed
the right of choosing magistrates of their
own order, who should have the power of
opposing with effect every measure
which they should judge prejudicial to
their interests. These were the Tribunes
of the people, chosen annually ; at first
five in number, and afterwards increased
to ten. Without guards or tribunal, and
having no seat in the senate house, they
had yet the power, by a single veto, to
suspend or annul the decrees of the sen-
ate and the sentences of the consuls

ROME.

543

Their persons were declared sacred, but
iheir authority was confined to the limits
of a mile from the city. The tribunes de-
manded and obtained two magistrates to
assist them, who were termed iEdiles,
from the charge committed to them of
the buildings of the city.

From this era, (260 years from the
foundation of Rome,) we date the com-
mencement of the popular constitution
of the Roman republic ; a change oper-
ated by the unwise policy of the patri-
cians themselves, who, by yielding to
just complaints, and humanely redressing
flagrant abuses, might have easily antici-
pated every ground of dissatisfaction.
The first wish of the people Avas not
power, but relief from tyranny and op-
pression ; and had this been readily
granted them, if not by abolishing the
debt, at least by repressing enormous
usury, and putting an end to the inhuman
right of corporal punishment and the bon-
dage of debtors, the people would have
cheerfully returned to order and submis-
sion, and the Roman constitution have
long remained what we have seen it
was at the commencement of the con-
sular government, aristocratical. But the
plebeians now obtaining magistrates of
their own order with those high pow-
ers, we shall see it become the object
of these magistrates to increase their
authority by continual demands and en-
croachments.

The disorders of the commonwealth,
appeased by the creation of the tribunes,
were but for a time suspended. It was
necessary that the popular magistrates
should make an experiment of their
powers. In an assembly of the people,
one of the consuls, interrupted by a tri-
bune, rashly said that had the tribunes
called that assembly, he would not have
internipted them. This was a conces-
sion on the part of the consuls, that the
tribunes had the power of assembling
the Comitia, which from that moment
they assumed as their acknowledged
right. It was a consequence of this
right, that the affairs of the common-
wealth should be agitated in those meet-
ings, equally as in the assemblies held
in virtue of a consular summons, or sen-
atorial decree, and thus there were, in a

manner, two distinct legislative powers
established in the republic.

The trial of Coriolanus for inconsid-
erately proposing the abolition of the Tri-
bunate, an offence interpreted to be trea-
son against the state, threw an additional
weight into the scale of the people. The
proposal of an Agrarian law, for the di-
vision of the lands acquired by recent
conquests, resumed at intervals, though
never carried into execution, inflamed
the passions of the rival orders.

Publius Volero, formerly a centurion,
and a man distinguished for his military
services, had, in the new levies, been
ranked as a common soldier. Complain-
ing of this unmerited degradation, he re-
fused his services in that capacity : and
the consuls having condemned him to
corporal punishment, he appealed from
their sentence to the people. The con-
test lasted till the annual term of the elec-
tions, when Volero himself was chosen
a tribune of the people. He had an am-
ple revenge, by procuring the enactment
of a most important law. The Comitia,
by centuries and by curiae, could not be
called but in virtue of a decree of the
senate, after consulting the auspices ;
and in those comitia the tribunes had
hitherto been elected, and the most im-
portant public affairs discussed. It was
decreed by the law of Volero, that the
election of the tribunes should be made,
and the chief public business hencefor-
ward discussed, in the comitia held by
tribes, which were unfettered by any of
those restraints. From this period, th.e
supreme authority in the Roman republic
may be considered as having passed com-
pletely from the higher order into the
hands of the people. The Roman con-
stitution was now plainly a democracy,
471 B. C.

The Decemvirate. — The Romans
had, till thi.s period, no body of civil
laws. Under the regal government the
kings alone administered justice ; the
consuls succeeded them in this high pre-
rogative ; and thus possessed without
control the absolute command of the for-
tunes and civil rights of all the citizens.
To remedy this great defect, Tercntillus,
a tribune, proposed the nomination of ten
commissioners, to frame and digest a

544

ROME.

code of laws for the explanation and se-
curity of the rights of all orders of the
state. A measure so equitable ought to
have met with no opposition. It was,
however, strenuously though ineffectual-
ly opposed by the patricians, who, by a
fruitless contest, only exposed their own
weakness. The decemviri were chosen ;
but the election being made in the Comi-
tia by centuries, the consul Appius Clau-
dius, with his colleague, were at the head
of this important commission. The laws
were framed, those celebrated statutes
known by the name of the Twelve Tables,
which are the basis of the great structure
of the Roman jurisprudence, 451 B. C.

The decemvirs were invested with all
the powers of government, for the con-
sulate had ceased on their creation.
Each decemvir by turn presided for a
day, and had the sovereign authority, with
its insignia, the fasces. The nine others
officiated solely as judges in the deter-
mination of law-suits, and the correction
of abuses. An abuse, however, of the most
flagrant nature, committed by the chief of
their own number, was destined speedily
to bring their office to its termination.

Appius Claudius, inflamed by lawless
passion for the young Virginia, the be-
trothed spouse of Icilius, formerly a tri-
bune of the people, employed a profli-
gate dependent to claim the maiden as
his own property, on the false pretence
of her being the daughter of one of his
female slaves. The claim was made to
the decemvir himself in judgment, who
pronounced an infamous decree, which
tore from her family this helpless victim,
and put her into the hands of his own
minion. Her father, to save the honor
of his child, plunged a dagger into her
breast ; and the people, witnesses of this
shocking scene, would have massacred
Appius on the spot, had he not found !
means to escape amidst the tumult. —
Their vengeance, however, was satiated
by the instant abolition of this hated ma-
gistracy, and by the death of Appius, I
who chose by his own hand to prevent I
the stroke of the executioner. The de-
cemvirate had subsisted for three years. !
The consuls were now restored, together [
with the tribunes of the people, 449 B. C.
The scale of the people was daily I

I acquiring weight, at the expense of that
' of the highest order. Two barriers,
j however, still separated the patricians
and plebeians ; the one, a law which pre-
vented their intermarriage, and the other,
the constitutional limitation of all the
higher ofiices to the order of the patri-
cians. It was now only necessary to
remove these restraints, and the patri-
cians and plebeians were on a footing of
perfect equality. The first, after a long
but fruitless contest, was at length agreed
to by the senate ; and this concession
had its usual effect of stimulating the
people to inflexible perseverance in their
struggle for the latter. On an emergence
of war, the customary device was prac-
tised, of refusing to enter the rolls, un-
less upon the immediate enactment of a
law, which should admit their capacity
of holding all the offices of the republic.
The senate sought a palliative, by the
creation of six military tribunes in lieu
of the consuls, three of whom should be
patricians, and three plebeians. This
measure satisfied the people for a time ;
the consuls, however, were soon restored.

The disorders of ■ the republic, and
frequent wars, had interrupted the regu-
lar survey of the citizens. This was
remedied by the creation of a new ma-
gistracy. Two officers, under the title
of Censors were appointed (437 B. C.)
Avhose duty was not only to make the
census every five years, but to inspect
the morals and regulate the duties of all
the chizens ; an office of dignity equal
to its importance, exercised in the latter
times of the republic, only by consular
persoi)s, and afterwards annexed to the
supreme function of the emperors.

The dissensions between the orders
continued with little variation either in
their causes or effects. The people gen-
erally, as the last resource, refused to
enrol themselves, till overawed by the
supreme authority of a dictator. To ob-
viate the frequent necessity of this mea-
sure, which enforced at best an unwilling
and compelled obedience, the senate had
recourse to a wise expedient ; this was,
to give a regular pay to the troops. To
defray this expense, a moderate tax was
imposed in proportion to the fortunes of
the citizens. From this period the Ro-

ROME.

545

man system of war assumed a new as-
pect. The senate always found soldiers
at command ; the army was under its
control ; the enterprises of the republic
were more extensive, and its successes
more signal and important. Veii, the
proud rival of Rome, and its equal in ex-
tent and population, was taken by Camil-
lus, after a siege of ten years. The art
of war was improved, as it now became
a profession, instead of an occasional oc-
cupation. The Romans were from this
circumstance an over-match for all their
neighbors. Their dominion, hitherto con-
fined to the territory of a few miles, was
now rapidly extended. It was impossi-
ble but the detached states of Italy must
have given way before a people always
in arms, and who by a perseverance
alike resolute and judicious, were equal
to every attempt in which they engaged.

The taking of Veii was succeeded by
a war with the Gauls. This people, a
branch of the great nation of the Celta;,
had opened themselves a passage through
the Alps at four different periods, and
were at this time established in the coun-
try between those mountains and the Ap-
penines. Under the command of Bren-
nus, they laid siege to the Etruscan Clu-
sium ; and this people, of no warlike
turn themselves, solicited the aid of the
Romans. The circumstances recorded
of this war with the Gauls throw over it
a cloud of fable and romance. The for-
midable power of Rome is said to have
been in a single campaign so utterly ex-
hausted, that the Gauls entered the city
without resistance, and burnt it to the
ground, 385 B. C. Though thus over-
powered, the Romans, in a single en-
gagement, retrieve all their losses, and
in one day's time there is not a Gaul left
remaining within the Roman territory.

To the burning of the city by the
Gauls, the Roman writers attribute the
loss of all the records and monuments
of their early history.

It is singular, that most of the Roman
revolutions should have owed their origin
to women. From this cause we have
seen spring the abolition of the regal
office and the decemvirate. From this
cause arose the chaiige of the constitu-
tion, by which the plebeians became ca-
69

pable of holding the highest offices of
the commonwealth. The younger daugh-
ter of Fabius Ambustus, married to a
plebeian, envious of the honors of her
elder sister, the wife of a patrician, stim-
ulated her father to rouse the lower order
to a resolute purpose of asserting their
equal right with the patricians to all the
offices and dignities of the state. After
much turbulence and contest, the final
issue was the admission of the plebeians,
first to the consulate, and afterwards to
the censorship, the praetor ship, and
priesthood, (B. C. 300 ;) a change bene-
ficial in the main, as consolidating the
strength of the republic, and cutting off
the principal source of intestine disorder.
The factions of the state had hitherto
confined the growth of its power, its
splendor, and prosperity ; for no state
can at once be prosperous and anarchi-
cal. We shall now mark the rapid ele-
vation of the Roman name and empire.

The war with the Samnites now began,
and was of long continuance ; but its
successful termination was speedily fol-
lowed by the reduction of all the states
of Italy. In the course of this important
war, the Tarentines, the allies of the
Samnites, sought the aid of Pyrrhus,
king of Epirus, one of the greatest gen-
erals of his age. Pyrrhus landed in Italy
with 30,000 men, and a train of elephants,
280 B. C. He was at first successful,
but no longer so than till a short expe-
rience reconciled the Romans to a new
mode of war. Sensible at length of the
difficulties of his enterprise, and dreading
a fatal issue, he embraced an invitation
from the Sicilians to aid them in a war
with Carthage. On this pretext, which
at least was not dishonorable, Pyrrhus
withdrew his troops from Italy. In this
interval the Romans reduced the Sam-
nites, the Tarentines, and the other allied
states, to extremity. Pyrrhus returned,
and made a last eflbrt near Beneventum.
He was totally defeated, lost 26,000 men,
and, abandoning at once all farther views
on Italy, returned with precipitation to
his own dominions, 274 B. C. The hos-
tile states submitted to the victorious
power, and Rome, 480 years from the
foundation of the city, was now mistress
of all Italy.

546

ROME.

The policy observed by the Romans,
with respect to the conquered nations,
was wise and judicious. They removed
to Rome all the leading men of the prin-
cipal conquered cities, admitting these
into the ancient urban and rustic tribes,
and thus soothing the pride of the van-
quished, by giving them an apparent
share in their own domestic government;
"while, in arranging the constitution of the
cities, they lilled their magistracies with
illustrious Romans, whose abilities and
influence were fitted to maintain those
new provinces in allegiance to the Roman
government.

Sicily had long been considered as the
granary of Italy. The Carthaginians at
this time possessed very considerable
settlements in the island, and were am-
bitious of acquiring its entire dominion.
An obvious policy led the Romans to
dispute with them this important acqui-
sition, and gave rise to the Punic wars.

The Punic WARS. — The triumph which
the Romans had obtained over Pyrrhus
seemed to give assurance of success in any
enterprise in which they should engage.
The Mamertines, a people of Campania,
obtained aid from the Romans in an unjus- 1
tillable attempt which they made to seize I
Messina, a Sicilian town allied to Syra- :
cuse. The Syracusans, at first assisted ]
by the Carthaginians, opposed this inva-
sion ; but the former, more alarmed by
the ambitious encroachments of the Car-
thaginians on Sicily, soon repented of
this rash alliance, and joined the Romans
in the purpose of expelling the Cartha-
ginians entirely from the island. In fact,
the Sicilians seem to have had only the
desperate choice of final submission either
to Rome or Carthage. They chose the
former, as the alternative least dishonor-
able ; the Romans had ever been their
friends, the Carthaginians their enemies.

Agrigentum, possessed by the Cartha-
ginians, was taken, after a long siege, by
the joint forces of Rome and Syracuse, !
and a Roman fleet, the first they ever I
had, and equipped in a few weeks, gained :
a complete victory over that of Carthage, |
at this time the greatest maritime power j
in the world, 2G0 B. C. These successes
were followed by the reduction of Corsica
and Sardinia. In the second naval en-

I gagement, the "Romans took from the
! Carthaginians sixty of their ships of war,
I and now resolutely prepared for the in-
I vasion of Africa. The consul Regulus
commanded the expedition. He ad-
! vanced to the gates of Carthage ; and
i such was the general consternation, that
the enemy proposed a capitulation. In-
spirited, however, by a timely aid of
Greek troops under Xantippus, the Car-
thaginians made a desperate eftbrt, and,
defeating the Roman army, made Regu-
lus their prisoner. But, repeatedly de-
feated in Sicily, they were at length
seriously desirous of a peace ; and the
Roman general was sent with their am-
bassadors to Rome to aid the negotiation
under a solemn oath to return to Carthage
as a prisoner, should the treaty fail. It
was rejected at the urgent desire of Re-
gulus himself, who thus sacrificed his
life to what he judged the interest of his
country.

Lilybaeum, the strongest of the Sicilian
towns belonging to Carthage, was taken
after a siege of nine years. After some
alternate successes, two naval battles
won by the Romans terminated the war ;
and Carthage at last obtained a peace, on
the humiliating terms of abandoning to
the Romans all her possessions in Sicily,
the payment of 3,200 talents of silver,
the restitution of all prisoners without
ransom, and a solemn engagement never
to make war against Syracuse or her
allies. The island of Sicily was now
declared a Roman province, though
Syracuse maintained her independent
government.

The peace between Rome and Car-
thage was of twenty-three years duration.
The latter power was recruiting her
strength, and meditating to revenge her
losses and disgrace. The second Punic
war began on the part of the Carthagin-
ians, who besieged Saguntum, a city of
Spain in alliance with the Romans. The
young Hannibal took Saguntum, after a
siege of seven months ; the desperate
inhabitants setting fire to the town, and
perishing amidst the flames. Hannibal
now formed the bold design of carrying
the war into Italy. He provided against
every difficulty, gained to his interest a
part of the Gallic tribes, passed the

ROME.

547

Pyrenees, and finally the Alps, in a toil-
some march of five months and a hall
from his leaving Carthagena ; and arrived
in Italy with 20,000 foot and 6,000 horse.

In the first engagement the Romans
were defeated, and they lost two other
important battles at Trebia and the lake
Thrasymenus. In the latter of these the
consul Flaminius was killed, and his army
cut to pieces. Hannibal advanced to
Cann?e in Apulia; and the Romans there
opposing him with their whole force, a
memorable defeat ensued, in which
40,000 were left dead upon the field, and
amongst these the consul iEmihus, and
almost the whole body of the Roman
knights. Had Hannibal taken advantage
of this great victory, by instantly attacking
Rome, the fate of the republic was inevi-
table ; but he deliberated, and the occa-
sion was lost. The Romans concentra-
ted all their strength ; even the slaves
armed in the common cause, and victory
once more attended the standards of the
republic. Philip, king of Macedon, joined
his forces to the Carthaginians, but, de-
feated by Levinus, speedily withdrew his
assistance. Hannibal retreated before
the brave Marcellus. Syracuse had now
taken part with Carthage, and thus paved
the way for the loss of her own hberty.
Marcellus besieged the city which was
long defended by the inventive genius of
Archimedes, but taken in the third year
by escalade in the night. This event put
an end to the kingdom of Syracuse, which
novir became a part of the Roman province
of Sicily, B. C. 212.

While the war in Italy was prosper-
ously conducted by the great Fabius,
who, by constantly avoiding a general
engagement, found the true method of
weakening his enemy, the younger Scipio
accomplished the entire reduction of
Spain. Asdrubal was sent into Italy to
the aid of his brother Hannibal, but was
defeated by the consul Claudius, and slain
in battle. Scipio, triumphant in Spain,
passed over into Africa, and carried havoc
and devastation to the gates of Carthage.
Alarmed for the fate of their empire, the
Carthaginians hastily recalled Hannibal
from Italy. The battle of Zama decided
the fate of the war, by the utter defeat of
the Carthaginians. They entreated a

' peace which the Romans gave on these
conditions : that the Carthaginians shoidd
abandon Spain, Sicily, and all the islands;
surrender all their prisoners, give up the
whole of their fleet except ten gallies,
pay 10,000 talents, and, in future, under-
take no war without the consent of the
Romans, B. C. 202.

Every thing now concm-red to swell
the pride of the conquerors, and to extend
their dominion. A war with Philip of
Macedon was terminated by his defeat ;
and his son Demetrius was sent to Rome
as a hostage for the payment of a heavy
tribute imposed on the vanquished. A
war with Antiochus, king of Syria, ended
in his ceding to the Romans the whole
of the Lesser Asia. But these splendid
conquests, while they enlarged the em-
pire, were fatal to its virtues, and subver-
sive of the pure and venerable simplicity
of ancient times.

The third Punic war began B. C.
149, and ended in the ruin of Carthage.
An unsuccessful war with the Numidians
had reduced the Carthaginians to great
weakness, and the Romans meanly laid
hold of that opportunity to invade Africa.
Conscious of their utter inability to resist
this formidable power, the Carthaginians
offered every submission, and consented
even to acknowledge themselves the sub-
jects of Rome. The Romans demanded
300 hostages, for the strict performance
of every condition that should be enjoin-
ed by the senate. The hostages were
given ; and the condition required was,
that Carthage itself should be razed to its
foundation. Despair gave courage to this
miserable people, and they determined to
■ die in defence of their native city. But
1 the noble eflbrt was in vain. Carthage
was taken by storm, its inhabitants mas-
sacred, and the city burnt to the ground,
B. C. 146.

The same year was signalized by the
' entire reduction of Greece under the do-
minion of the Romans. This was the
era of the dawn of luxury and taste at
•■ Rome, the natural fruit of foreign wealth,
and an acquaintance with foreign man-
i ners. In the unequal distribution of this
1 imported wealth, the vices to which it
I gave rise, the corruption and venality of
which it became the 'instrument, we see

548

ROME.

the remoter causes of those fatal disorders
to which the republic owed its dissolu-
tion.

The Gracchi and the corruption
OF THE COMMONWEALTH. — At this period
arose Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, two
noble yoiiths, whose zeal to reform the
growing corruptions of the state precipi-
tated them at length into measures de-
structive of all government and social or-
der. Tiberius, the elder of the brothers,
urged the people to assert by force the
revival of an ancient law, for limiting
property in land, and thus abridging the
overgrown estates of the patricians. A
tumult was the consequence, in which
Tiberius, with 300 of his friends were
killed in the forum. This fatal example
did not deter his brother Caius Gracchus,
from pursuing a similar career of zeal or
of ambition. After some successful ex-
periments of his power, while in the office
of tribune, he directed his scrutiny into
the corruptions of the senate, and prevail-
ed in depriving that body of its con-
stitutional control over all the inferior
magistrates of the state. Employing, like
his brother, the dangerous engine of tu-
multuary force, he fell a victim to it him-
self, with 3,000 of his partisans, who
were slaughtered in the streets of Rome.
The tumults attending the sedition of the
Gracchi were the prelude to those civil
disorders which now followed in quick
succession to the end of the common-
wealth.

The circumstances attending the war
with Jugurtha gave decisive proof of the
corruption of the Roman manners. Ju-
gurtha, grandson of Masinissa, sought to
usurp the crown of Numidia by destroy-
ing his cousins, Hicmpsal and Adherbal.
the sons of the last king. He murdered
the elder of the brothers ; and the younger
applying for aid to Rome, Jugurtha bribed
the senate, who declared him innocent
of all culpable act or design, and decreed
to him the sovereignty of half the king-
dom. This operated only as an incen-
tive to his criminal ambition. He de-
clared open war against his cousin, be-
sieged hum in his capital of Cirta, and
finally put him to death. To avert a
threatened war, Jugurtha went in person
to Rome pleaded his own cause in the

senate, and once more by bribery secured
his acquittal from all charge of criminal-
ity. A perseverance, however, in a simi-
lar train of conduct, finally drew on him
the vengeance of the Romans ; and be-
ing betrayed into their hands by his own
father-in-law, he was brought in chains
to Rome, to grace the triumph of the
consul Marius, confined to a dungeon,
and starved to death, B. C. 103.

The ambition of the allied states of
Italy to attain the rights of citizenship
produced the Social war, which ended in
a concession of those rights to such of
the confederates as should return peacea-
bly to their allegiance. This war with
the allies was a prelude to that which
followed between Rome and her own
citizens. Sylla and Marius, rivals, and
thence enemies, were at this time the
leaders of the republic. Sylla, command-
ing in a war against Mithridates, was
superseded, and recalled from Asia. He
refused to obey the mandate ; and found
his army well disposed to support him.
" Let us march to Rome," said they, with
one voice ; " lead us on to avenge the
cause of oppressed liberty." Sylla ac-
cordingly led them on, and they entered
Rome sword in hand ; Marius and his
partisans fled with precipitation from the
city, and Sylla ruled for a while trium-
phant. But the faction of his rival soon
recovered strength. Marius returning to
Italy, and joining his forces to those of
Cinna, his zealous partisan, laid siege to
Rome ; and, while Sylla was engaged in
the Mithridatic war, compelled the city
to absolute submission. After a horrible
massacre of all whom they esteemed
their enemies, Marius and Cinna pro-
claimed themselves consuls without the
formality of an election ; but Marius died
a few days after in a fit of debauch.

After a victorious campaign in Asia,
Sylla returned to Italy, and joined by
Cethegus, Verres, and the young Pom-
pey, gave battle to the party of his ene-
mies, and entirely defeated them. His
entry into Rome was signalized by a
dreadful massacre, and a proscription,
which had for its object the extermina-
tion of every enemy whom he had in Ita-
ly. Elected dictator for an unlimited pe-
riod, he was now without a rival in au-

ROME.

549

thority, and absolute master of the gov-
ernment, which, of course, was substan-
tially no longer a repubUc. In the exer-
cise of his dominion, he deserved more
praise than in the means of acquiring it.
He restored the senate to its judicial au-
thority, regulated the election to all the
important offices of state, and enacted
many excellent laws against oppression,
and the abuse of povver. Finally, he
gave demonstration, if not of a pure con-
science, at least of a magnanimous in-
trepidity of character, by voluntarily re-
signing all command, retiring to the con-
dition of a private citizen, and offering
publicly to give an account of his con-
duct. He died within a short time after
his resignation ; — a man certainly of
great strength of mind, and who had
some of the qualities of an heroic charac-
ter ; but he lived in evil times, when it
was impossible at once to be great and to
be virtuous.

The death of Sylla renewed the civil
war. Ijepidus, a man of mean abilities,
aspired to succeed him in power; and
Pompey^ with superior talents, cherished
the same ambition. While the latter was
employed in the reduction of the revolted
provinces of Asia, the conspiracy of Cat-
aline threatened the entire destruction of
Rome. It was extinguished by the pro-
vident zeal and active patriotism of the
consul Cicero ; and Catahne himself,
with his chief accomplices, were attack-
ed in the field, and defeated by Antonius.
The traitor made a desperate defence,
and died a better death than his crimes
had merited.

Julius Caesar now rose into public no-
tice. Sylla dreaded his abilities and
ambition, and had numbered him among
the proscribed. " There is many a Ma-
rius," said he, " in the person of that
5roung man." He had learned prudence
from the danger of his situation, and ta-
citly courted popularity, without that
show of enterprise which gives alarm to
a rival. While Pompey and Crassus
contended for the command of the Re-
public, Caesar, who knew, that by attach-
ing himself to either rival, he infallibly
made the other his enemy, showed the
reach of his talents by reconciling them,
and thus acquiring the friendship of both.

From favor to their mutual friend, they
agreed to a partition of povver ; and thus
was formed the first Triumvirate. Caesar
was elected consul. He increased his
popularity by a division of lands among
the poorer citizens, and strengthened his
interest with Pompey, by giving him his
daughter in marriage. He had the com-
mand of four legions, and the government
of Transalpine Gaul and lUyria.

The military glory of the republic, and
the reputation of Caesar, were nobly sus-
tained in Gaul. In the first year of his
government he subdued the Helvetii,
who leaving their own country, had at-
tempted to settle themselves in the better
regions of the Roman province. He to-
tally defeated the Germans under Ariovis-
tus, who had attempted a similar inva-
sion. The Belgae, the Nervii, the Celtic
Gauls, the Suevi, Menapii, and other
warlike nations, were all successively
brought under subjection. In the fourth
year of his government, he transported
his army into Britain. Landing at Deal,
he was opposed by the natives with equal
courage and military skill. He gained,
however, several advantages, and binding
the Britons to submission, withdrew, on
the approach of winter into Gaul. He
returned in the following summer with a
greater force, and prosecuting his victo-
ries, reduced a considerable portion of
the island under the Roman dominion,
B. C. 54. But the pressure of affairs in
Italy suspended for a time the progress
of the Roman arms in Britain.

Caesar dreaded the abilities of Cicero,
who had opposed him in his views of
ambition. By the machinations of his
partisans, while himself absent in Gaul,
he procured the banishment of Cicero,
and the confiscation his estates, on the
pretence of illegal measures pursued in
the suppression of the conspiracy of Cat-
aline. During an exile of sixteen months
in Greece, Cicero gave way to a des-
pondency of mind utterly unworthy of the
philosopher. Pompey had abandoned
him, and this ungrateful desertion bore
most heavily upon his mind ; but Pompey
himself in the wane of his reputation,
soon became desirous to prop his own
sinking fortunes by the abilities of Cicero,
and eagerly promoted his recal from ex-

550

ROME.

ile. The death of Crassus, in an expe-
dition against the Parthians, now dissolv-
ed the Triumvirate ; and Cnesar and
Pompey, whose union had no other bond
than interest, began each to conceive sep-
arately the view of undivided dominion.
Progress of thk civii, vi'ars — sk-

COXD TRIUMVIRATE AND FALL OF THE

REPUBLIC. — -The ambition of Cresar and
of Pompey had now evidently the same
object ; and it seemed to be the only
question in those degenerate times, to
which of these aspiring leaders the re-
public should surrender its liberties. The
term of Caesar's government Avas near
expiring ; but to secure himself against
a deprivation of power, he procured a
proposal to be made in the senate by one
of his partisans, which wore the appear-
ance of great moderation, namely, that
Ciesar and Pompey should either both
continue in their governments, or both be
deprived of them, as they were equally
capable of endangering the public hberty
by an abuse of power. The motion
passed, and Ctcsar immediately offered
to resign, on condition that his rival
should do so ; but Pompey rejected the
accommodation ; the term of his govern-
ment had yet several years' duration, and
he suspected the proposal to be a snare
laid for him by Ca;sar. He resolved to
maintain his right by force of arms, and
a civil war was the necessary conse-
quence. The consuls and a great part of
the senate were the friends of Pompey.
Cresar had on his side a victorious army,
consisting of ten legions, and the body
of the Roman citizens, whom he had
won by his liberality. Mark Antony and
Cassius, at that time tribunes of the
people, left Rome and repaired to Caesar's
camp.

The senate apprehensive of his designs,
pronounced a decree, branding with the
crime of parricide any commander who
shovdd dare to pass the Rubicon (the
boundary between Italy and the Gauls)
with a single cohort, without their per-
mission. Cffisar infringed the prohibi-
tion, and marched straight to Rome. —
Pompey, to whom the senate committed
the defence of the state had no army.
He quitted Rome, followed by the con-
suls and a part of the senate, and en-

' deavored hastily to levy troops over all
Italy and Greece ; while Csesar triumph-
antly entered the city amidst the accla-
mations of the people, seized the public
treasury, and possessed himself of the
i supreme authority without opposition.
Having secured the capital of the empire,
he set out to take the held against his en-
emies. The lieutenants of Pompey had
possession of Spain. Csesar marched
thither, and subdued the whole country
in the space of forty days. He returned
I victorious to Rome, where, in his ab-
I sence, he had been nominated dictator,
i In the succeeding election of magistrates
j he was chosen consul, and thus invested
by a double title, with the right of acting
in the name of the republic. Pompey
i had by this time raised a numerous ar-
j my, and Ceesar was anxious to bringhim
: to a decisive engagement. He joined
j him in Illyria, and the first conflict was
of doubtful issue ; but leading on his ar-
my to Macedonia, where they found a
large re-enforcement, he gave battle to
Pompey in the field of Pharsalia, and en-
tirely defeated him. Fifteen thousand
were slain, and 24,000 surrendered them-
selves prisoners to the victor, B. C. 49.

The fate of Pompey was miserable in
the extreme. With his wife Cornelia,
i the companion of his misfortunes, he fled
i to Egypt in a single ship, trusting to the
I protection of Ptolemy, whose father had
owed to him his settlement on the throne.
j But the ministers of this young prince,
I dreading the power of Cfesar, basely
' courted his favor by the murder of his ri-
val. Brought ashore in a small boat by
the guards of the king, a Roman centuri-
on, who had fought under his own ban-
ners, stabbed him, even in the sight of
j Cornelia, and cutting off his head, threw
' the body naked on the sands. Caesar
pursued Pompey to Alexandria, where
' the head of that unhappy man, presented
[ as a grateful offering, gave him the first
intelligence of his fate. He wept, and
turned with horror from the sight. He
caused every honor to be paid to his mem-
ory, and from that time showed the ut-
most beneficence to the partisans of his
j unfortunate rival.

I The sovereignty of Egypt was in dis-
'pute between Ptolemy and his sister

ROME.

551

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Assassination of Julius Cmsar.

Cleopatra. The latter, though married '
to her brother, and joint heir by their !
father's will, was ambitious of undivided
authority ; and Csesar, captivated by her !
charms, decided the contest in favor of
the beauteous queen. A war ensued, in
which Ptolemy was killed, and Egypt
subdued by the Roman arms. In this
war the famous library of Alexandria was
burnt to ashes, B. C. 48. A revolt of the
Asiatic provinces, under Pharnaces the
son of Mithridates, was signally chas-
tised, and the report conveyed by Csesar
to the Roman senate in three words, Veni,
vidi, vici* The conqueror returned to
Rome, which needed his presence ; for
Italy was di^dded, and the partisans of j
Pompey were yet extremely formidable.
His two sons, with Cato and Scipio,
were in arms in Africa. Caesar pursued
them thither, and, proceeding with cau-
tion till secure of bis advantage, defeated
them in a decisive engagement at Thap-
sus. Scipio perished in his passage to
Spain. Cato, shutting himself up in
Utica, meditated a brave resistance ; but
finally, seeing no hope of success, he
determined not to survive the liberties of

* I came, I saw, I conquered.

his country, and fell deliberately by his
own hand. Mauritania was now added
to the number of the Roman provinces,
and Caesar returned to Rome absolute mas-
ter of the empire.

From that moment his attention was
directed solely to the prosperity and hap-
piness of the Roman people. He re-
membered no longer that there had been
opposite parties ; beneficent alike to the
friends of Pompey as to his own. He
labored to reform every species of abuse
or grievance. He introduced order into
every department of the state, defining
the separate rights of all its magistrates,
and extending his care to the regulation
of its most distant provinces. The re-
formation of the calendar, the draining
the marshes of Italy, the navigation of
the Tiber, the embellishment of Rome,
the complete survey and delineation of
the empire, alternately employed his lib-
eral and capacious mind. Returning
from the final overthrow of Pompey's
parly in Spain, he was hailed the father
of his country, was created consul for
ten years, and perpetual dictator. His
person was declared sacred, his title
henceforth Imperator, B. C. 45.

The Roman republic had thus finally.

552

ROME.

by its own acts, resigned its liberties.
They were not extinguished, as Montes-
quieu has well remarked, by the ambition
of a Pompey or of a Caesar. If the
sentiments of Caesar and Pompey had
been the same with those of Cato, oth-
ers would have had the same ambitious
thoughts ; and since the commonwealth
was fated to fall, there never would have
been wanting a hand to drag it to des-
truction. Yet Cassar had by force sub-
dued his country ; he therefore was an
usurper ; and had it been possible to re-
store the liberties of the republic, and
with these its happiness, by the suppres-
sion of that usurpation, the attempt had
merited the praise at least of good de-
sign. Perhaps so thought his murderers ;
and thus, however weak their policy,
however base and treacherous their act,
with many they will ever find apologists.
They madly dreamed an impossible issue,
as the event demonstrated.

A conspiracy was formed by sixty of
the senators, at the head of whom were
Brutus and Cassius ; the former a man
beloved of Caesar, who had saved his
life, and heaped upon him numberless
benefits. It was rumored that the dicta-
tor wished to add to his numerous titles
that of king, and that the Ides of March
was fixed on for investing him with the
diadem. On that day, when taking his
seat in the senate-house, he was suddenly
assailed by the conspirators ; he defend-
ed himself for sometime against their
daggers, till, seeing Brutus amongst the
number, he faintly exclaimed, " And you,
too, my son !" and, covering his face with
his robe, resigned himself to his fate.
He fell, pierced by twenty-three wounds,
B. C. 43.

The Roman people were struck with
horror at the deed : they loved Caesar,
master as he was of their lives and lib-
erties. Mark Antony and Lepidus, am-
bitious of succeeding to the power of the
dictator, resolved to pave the way by
avenging his death. The people to
whom Caesar, by his testament, had be-
queathed a great part of his fortune, were
penetrated with gratitude to his memory.

against his murderers, who must have
met with instant destruction, had they
not escaped with precipitation from the
city. Antony profited by these disposi-
tions ; and the avenger of C«sar, of
course the favorite of the people, was in
the immediate prospect of attaining a
similar height of dominion. In this,
however, he found a formidable compet-
itor in Octavius, the grand-nephew and
the adopted heir of Caesar, who at this
critical moment, arrived in Rome. Avail-
ing himself of these titles, Octavius
gained the senate to his interest, and di-
vided with Antony the favor of the peo-
ple. The rivals soon perceived that it
was their wisest plan to unite their inter-
ests; and they admitted Lepidus into
their association, whose power, as gov-
ernor of Gaul, and immense riches, gave
him a title to a share of authority. Thus
was formed the second Triumvirate, the
effects of whose union were beyond
measure dreadful to the republic. The
Triumviri divided among themselves the
provinces, and cemented their imion by
a deliberate sacrifice made by each of
his best friends to the vengeance of his
associates. Antony consigned to death
his uncle Lucius, Lepidus his brother
Paulus, and Octavius his guardian Tora-
nius, and his friend Cicero. In this hor-
rible proscription, 300 senators and 3000
knights were put to death.

Octavius and Antony now marched
against the conspirators, who had a for-
midable army in the field in Thrace,
commanded by Brutus and Cassius. An
engagement ensued at Philippi, which
decided the fate of the empire. Antony-
was victorious, for Octavius had no mili-
tary talents ; he was destitute even of
personal bravery ; and his conduct after
the victory was stained with that cruelty
which is ever the attendant of coward-
ice. Brutus and Cassius escaped the
vengeance of their enemies by a volun-
tary death. Antony now sought a re-
compense for his troops by the plunder of
the east. While in Cilicia, he summon-
ed Cleopatra to answer for her conduct
in dethroning an infant brother, and in

A public harangue from Antony over the i openly favoring the party of Brutus and
bleeding body, exposed in the forum, in- 1 Cassius. The queen came to Tarsus,
flamed them with the utmost indignation [ and made a complete conquest of the

ROME.

553

Triumvir. Immersed in luxury, and in-
toxicated with love, he forgot glory, am-
bition, fame, and every thing for Cleopa-
tra ; and Octavius saw this phrenzy with
delight, as the preparative of his rival's
ruin. He had nothing to dread from
Lepidus, whose insignificant character
first drew on him the contempt of his
partisans ; and whose folly, in attempt-
ing an invasion of the province of his
colleague, was punished by his deposition
and banishment.

Antony had in his madness lavished
the provinces of the empire in gifts to his
paramour and her children. The Roman
people were justly indignant at these
enormities ; and the divorce of his wife
Octavia, the sister of his colleague, was
at length the signal of declared hostility
between them. An immense armament,
chiefly naval, came to a decisive conflict
near Actium, on the coast of Epirus.
Cleopatra, who attended her lover, de-
serted him with her galleys in the heat
of the engagement ; and such was the
infatuation of Antony, that he abandoned
his fleet and followed her. After a
contest of some hours, they yielded
to the squadron of Octavius, B. C.
31. The victor pursued the fugitives to
Egypt ; and the base Cleopatra proffered
terms to Octavius, including the surren-
der of her kingdom, and the abandonment
of Antony. After an unsuccessful at-
tempt at resistance, he anticipated his
fate by falling on his sword. And Cleo-
patra soon after, either from remorse, or
more probably from mortified ambition,
as she found it was Octavius' design to
load her in chains to Rome to grace his
triumph, had courage to follow the ex-
ample of her lover, and put herself to
death by the poison of an asp. Octavius
returned to Rome, sole master of the
Roman empire, B. C. 27.

Rome under the emperors. — The
battle of Actium decided the fate of the
commonwealth, and Octavius, now named
Augustus, was master of the Roman em-
pire. He possessed completely the sa-
gacity of descerning what character was
best fitted for gaining the affections of
the people he governed, and the versatility
of temper and genius to assume it. His
virtues, though the result of policy, not ]
70

of nature, were certainly favorable to the
happiness, and even to the liberties of
his subjects. The fate of Cssar warned
him of the insecurity of an usurped do-
minion, and therefore, while he studiously
imitated the engaging manners and clem-
ency of his great predecessor, he affected
a much higher degree of moderation and
respect for the rights of the people.

The temple of Janus was shut, which
had been open for 188 years, since the
beginning of the second Punic war ; an
event productive of universal joy. " The
Romans (says Condillac) now believed
themselves a free people, since they had
no longer to fight for their liberty." The
sovereign kept up this delusion, by main-
taining the ancient forms of the republi-
can constitution, in the election of magis-
trates, &c., though they were nothing
more than forms. He even pretended to
consider his own function as merely a
temporary administration for the public
benefit. Invested with the consulate
and censorship, he went through the reg-
ular forms of periodical election to those
offices ; and at the end of the seventh
year of his government actually announ-
ced to the senate his resignation of all
authority. The consequence was a gene-
ral supplication of the senate and people,
that he would not abandon the republic,
which he had saved from destruction.
" Since it must be so," said he, " I accept
the empire for ten years, unless the public
tranquillity should before that time permit
me to enjoy that retirement I passionately
long for." He repeated the same mockery
five times in the course of his govern-
ment, accepting the administration some-
times for ten, and sometimes only for
five years.

It was much to the credit of Augustus,
that in the government of the empire he
reposed unlimited confidence in Maecenas,
a most able minister, who had sincerely
at heart the interest and happiness of the
people. It was by his excellent counsels
that all public affairs were conducted,
and the most salutary laws enacted for
the remedy of public grievances, and
even the correction of the morals of the
people. It was to his patronage that
literature and the arts owed their en-
couragement and advancement. It was

554

ROME.

by his influence and wise instructions
that Augustus assumed those virtues to
which his heart was a stranger, and
which, in their tendency to the happiness
of his subjects, were equally effectual as
if the genuine fruits of his nature.

On the death of MarccUus, the nephew
and son-in-law of Augustus, (23 B. C.) a
prince of great hopes, the emperor be-
stowed his chief favor on Marcus Agrippa,
giving him his daughter Julia, the widow
of Marcellus, in marriage. Agrippa had
considerable military talents, and was
successful in accomplishing the reduction
of Spain, and subduing the revolted pro-
vinces of Asia. Augustus associated
him with himself in the office of censor,
and would probably have given him a
share of the empire ; but the death of
Agrippa occasioned a new arrangement.
The daughter of Augustus now took for
her third husband Tiberius, who became
the son-in-law of the emperor by a double
tie, for Augustus had previously married
his mother Livia. This artful woman,
removing all of the imperial family who
stood betwixt her and the object of am-
bition, thus made room for the succession
of her son Tiberius, who on his part, bent
all his attention to gain the favor and
confidence of Augustus. On the return
of Tiberius from a successful campaign
against the Germans, the people were
made to solicit the emperor to confer on
him the government of the provinces and
the command of the armies. Augustus
now gradually withdrew himself from the
cares of the empire. He died soon after
at Nola in Campania, in the 76th year of
his age, and 44th of his imperial reign,
and A. D. 14.

A considerable part of the lustre thrown
on the reign of Augustus is owing to the
splendid coloring bestowed on his char-
acter by the poets and other authors who
adorned his court, and repaid his favors
by their adulation.

One great event distinguished the
reign of Augustus, the birth of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, which, accord-
ing to the best authorities, happened in
the 754th year A. U. C. and four years
before the vulgar date of the Christian
era.

Augustu!^ had named Tiberius his heir,

together with his mother Livia, and sub-
stituted to them Drusus, the son of Tibe-
rius, and Germanicus. Tiberius was
vicious, debauched, and cruel ; yet the
very dread of his character operated in
securing an easy succession to the em-
pire. An embassy from the senate en-
treated him to accept the government,
which he modestly affected to decline, but
suffered himself to be won by their sup-
plications. Notwithstanding this symp-
tom of moderation, it soon appeared that
the power enjoyed by his predecessor
was too limited for the ambition of Tibe-
rius. It was not enough that the sub-
stance of the republic was gone, the very
appearance of it was now to be demolish-
ed. The people were no longer assem-
bled, and the magistrates of the state
were supplied by the imperial will.

Germanicus, the nephew of Tiberius,
became the object of his jealousy, from
the glory he had acquired by his military
exploits in Germany, and the high favor
in which he stood with the Roman peo-
ple. He was recalled in the midst of his
successes, and despatched to the oriental
provinces, M-^here he soon after died, as
was generally believed, of poison admin-
istered by the Emperor's command.

iElius Sejanus, prosfect of the praeto-
rian guards, the favorite counsellor of
Tiberius, and the obsequious minister of
his tyranny and crimes, conceived the
daring project of a revolution, which
should place himself on the throne, by
the extermination of the whole imperial
family. Drusus, the son of the emperor,
was cut off by poison. Agrippina the
widow of Germanicus, with the elder of
her sons, was banished, and the younger
confined to prison. Tiberius himself
was persuaded by Sejanus, under the
pretence of the discovery of plots for his
assassination, to retire from Rome to the
Isle of Caprese, and devolve the govern-
ment upon his faithful minister. But
while Sejanus, thus far successful, medi-
tated the last step to the accomplishment
of his wishes, by the murder of his sov-
ereign, his treason was detected ; and
the emperor despatched his mandate to
the senate, which was followed by his
immediate sentence and execution. The
public indignation was not satisfied with

ROME.

555

his death ; the populace tore his body to
pieces, and flung it into the Tiber.

Tiberius now became utterly negligent
of the cares of government, and the im-
perial power was displayed only in pub-
lic executions, confiscations, and scenes
of cruelty and rapine. At length the ty-
rant falling sick, was strangled in his bed
by Macro, the prajfect of the praetorian
guards, in the 78th year of his age, and
23d of his reign.

pin the 18th year of Tiberius, our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Divine
Author of our religion, suff'ered death
upon the cross, a sacrifice and propitia-
tion for the sins of mankind, A. D. 33

Tiberius had nominated for his heir
Caligula, the son of Germanicus, his
grandson by adoption, and joined with
him Tiberius, the son of Drusus, his
grandson by blood. The former enjoyed,
on his father's account, the favor of the
people ; and the senate, to gratify them,
set aside the right of his colleague, and
conferred on him the empire undivided.
The commencement of his reign was
signalized by a few acts of clemency and
even good policy. He restored the priv-
ileges of the comitia, and abolished ar-
bitrary prosecutions for crimes of state.
But, tyrannical and cruel by nature, he
substituted military execution for legal
punishment. The provinces were loaded
with the most oppressive taxes, and daily
confiscations filled the imperial coflers.
The follies and absurdities of Caligula
were equal to his vices, and it is hard to
say whether he was most the object of
hatred or of contempt to his subjects. He
perished by assassination in the 4th year
of his reign, and 29th of his age, A. D. 42.

Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, was
saluted emperor by the praetorian guards,
who had been the murderers of his ne-
phew. He was the son of Octavia, the
sister of Augustus ; a man of weak in-
tellects, and of no education ; yet his
short reign was marked by an enterprise
of importance. He undertook the re-
duction of Britain ; and after visting the
island in person, left his generals Plau-
tius and Vespasian, to prosecute a war
which was carried on for several years
with various success. The Silures, or
inhabitants of South Wales, under their

king Caractacus,(Caradoc,) made a brave
resistance, but were finally defeated, and
Caractacus led captive to Rome, where
the magnanimity of his demeanor pro-
cured him respect and admiration.

The civil administration of Claudius
was weak and contemptible. He was
the slave even of his domestics, and the
dupe of his infamous wives, Messalina
and Agrippina. The former abandoned
to the most shameful profligacy, was at
length put to death, on suspicion of trea-
sonable designs. The latter, who was
the daughter of Germanicus, bent her
.utmost endeavors to secure the succes-
j 'si on to the empire to her son Domitius
iEnobardus, and employed every engine
of vice and inhumanity to remove the
obstacles to the accomplishment of her
wishes. Having at length prevailed on
Claudius to adopt her son, and confer on
him the title of Caesar, to the exclusion
of his own son Britannicus, she now
made room for the immediate ^elevation
of Domitius, by poisoning her husband.
Claudius was put to death in the 15th
year of his reign, and 63d of his age.

The son of iVgrippina assumed tho
name of Nero Claudius. He had enjoyed
the benefit of a good education under the
philosopher Seneca, but reaped from his
instructions no other fruit than a pedan-
tic aflectation of taste and learning, with
no real pretension to either. While con-
trolled by his tutor Seneca, and by Bur-
rhus, captain of the praetorian guards, a
man of worth and ability, Nero maintained
for a short time a deceney of public con-
duct ; but the restraint was intolerable,
and nature soon broke out. His real
character was a compound of every thing
that is base and inhuman. In the mur-
der of his mother Agrippina, he revenged
the crime she had committed in raising
him to the throne ; he rewarded the fidel-
ity of Burrhus by poisoning him ; and
as a last kindness to his tutor Seneca, he
allowed him to choose the mode of his
death. It was his darling amusement to
exhibit on the stage and amphitheatre as
an actor, musician, or gladiator. At
length, become the object of universal
hatred and contempt, a rebellion of his
subjects, headed by Vindex, an illustrious
Gaul, hurled this monster from the throne.

556

ROME,

He had not courage to attempt resistance ;
and a slave, at his own request, despatch-
ed him with a dagger. Nero perished in
the 30th year of his age, after a reign
of fourteen years, A. D. 69.

Galba, the successor of Nero, was of
an ancient and iihistrious family. He
was in the 73d year of his age when the
senate, ratifying the choice of the prae-
torian bands, proclaimed him emperor.
But an impolitic rigor of discipline soon
disgusted the army ; the avarice of his
disposition, grudging the populace their
favorite games and spectacles, deprived
him of their aflections ; and some iniqui-
tous prosecutions and confiscations exci-^
ted general discontent and mutiny. Gal-
ba adopted and designed for his succes-
sor the able and virtuous Piso ; a mea-
sure which excited the jealousy of Otho,
his former faA^orite, and led him to form
the daring plan of raising himself to the
throne by the destruction of both. He
found the praetorians apt to his purpose ;
they proclaimed him Emperor, and pre-
sented him, as a grateful oiiering, the
heads of Galba and Piso, who were
slain in quelling the insurrection. Galba
had reigned seven months.

Otho had a formidable rival in Vitel-
lius, who had been proclaimed emperor
by his army in Germany. It is hard to
say which of the competitors was, in
point of abilities, the more despicable,
or in character the more infamous. A
decisive battle was fought at Bedriacum,
near Mantua, where the army of Otho was
defeated, and their commander in a fit of
despair, ended his life by his own hand,
after a reign of three months, A. D. 70.

The reign of Vitellius was of eight
months duration. He is said to have
proposed Nero for his model, and it was
just that he should resemble him in his
fate. Vespasian, who had obtained from
Nero the charge of the war against the
Jews, which he had conducted with abil-
ity and success, was proclaimed emperor
by his troops in the East ; and a great
part of Italy submitting to his generals,
Vitellius meanly capitulated to save his
life, by a resignation of the empire.
The people, indignant at his dastardly
spirit, compelled him to an effort of resis-
tance, but the attempt was fruitless. —

Prisons, one of the generals of Vespa-
sian, took possession of Rome, and Vi-
tellius was massacred, and his body flung
into the Tiber.

Vespasian, though of mean descent,
was worthy of the empire, and reigned
with high popularity for ten years. He
possessed great clemency of disposition;
his manners were affable and engaging,
and his mode of life was characterized
by simplicity and frugality. He respect-
ed the ancient forms of the constituti^,
restored the senate to its deliberative
rights, and acted by its authority in the
administration of all public affairs. The
only blemish in his character was a tinc-
ture of avarice, and even that is gi-eatly
extenuated by the laudable and patriotic
use which he made of his revenues. —
Under his reign, and by the arms of his
son Titus, was terminated the war against
the Jews. They had been brought un-
der the yoke of Rome by Pompey, who
took Jerusalem. Under Augustus they
were governed for some time by HeroJ
as viceroy ; but the tyranny of his son
Archelaus was the cause of his banish-
ment, and the reduction of Judaea into
the ordinary condition of a Roman pro-
vince. Rebelling on every slight occa-
sion, Nero had sent Vespasian to re-
duce them to order, and he had just pre-
pared for the siege of Jerusalem, when
he was called to Rome to assume the
government of the empire. Titus wished
to spare the city, and tried every means
to prevail on the Jews to surreiuler : but
in vain ; their ruin was decreed by Hea-
ven. After an obstinate blockade of six
months, Jerusalem was taken by storm,
the temple burnt to ashes, and the city
buried in ruins. The Roman empire
was now in profound peace. Vespasian
associated Titus in the imperial dignity,
and soon after died, universally lamented,
at the age of 69, A. D. 79.

The character of Titus was humane,
munificent, dignified, and splendid. His
short reign was a period of great happi-
ness and prosperity to the empire, and
his government a constant example of
virtue, justice, and beneficence. In his
time happened thai dreadful eruption of
Vesuvius which overwhelmed the cities
of Herculaneum and Pompeii ; and the

ROME.

557

piiWic losses from these calamities he re-
paired by the sacrifice of his fortune and
revenues. He died in the third year of
his reign, and fortieth of his age.

Doniitian, the brother of Titus, and
suspected of murdering him by poison,
succeeded to the empire, A. D. 81. He
was a vicious and inhuman tyrant. A
rebellion in Germany gave him occasion
to signalize the barbarity of his disposi-
tion ; and its consequences were long
fell in the sanguinary punishments in-
flicted under the pretence of justice. The
prodigal and voluptuous spirit of this reign
was a singadar contrast to its tyranny
and inhumanity. The people were load-
ed with insupportable taxes to furnish
spectacles and games for their amuse-
ment. The successes of Agricola in
Britain threw a lustre on the Roman arms,
no part of which reflected on the Empe-
ror, for he used this eminent commander
with the basest ingratitude. After fifteen
tedious years, this monster fell at last a
victim of assassination, the empress her-
self conducting the plot for his murder,
A. D.96.

Cocceius Nerva, a Cretan by birth,
was chosen emperor by the senate, from
respect to the virtues of his character ;
but too old for the burden of government,
and of a temper too placid for the re-
straint of rooted corruptions and enormi-
ties, his reign was weak, ineflicient, and
contemptible. His only act of real merit
as a sovereign, was the adoption of the vir-
tuous Trajan as his successor. Nerva died
after a reign of sixteen months, A. D. 98.

Ulpius Trajanus possessed every talent
and every virtue that can adorn a sove-
reign. Of great military abilities, and an
indefatigable spirit of enterprise, he rais-
ed the Roman arms to their ancient splen-
dor, and greatly enlarged the boundaries
of the empire. He subdued the Dacians,
conquered the Parthians, and brought
under subjection Assyria, Mesopotamia,
and Arabia Felix. Nor was he less emi-
nent in promoting the happiness of his
subjects, and the internal prosperity of the
empire. His largesses were humane and
munificent. He was the friend and sup-
port of the virtuous indigent, and the lib-
eral patron of every useful art and talent.
His bounties were supplied by a well

judged economy in his private fortune,
and a wise administration of the public
finances. In his own life he was a man
of simple manners, modest, afiable, fond
of the familiar intercourse of his friends,
and sensible to all the social and benev-
olent afliections. He died at the age of
sixty-three, after a glorious reign of nine-
teen years, A. D. 118.

^Elius Adrianus, nephew of Trajan,
and Avorthy to fill his place, was chosen
emperor by the army in the east, and
his title was acknowledged by all orders
of the state. He adopted a policy differ-
ent from that of his predecessor ; and,
judging the limits of the empire too exten-
sive, abandoned all the conquests of Trajan,
bounding the eastern provinces by the Eu-
phrates. He visited in person the whole
provinces of the empire, reforming, in his
progress, all abuses, relieving his subjects
of every oppressive burden, rebuilding the
ruined cities, and establishing everywhere
a regular and mild administration under
magistrates of approved probity and hu-
manity. He gave a discharge to the in-
digent debtors of the state, and appointed
liberal institutions for the education of the
children of the poor. To the talents of
an able politician he joined an excellent
taste in the liberal arts ; and his reign,
which was of twenty-two years duration,
was an era both of public happiness and
splendor. In the last year of his life, he
bequeathed to the empire a double legacy,
in adopting and declaring for his immedi-
ate successor Titus Aurelius Antoninus,
and substituting Annius Verus to succeed
upon his death. These were the Anto-
nines, who, for forty years ruled the Ro-
man empire with consummate wisdom,
ability and virtue. Adrian died, A. D.
138, at the age of sixty-two.

The happiest reigns furnish the fewest
events for the pen of history. Antoninus
was the father of his people. He pre-
ferred peace to the ambition of conquest ;
yet, in every necessary war the Roman
arms had their wonted renown. The
British province was enlarged by the
conquests of Urbicus, and some formida-
ble rebellions were subdued in Germany,
Dacia, and the East. The domestic ad-
ministration of the sovereign was digni-
fied, splendid, and humane. With all

558

ROME.

the virtues of Numa, his love of religion,
peace, and justice, he had the superior
advantage of diffusing these blessings
over a great portion of the world. He
died at the age of seventy-four, after a
reign of twenty -two years, A. D. 161.

Annius Verus assumed, at his acces-
sion, the name of Marcus Aurelius Anto-
ninus, and he bestowed on his brother
Lucius Verus, a joint administration of
the empire. The former was as eminent
for the worth and virtues of his character,
as the latter was remarkable for profliga-
cy, meanness, and vice. Marcus Aure-
lius was attached both by nature and ed-
ucation to the Stoical philosophy, which
he has admirably taught and illustrated
in his Meditations ; and his own life was
the best commentary on his precepts.
The Parthians were repulsed in an at-
tack upon the empire, and a rebellion of
the Germans was subdued. In these
wars the mean and worthless Verus
brought disgrace upon the Roman name
in every region where he commanded ;
but fortunately relieved the empire of its
fears by an early death. The residue of
the reign of Marcus Aurelius was a con-
tinued blessing to his subjects. He re-
formed the internal policy of the state,
regulated the government of the provinces,
and visited himself, for the purposes of
beneficence, the most distant quarters of
his dominions. " He appeared," says an
ancient author, " like some benevolent
deity, diffusing around him universal peace
and happiness." He died in Pannonia
in the 59th year of his age, and 19th of
his reign, A. D. 180.

Commodus, his most unworthy son,
succeeded to the empire on his death.
He resembled in character his mother
Faustina, a woman infamous for all man-
ner of vice, but who yet had passed with
her husband Marcus for a paragon of vir-
tue. Commodus had an aversion to eve-
ry rational and liberal pursuit, and a fond
attachment to the sports of the circus
and amphitheatre, the hunting of wild
beasts, and the combats of boxers and
gladiators. The measures of this reign
were as unimportant, as the character of
the sovereign was contemptible. His
concubine and some of his chief officers
prevented their own destruction by assas-

sinating the tyrant, in the 32nd year of
his age, and 13th of his reign, A. D. 193.

The praetorian guards gave the empire
to Publius Helvius Pertinax, a man of
mean birth, but who had risen to esteem
by his virtues and military talents. He
applied himself with zeal to the correc-
tion of abuses ; but the austerity of his
government deprived him of the affections
of a corrupted people. He had disappoint-
ed the army of a promised reward ; and,
after a reign of eighty-six days, was
murdered in the imperial palace by the
same hands wliich had placed him on the
throne.

The empire was now put up to auction
by the praetorians and was purchased by
Didius Juliamis ; while Pescenius Niger
in Asia, Clodius Albinus in Britain, and
Septimius Severus in Illyria, were each
chosen emperor by the troops they com-
manded. Severus marched to Rome ;
and the praetorians, on his approach,
abandoned Didius, who had failed to pay
the stipulated price for his elevation, and
the senate formally deposed and put him
to death. Severus, master of Rome, pre-
pared to reduce the provinces which had
acknowledged the sovereignty of Niger
and Albinus ; and these tAvo rivals being
successively subdued, the one lost his
life in battle, and the other fell by his
own hands. The administration of Sev-
erus was wise and equitable, but tinc-
tured with despotic rigor. It was his
purpose to erect the fabric of absolute
monarchy, and all his institutions opera-
ted with able policy to that end. He pos-
sessed eminent military talents ; and it
was a glorious boast of his, that having
received the empire oppressed with for-
eign and domestic wars, he left it in pro-
found, universal, and honorable peace.
He carried with him into Britain his two
sons, Caracalla and Geta, Avhose un-
promising dispositions clouded his latter
days. In this war the Caledonians vm-
der Fingal are said to have defeated, on
the banks of the Carron, Caracul, the
son of the king of the world. Severus
died at York, in the 66th year of his age,
after a reign of eighteen years, A. D. 211.

The mutual hatred of Caracalla and
Geta was increased by their association
in the empire ; and the former, with bru-

ROME.

559

tal inhumanity, caused his brother to be
openly murdered in the arms of his
mother. His reign, which was of six
years duration, and one continued series
of atrocities, Avas at length terminated by
assassination, A. D. 217.

Those disorders in the empire which
began with Commodus continued for
about a century, till the accession of
Diocletian. That interval was filled by
the reigns of Heliogabalus, Alexander
Severus, Maximian, Gordian, Decius,
Gallus, Valerianus, Gallienus, Claudius,
Aurelianus, Tacitus, Probus, and Carus;
a period of which the annals furnish
neither amusement nor useful informa-
tion. The single exception is the reign
of Alexander Severus, a mild, beneficent
and enlightened prince, whose character
shines the more from the contrast of
those who preceded and followed him.

Diocletian began his reign A. D. 284,
and introduced a new system of adminis-
tration, dividing the empire into four gov-
ernments, under as many princes. Max-
imian shared with him the title of Augus-
tus, and Galerius and Constantius were
declared Caesars. Each had his separate
department or province, all nominally
supreme, but in reality under the direc-
tion of the superior talents and authority
of Diocletian ; an unwise policy, which
depended for its efficacy on individual
ability alone. Diocletian and Maximian,
trusting to the continuance of that order
in the empire which their vigor had
established, retired from sovereignty, and
left the government in the hands of the
Caesars ; but Constantius died soon after
in Britain, and his son Constantino was
proclaimed emperor at York, though Gal-
erius did not acknowledge his title. Max-
imian, however, having once more re-
sumed the purple, bestowed on Constan-
tino his daughter in marriage, and thus
invested him with a double title to the
empire. On the death of Maximian and
Galerius, Constantine had no other com-
petitor than Maxentius the son of the
former, and the contest between them
was decided by the sword. Maxentius
fell in battle, and Constantine remained
sole master of the empire.

The administration of Constantine was,
in the beginning of liis reign, mild, equi-

table, and politic. Though zealously at-
tached to the Christian faith, he made
no violent innovations on the religion of
the state. He introduced order and
economy into the civil government, and
repressed every species of oppression and
corruption. But his natural temper was
severe and cruel, and the latter part of
his reign was as much deformed by in-
tolerant zeal and sanguinary rigor, as the
former had been remarkable for equity
and benignity. From this unfavorable
change of character, he lost the affections
of his subjects ; and, from a feeling pro-
bably of reciprocal disgust, he removed
the seat of the Roman empire to Byzan-
tium, now termed Constantinople. The
court followed the sovereign ; the opu-
lent proprietors were attended by their
slaves and retainers ; Rome was in a
kw years greatly depopulated, and the
new capital swelled at once to enormous
magnitude. It was characterized by
eastern splendor, luxury, and voluptuous-
ness ; and the cities of Greece were de-
spoiled for its embellishment. In an
expedition against the Persians, Constan-
tine died at Nicomedia, in the thirtieth
year of his reign, and sixty-third of his
age, A. D. 337. In the time of Constan-
tine the Goths had made several irrup-
tions on the empire, and, though repulsed
and beaten, began gradually to encroach
on the provinces.

Constantine, with a destructive policy,
had divided the empire among five princes,
three of them his sons, and two nephews ;
but Constantius, the youngest of the sons,
finally got rid of all his competitors, and
ruled the empire alone with a weak and
impotent sceptre. A variety of domestic
broils, and mutinies of the troops against
their generals, had left the western fron-
tier to the mercy of the barbarian nations.
The Franks, Saxons, Alemanni, and Sar-
matians, laid waste all the fine countries
watered by the Rhine, and the Persians
made dreadful incursions on the provinces
of the east. Constantius indolently wasted
his time in theological controversies, but
was prevailed on to adopt one prudent
measure, the appointment of his cousin
Julian to the dignity of Cajsar.

Julian possessed many heroic quali-
ties, and his mind was formed by nature

560

ROME.

for tlie sovereignty of a great people ; but
educated at Athens, in the schools of the
Platonic philosophy, he had unfortunately
conceived a rooted antipathy to the doc-
trines of Christianity. With every talent
of ageneral, and possessingthe confidence
and affection of his troops, he once more
restored the glory of the Roman arms,
and successfully repressed the invasions
of the barbarians. His victories excited
the jealousy of Constantius, vv^ho meanly
resolved to remove from his command
the better part of his troops. The con-
sequence was a declaration of the army,
that it was their choice that Julian should
be their emperor. Constantius escaped
the ignominy that awaited him by dying
at this critical juncture, and Julian was
immediately acknowledged sovereign of
the Roman empire.

The reformation of civil abuses formed
the first object of his attention ; which
he next turned to the reformation, as he
thought, of religion, by the suppression
of Christianity. He began by reforming
the Pagan theology, and sought to raise
the character of its priests, by incidcat-
ing purity of life and sanctity of morals ;
thus bearing involuntary testimony to the
superior excellence, in those respects, of
that religion Avliich he labored to abolish.
Without persecuting, he attacked the
Christians by the more dangerous policy
of treating them with contempt, and re-
moving them, as visionaries, from all em-
ployments of public trust. He refused
them the benefit of the laws to decide
their differences, because their religion
forbade all dissensions ; and they were
debarred the studies of literature and phi-
losophy, which they could not learn but
from Pagan authors. He was himself
as a Pagan, the slave of the most bigoted
superstition, believing in omens and au-
guries, and fancying himself favored with
an actual intercourse with the gods and
goddesses. To avenge the injuries which
the empire had sustained from the Per-
sians, Julian marched into the heart of
Asia, and was for some time in the train
of conquest, when, in a fatal engagement,
though crowned with victory, he was
slain, at the age of thirty-one, after a
reign of three years, A. D. 363.

The Roman army was dispirited by the

death of its commander. They diosd
for their emperor Jovian, a captain of the
domestic guards, and purchased a free
retreat from the dominions of Persia by
the ignominious surrender of five pro-
vinces, which had been ceded by a for-
mer sovereign to Galerius. The short
reign of Jovian, a period of seven months,
was mild and equitable. He favored
Christianity, and restored its votaries to
all their privileges as subjects. He died
suddenly at the age of thirty-three.

Valentinian was chosen emperor by
the army on the death of Jovian ; a man
of obscure birth, and severe manners, but
of considerable military talents. He as-
sociated with himself in the empire his
brother Valens, to whom he gave the do-
minion of the eastern provinces, reserv-
ing to hhnself the western. The Per-
sians, under Sapor, were making inroads
on the former, and the latter was subject
to continual invasion from the northern
barbarians. They were successfully re-
pelled by Valentinian in many battles ;
and his domestic administration was wise,
equitable, and politic. The Christian reli-
gion was favored by the emperor, though
not promoted by the persecution of its ad-
versaries ; a contrast to the conduct of his
brother Valens, who, intemperately sup-
porting the Arian heresy, set the whole
provinces in a flame, and drew a swarm
of invaders upon the empire in the guise
of friends and allies, who in the end en-
tirely subverted it. These were the
Goths, who, migrating from Scandinavia,
had, in the second century, settled on the
banks of the Palus Mcsotis, and thence
gradually extended their territory. In
the reign of Valens they took possession
of Dacia, and were known by the dis-
tinct appellation of Ostrogoths and Visi-
goths, or eastern and western Goths ; a
remarkable people, and whose manners,
customs, government, and laws, are after-
wards to be particularly noted.

Valentinian died on an expedition
against the Alemanni, and was succeed-
ed in the empire of the west by Gratian,
his eldest son, a boy of sixteen years of
age, A. D. 367. Valens, in the east, was
the scourge of his people. The Huns, a
new race of barbarians, of Tartar or Si-
berian origin, now poured down on the

ROME.

561

provinces both of the west and east. The
Goths, comparatively a civilized people,
fled before them. The Visigoths, who
were first attacked, requested protection
from the empire, and Valens imprudently
gave them a settlement in Thrace. The
Ostrogoths made the same request, and,
on refusal, forced their way into the same
province. Valens gave them battle at
Adrianople ; his army was defeated, and
he himself slain in the engagement. The
Goths, unresisted, ravaged Achaia and
Pannonia.

Gratian, a prince of good dispositions,
but of little energy of character, assumed
Theodosius as his colleague, Avho, on the
early death of Gratian, and minority of
his son Valentinian II, governed with
great ability, both the eastern and western
empire. The character of Theodosius,
deservedly surnamed the Great, was wor-
thy of the best ages of the Roman state.
He successfully repelled the encroach-
ments of the barbarians, and secured, by
wholesome laws, the prosperity of his
people. He died, after a reign of eigh-
teen years, assigning to his sons, Arca-
dius and Honorius, the separate sove-
reignties of east and west, A. D. 395.

The reign of Theodosius was signal-
ized by the downfall of the Pagan super-
stition, and the full establishment of the
Christian religion in the Roman empire.
This great revolution of opinions is highly
worthy of attention, and naturally induces
a retrospect to the condition of the Christ-
ian church from its institution down to
this period.

It has been frequently remarked, be-
cause it is an obvious truth, that the con-
currence of circumstances at the time of
our Saviour's birth was such as, while a
divine revelation seemed to be then more
peculiarly needed, the state of the world
was remarkably favorable for the exten-
sive dissemination of the doctrines it
conveyed. The union of so many nations
under one power, and the extension of
civilization, were favorable to the pro-
gress of a religion which prescribed uni-
versal charity and benevolence. The
gross superstitions of paganism, and its
tendency to corrupt instead of purifying
the morals, contributed to explode its in-
fluence with every thinking mind. Even
72

the prevalent philosophy of the times,
Epicurism, more easily understood than
the refinements of the Platonists, and
more grateful than the severities of the
Stoics, tended to degrade human nature
to the level of the brute creation. The
Christian religion, thus necessary for the
reformation of the world, found its chief
partisans in those who were the friends
of virtue, and its enemies among the vo-
taries of vice.

The persecution which the Christians
underwent from the Romans has been
deemed an exception to that spirit of tol-
eration they showed to the religions of
other nations ; but they Avere tolerating
only to those whose theologies were not
hostile to their own. The religion of the
Romans was interwoven with their politi-
cal constitution. The zeal of the Chris-
tians, aiming at the suppression of all
idolatry, was not unnaturally regarded as
dangerous to the state ; and hence they
were the object of hatred and persecu-
tion. In the first century, the Christian
church suffered deeply under Nero and
Domitian ; yet those persecutions had no
tendency to check the progress of its
doctrines. During a space of two cen-
turies, in ten successive instances, under
the Roman emperors, the Christians were
cruelly persecuted ; and the suffering
and loss of life exceed calcvdation. Some
authors say that in Egypt alone, 144,000
Christians died by the violence of their
persecutors, besides 700,000 who died
through the fatigues of banishment, or
the public works to which they were
condemned.

f It is a matter of question what was the
form of the primitive church, and the
nature of its government ; and on this
head much diflference of opinion obtains,
not only between the Catholics and Pro-
testants, but between the difl^erent classes
of the latter, as the Lutherans and Cal-
vinists. It is moreover an opinion, that
our Saviour and his apostles, confining
their precepts to the pure doctrines of
religion, have left all Christian societies
to regulate their frame and government
in the manner best suited to the civil
constitutions of the countries in which
they are established.M

In the second cefltury, the books of

662

ROME.

Cruelties practised on the primittve Christians.

the New Testament were collected into
a volume by the elder fathers of the
church, and received as a canon of faith,
'i'he Old Testament had been translated
from the Hebrew into Greek, by order
of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 284 years be-
fore Christ. The early church sufl'ered
much from an absurd endeavor of the
more learned of its votaries, to reconcile
its doctrines to the tenets of the Pagan
philosophers ; hence the sects of the
Gnostics and Ammonians, and the Pla-
tonising Christians. The Greek churches
began in the second century to form pro-
vincial associations, and establish general
rules of government and discipline. As-
semblies were held, termed Synodoi and
Concilia, over which a metropolitan pre-
sided. A short time after arose the su-
perior order of Patriarch, presiding over
a large district of the Christian world ;
and a subordination taking place even
among these, the bishop of Rome was
acknowledged the chief of the Patriarchs.
Persecution still attended the early church,
even under those excellent princes, Tra-
jan, Adrian, and the Antonines ; and, in
the reign of Severiis, the whole provinces
of the empire wer^tained with the blood
of the martyrs.

The third century was more favorable
to the progress of Christianity and the
tranquillity of its disciples. In those
times it suffered less from the civil arm
than from the pens of the Pagan philoso-
phers, Porphyry, Philostratus, &c; but
these attacks called forth the zeal and
talents of many able defenders, as Origen,
Dionysius, and Cyprian. A part of the
Gauls, Germany, and Britain, received
in this century the light of the gospel.

In the fourth century the Christian
church was alternately persecuted and
cherished by the Roman emperors.
Among its oppressors we rank Diocle-
tian, Galerius, and Julian. Among its
favorers, Constantine and his sons, Va-
lentian, Valens, Gratian, and the excel-
lent Theodosius, in whose reign the Pa-
gan superstition came to its final period.

From the age of Numa to the reign of
Gratian, the Romans preserved the regu-
lar succession of the several sacerdotal
colleges, the Pontiffs, Augurs, Vestals,
Flamines, Salii, &c, whose authority,
though weakened in the latter ages, was
still protected by the laws. Even the
Christian emperors held, like their Pagan
predecessors, the office of Pontifcx Max-
imus. Gratian was the first who refused

ROME.

563

that ancient dignity as a profanation. In
the time of I'heodosius, the cause of
Christianity and of Paganism was solemn-
ly debated in the Roman senate between
Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, the cham-
pion of the former, and Symmachus, the
defender of the latter. The cause of
Christianity was triumphant ; and the
senate issued its decree for the abolition
of Paganism, whose downfall in the cap-
ital was soon followed by its extinction
in the provinces. Theodosius, with able
policy, permitted no persecution of the
, ancient religion, which perished with the

* more rapidity that its fall was gentle and

unresisted.

But the Christian church exhibited a
superstition in some respects little less
irrational than Polytheism, in the wor-
ship of saints and relics ; and many novel
tenets, unfounded in the precepts of our
Saviour and his apostles, were manifestly
borrowed from the Pagan schools. The
doctrines of the Platonic philosophy seem
to have led to the notions of an interme-
diate state of purification, celibacy of the
priests, ascetic niortiiications, penances,
and monastic seclusion.

In the reigns of Arcadius and Hono-
rius, the sons and successors of Theodo-
sius, the barbarian nations established
themselves in the frontier provinces both
of the east and west. Theodosius had
committed the government to Rufinus
and Stilicho during the nonage of his
sons ; and their fatal dissensions gave
every advantage to the enemies of the
empire. The Huns, actually invited by
Rufinus, overspread Armenia, Cappado-
cia, and Syi-ia. The Goths, under Alaric,
ravaged to the borders of Italy, and laid
waste Achaia to the Peloponnesus. Stili-
cho, an able general, made a noble stand
against these invaders ; but his plans
were frustrated by the machinations of
his rivals, and the weakness of Arcadius,
who purchased an ignominious peace, by
ceding to Alaric the whole of Greece.

Alaric, now styled king of the Visi-
goths, prepared to add Italy to his new
dominions. He passed the Alps, and was
carrying all before him, when, amused
by the politic Stilicho with the prospect
of a new cession of territory, he was taken
at unawares, and defeated by that gene-

ral, then commanding the armies of Ho-
norius. The emperor triumphantly cele-
brated, on that occasion, the eternal de-
feat of the Gothic nation ; an eternity
bounded by the lapse of a few months.
In this interval, a torrent of the Goths
breaking down upon Germany, forced
the nations whom they dispossessed, the
Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, to precipitate
themselves upon Italy. They joined
their arms to those of Alaric, who, thus
re-enforced, determined to overwhelm
Rome. The policy of Stilicho made him
change his purpose, on the promise of
4,000 pounds weight of gold ; a promise
repeatedly broken by Honorius, and its
violation finally revenged by Alaric, by
the sack andplunderof thecity, A. D.410.
With generous magnanimity, he was
sparing of the lives of the vanquished,
and, with singular liberality of spirit,
anxious to preserve every ancient edifice
from destruction.

Alaric, preparing now for the conquest
of Sicily and Africa, died at this era of his
highest glory ; and Honorius, instead of
profiting I)y this event to recover his lost
provinces, made a treaty Avith his suc-
cessor Ataulfus, gave him in marriage
his sister Placida, and secured his friend-
ship by ceding to him a portion of Spain,
while a great part of what remained had
before been occupied by the Vandals.
He allowed soon after to the Burgundians
a just title to their conquests in Gaul.
Thus the western empire was by degrees
mouldering from under the dominion of
its ancient masters.

In the east, the mean and dissolute
Arcadius died in the year 408, leaving
that empire to his infant son Theodosius
II, whose sister Pulcheria swayed the
sceptre with much prudence and ability,
and the weakness of her brother allowed
her government to be of forty years con-
tinuance. Honorius died in the year
423. The laws of Arcadius and Hono-
rius are, with a few exceptions, remark-
able for their wisdom and equity ; a
singular phenomenon, considering the
personal character of those princes, and
evincing at least that they employed some
able ministers.

The Vandals, under Genseric, subdued
the Roman province in Africa. The Huns

564

RUSSIA.

in the east, extended their conquests
from the borders of China to the Bakic
sea. Under Attila they laid waste Moe-
sia and Thrace ; and Theodosius II, after
a mean attempt to murder the Barbarian
general, ingloriously submitted to pay
him an annual tribute. It was in this
crisis of universal decay, that the Britons
implored the Romans to defend them
against the Picts and Scots, but received
for answer, that they had nothing to be-
stow on them but compassion.

Attila, with an army oi" 500,000 men,
threatened the total destruction of the
empire. He was ably opposed by iEti-
tius, general of Valentinian III, now em-
peror of the west, who was himself shut
up in Rome by the arms of the Barba-

rian, and at length compelled to purchase
a peace. On the death of Attila, his
dominions were dismembered by his sons,
whose dissensions gave temporary relief
to the falling empire.

After Valentinian III, we have in the
west a succession of princes, or rather
names ; for the events of their reigns
merit no detail. In the reign of Romu-
lus, surnamed Augustulus, the son of
Orestes, the empire of the west came to
a final period. Odoacer, prince of the
Heruli, subdued Italy, and spared the life
of Augustulus, on the condition of his re-
signing the throne, A. D. 476. From the
building of Rome to this era, the extinc-
tion of the Western Empire, is a period
of 1224 years.

RUSSIA.

The origin of the Russian empire is
involved in great obscurity. A herd of
the Slavi, Slavonians, or as they are of-
tener called, Sclavonians, who had ad-
vanced from the banks of the Danube,
and Avere wandering upon those of the
Dneper, are supposed to have fixed them-
selves about the 5th century, in the re-
gion now occupied by the government
of Kief, and to have built their capital,
which is still known by the same name.
It is also conjectured that another tribe
of the Slavi fixed themselves on the Vol-
chof, and founded the well-known city of
Novgorod. Of neither tribe do we pos-
sess any regular accounts till about the
middle of the 9th century. According
to the Russian historians the Slavi were
completely subjected about the year 860,
by the Varages, or Varagians, a piratical
nation who dwelt upon tlie coasts of the
Baltic, under their leader, Rurik, who es-
tablished the seat of his government,
near the Volchof, at a place called Old
Ladoga, and who, with two other chiefs,
governed the conquered provinces. From
this period may be dated the commence-
ment of the Russian monarchy.

Nothing of much interest occurs in
Russian history till the time when Vla-

dimir, prince of northern Russia, acquir-
ed the undivided possession of all his
father's territories, which he widely ex-
tended, and became one of the most dis-
tinguished monarchs of the age. He
carried on a successful war with Poland.
By his victories, he extended and enrich-
ed his empire, and established the Chris-
tian religion, which had hitherto made
little progress in his dominions. He
himself was baptized by the name of
Basilius, and was married to the sister
(or the niece) of the Grecian emperors
Basilius and Constantine. If we can
credit history, after his conversion he
became quite another man, and led an
exemplary life of virtue and religion.
The establishment of Christianity, and
with it of arts and sciences, commerce,
and schools, forms the most memorable
event in the life of Vladimir, (and one of
the most important in the history of Rus-
sia,) who, considering the time in which
he lived, has with some justice been
called Vladimir the Great. In his old
age, he marched against a rebellious son,
on whom he had bestowed the government
of Novgorod ; but he died of grief upon
the road, after a long and glorious reign
of thirty -five years.

RUSSIA.

565

Before his death, Vladimir had divided
his extensive dominions among his twelve
sons, whom he had had by four wives,
reserving to himself and his immediate
heir the grand principality of Kief. The
consequences of this ill-judged distribu-
tion were dreadful. Disunion, conten-
tion, and almost perpetual warfare exist-
ed among his descendants.

The Poles and the Hungarians took
advantage of the intestine broils that
attended the dismemberment of the Rus-
sian monarchy, and made several suc-
cessful inroads. The Tartars likewise
made different irruptions into Russia, and
at length, under the Khan Batii com-
pletely overran it, and made themselves
masters of Kief and Novgorod. Although
the khan did not himself assume the
nominal dignity, he may be said to have
been sovereign, as he placed on the
throne any of the native princes whom
he pleased. Among a succession of
these, Alexander Yaroslavitch, prince of
Novgorod, was by far the most distin-
guished. He was installed Great Duke
of Russia by the Tartar khan in 1252,
and continued to reign till 1264. A vic-
tory which he had gained over the Livon-
ians and the Swedes in 1240, on the
banks of the river Neva, procured him
the honorable surname of Nevskii. He
is one of the tutelary saints of the Rus-
so-Greek church, and his memory is held
at this day in the greatest veneration.
After him followed a number of other
princes, as Yaroslaf III, Vassilii I,
Dmitrii H, Andrei III, Daniel, Georgii,
Dmitrii, Alexander II, &c, &;c, whose
times, like the past, had been disturbed
by internal commotions, and trifling war-
fares.

In 1328, Ivan Danilovitch, surnamed
Kalita, received the principalities of
Vladimir and Moscow from the Tartar
khan, and Moscow was then declared to
be the capital of all Russia. This city
had been founded in 1147, but was
greatly improved, especially the Kremle
by Ivan, who also established the dignity
of metropolitan, and founded the cathe-
drals of the Assumption, of St. Michael,
and of the Transfiguration in this city.
He was succeeded in 1353 by Ivan II,
whose reign, which had been tranquil,

tenninated with his death, by the plague,
in 1358. An intrigue of ten years fol-
lowed, and was accompanied with its
common evils. About the year 1362,
Dmitrii obtained the great principality
from Hildir, khan of the Tartars. After
a reign of about two years he was depo-
sed, and it was given to the true heir
Dmitrii Donskoi.

Dmitrii Donskoi was the son of Ivan
II. His reign lasted twenty-six years,
with fame and glory. He is not reckon-
ed to have had great talents, but many
virtues, and to have been beloved of his
subjects. He became so powerful as to
have received the homage of almost all
the Russian princes. Proud of the in-
crease of his own power, and despising
the weakness of his rivals, he refused to
pay tribute to the Tartars. War was the
consequence between him and Mamai,
the khan. A dreadful battle was fought
on the Don, in which Dmitrii, after va-
rious success, was ultimately successful,
and hence received the surname Donskoi.
He had the misfortune, however, to see
Moscow taken and burned by the Tar-
tars under Tachtamish, in the year 1382,
when most of the inhabitants perished by
fire, water, or the sword, and the rest
were made prisoners. He died in 1389,
and was succeeded by his son Vassilii
(II.) During his reign, the Tartars made
another incursion into Russia, under the
famous Timur, or Tamerlane, who, after
having subdued all the neighboring Tar-
tar hordes, extended his conquests to the
Russian territories, took Moscow by as-
sault, and carried off immense plunder.
During this sovereign's reign Russia three
times experienced the horrors of the
plague, and oftener than once was exposed
to famine. Vassilii died in 1 425, and was
succeeded by his son Vassilii HI, sur-
named the Blind, who twice lost his
throne, was re-established upon it, and
died after a reign of thirty-seven years.

The latter end of the fifteenth century
forms a splendid epoch in the history of
Russia. From 1462 to 1505 reigned the
famous prince Ivan Vassilievitch, who, in
a second marriage, espoused Sophia,
daughter of Thomas Paleologus. At her
instigation he shook off the Tartar yoke,
attacked their territories, and made himself

566

RUSSIA

master of KazCin, where he was solemnly
crowned. This last event took place
about the year 1470, andled to a complete
emancipation from the dominions of the
Tartars. He extended his territories
immensely, and subjected Novgorod
after a seven years, siege, and there ob-
tained immense treasures. In his reign,
the knowledge of gun-powder, and the art
of casting cannon were introduced into
Russia by Aristotle of Bologna, who,
along with other foreigners, was employ-
ed to recoin the Russian money. Aris-
totle, Solarius, and others, at a vast ex-
pense, enclosed the Kremles of Moscow
and Novgorod with thick walls, for the
sake of greater security. After a reign
of forty-three-years, Ivdn was murdered
or died, in the 60th year of his age.

In the year 1505, his son Vassilii IV,
surnamed the Courageous, ascended his
father's throne. The Tartars not only
revolted, but with a mighty force entered
Russia, and carried their arms even to
the gates of Moscow, and forced the
sovereign to make presents and give a
promise of renewed allegiance. Soon
afterwards, however, VassiUi recovered
Kazdn, as well as Pskof, a town which
possessed considerable commerce and
wealth. Under his reign all the princi-
palities of Russia were united, and they
have ever since remained under the do-
minion of one sovereign. After a reign of
twenty-eight years Vassilii died, and was
succeeded by his son Iv^n (IV.) Vassilie-
vitch, who was afterwards surnamed the
Terrible, and by foreigners the Tyrant.
As he was only three years old, the
queen-mother was appointed regent during
his minority, an office for which she did
not possess the requisite talents. She
died in 1538, and afterwards when Ivan
had attained his seventeenth year, he as-
sumed the reins of government, secured
the domestic tranquillity of his dominions,
made himself master of the kingdoms of
Kaz^n and Astrach^n, and liberated for
ever his country from the thraldom of the
Tartars. In the year 1750, the inhabitants
of Novgorod were suspected of having
formed a conspiracy for surrendering the
city and the surrounding territory into the
hands of the king of Poland, and they
dearly feh the eflects of Ivdn's vengeance ;

25,000 of those who were implicated in
the plot, having suffered by the hands of
the executioner. With justice, there-
fore, this monarch was named the Terri-
ble or the Tyrant. He was at great
pains, however, to adopt measures for the
improvement and civilization of his peo-
ple, and his new code of laws called the
Soodebnik, is well known even at this
day. He sent an embassy to the empe-
ror of Germany, on purpose to request
him to permit a number of German ar-
tists, mechanics, and literary characters
to establish themselves in Russia ; but in
consequence of measures taken by the
jealous inhabitants of Lubeck, few of
them reached Moscow. Ivan engaged
in a war with Sweden, for the posses-
sion of Finland, in which he reaped lit-
tle advantage. He invited some English-
men to Moscow, who, when on a voy-
age of discovery, had landed on the
shores of the White Sea, near the situa-
tion of Archangel, and treated them in
the kindest manner. In consequence of
this, and of his great esteem for the Eng-
lish, a new commerce was established
between Russia and England. In the
reign of Ivdn, Siberia was also conquer-
ed by the brave Yermak with his band of
plunderers, and afterwards presented to
the Tsar, a title which, according to some
accounts, he was the first to assume. But
he also endured reverses. In his time,
Russia was invaded by the Tartars, and
even Moscow was plundered, and com-
pletely burned, and above 120,000 citi-
zens, besides women and children and
foreigners, were also burned or buried in
the ruins. The Livonians, Poles, and
Swedes, having united in a league against
the Russians, gained great advantages
over them ; but peace afterwards ensued.
Soon after these events the tsar was de-
feated in an engagement with the Tar-
tars, and died in the year 1584, when his
eldest son Pheodor, a weak prince, be-
came possessor of the throne. He had
married the sister of Boris Godunof, a
man of great ambition, immense riches,
and considerable talents, and who aimed
at the imperial dignity, which he ulti-
mately attained. The young prince Drai-
trii, only brother of Pheodor, suddenly
disappeared, and it is generally supposed

RUSSIA.

567

that he was assassinated by order of Bo-
ris. Pheodor soon afterwards died, in
1598 ; and it was strongly suspected
that he had been poisoned by his brother-
in-law. With him ended the family of
Rurik, a dynasty which had possessed
the sovereign power in Russia ever since
the establishment of the principality by
that Varagian chief. As there was now
no hereditary successor to the vacant
throne, by the artifice and intrigues of his
partisans, Boris Godunof, succeeded in
his place of being elected tsar ; an hon-
or of which he proved himself not un-
worthy, if we could overlook the means
by which he ascended the throne. In
every way he endeavored to advance
the interests of his nation, and to improve
the state of his people, as by the extension
of commerce, and the encouragement of
arts and sciences and manufactures. He
made himself respected abroad, and re-
ceived ambassadors from almost all the
powers of Europe, and concluded an ad-
vantageous alliance with Sweden. His
reign, however, was rendered unhappy
by one of the most dreadful famines on
record, and by the successful operations
of Otrepief, a monk, who represented
himself as the murdered Dmitrii, the son
of the late tsar, and the heir of the crown.
Boris, unable to resist the torrent of
public opinion in favor of his rival, is
said to have taken poison, which caused
his death in the year 1605. Though his
son Pheodor was placed upon the throne
by the principal nobility, yet the party
of the false Dmitrii, as he is generally
called, was so strong that the new tsar was
dethroned, within six weeks after his ac-
cession, and with his mother and sister
was sent to prison.

Otrepief had now attained the summit
of his ambitious hopes, and made his en-
try into Moscow with the utmost magni-
ficence, attended by his Russian adhe-
rents and his Polish friends. He is said
to have caused the death of the dethron-
ed Pheodor, as well as that of his sister
by strangulation. The new tsar, though
he possessed abilities, lost the hearts of
the Russians by his extreme imprudence,
and at length turned them against him.
The populace, incensed by the clergy,
declaimed against Dmitrii as a heretic,

and Shuiskii, a nobleman, who had been
condemned to death by the tsar, but had
afterwards been pardoned, put himself at
the head of the enraged mob, and attack-
ed the tsar's palace. Dmitrii, as well
as his closest adherents, were killed. By
interest, cunning, and intrigue, Vassilii
Shuiskii secured his election, as the Rus-
sian historians afl'ect to call it, to the
vacant throne. His reign was short,
uninteresting, and greatly disturbed by
factions, and by the pretensions of other
two factitious Dmitriis, who successively
declared themselves to be either the late
tsar, or the prince whom he had caused
to be assassinated. While the country was
in confusion, and quite distracted, Russia
was invaded by the Poles, who deposed
Shuiskii, made him prisoner, and sent
him to Poland, where he died in the year
1612. His fate excited little regret, be-
cause of the false part he had acted to-
wards Otrepief, who had saved his life,
although himself an usurper.

The state of Russia at the beginning of
the seventeenth century, Avas at first most
melancholy, but afterwards most glorious.
One usurper followed another. Shuiskii
was deposed and a prisoner ; Moscow
without a sovereign, was pillaged, and
occupied by the Poles ; the great Nov-
gorod was seized by the Swedes ; and
the whole kingdom was in a state of an-
archy and confusion. Notliing seemed
to be anticipated but the final partition, or
the entire annihilation of the empire,
when suddenly and unexpectedly her
liberators appeared. Kosma Minin, a
butcher of Nijnii Novgorod, roused by
the highest patriotism, resolved to deliver
his country from her enemies, or to sacri-
fice his all in the attempt. He inspired
his countrymen with the same sentiments,
who immediately contributed their prop-
erty to bear the general charge, or act for
the general good. The old gave their
benediction to the young ; wives received
the oaths of their husbands and children
to conquer or die for their coimtry ; fe-
males, old and young, divested themselves
of their ornaments, their pearls, and pre-
cious stones ; and the citizens transported
their most valuable effects to a general
depot. Prince Pojarskii, who had dis-
tinguished himself during the reign of

568

RUSSIA.

the Tsar Shuiskii, was chosen as com-
mander of numerous troops, which were
rapidly assembled. He conducted them
to Moscow, vanquished the Poles in va-
rious engagements, and liberated Russia
from the thraldom of her enemies.

Though there had been divisions among
the nobles as to the choice of a sovereign,
especially whether they should have a
Polish or a Swedish prince, the most
powerful party were desirous of elevating
to the throne a native Russian, a distant
relation of the ancient family of the
Tsars, whose father Philaretes, was me-
tropolitan of Rostof. This young noble
at first declined the high destiny, but at
length ascended the throne, with almost
general consent, and was the first of the
present family and dynasty, Romanof,
whose descendants have raised the em-
pire to a state of grandeur and importance
unequalled in any former period.

Assisted by the sage councils of his
venerable father, Michail Phoedorovitch,
he avoided those disasters which had
overwhelmed his immediate predecessors,
and acquired the affection and love of
his subjects. He formed useful treaties
of alliance with the principal commercial
states of Europe. His reign of thirty-
two years was prosperous for his country
and glorious to himself. Under his sway
Russia acquired a hitherto unknown im-
portance in the scale of nations. At his
death in 1645 or 1646,he was succeeded
by one of the most distinguished princes
of the present dynasty, the Tsar, Alexei
Michailovitch, who was only fifteen years
of age. Morosof, a nobleman of conse-
quence, had been appointed his governor
and regent of the empire ; but by neglect-
ing his duties, he became very unpopular,
and, but for the special entreaty of the
Tsar, he would have fallen a sacrifice to
the rage of the multitude. Alexei in-
creased and strengthened the empire, by
introducing a more regular discipline into
the army, and by revising, amending, and
new-modelling the code of laws, the
Soodehnik, compiled by Ivdn Vassilievitch
IV, which was now known under the
name of Ullojenive (or code of laws.)
He invited foreign officers into his ser-
vice, and procured ship-builders from
Amsterdam, who were employed in con-

structing vessels for the Caspian sea,
and greatly encouraged commerce. He
waged war with the Poles, and with the
Swedes, which terminated in peace. He
also led his army against the Turks, and
left the prosecution of the war to his
successor. His merits have been much
overlooked, and especially by the adula-
tors of Peter the Great ; for it cannot be
doubted, by the impartial records of Rus-
sian history, that some of the improve-
ments, attributed to Peter, originated with
his grandfather, Alexei. When he was
removed by death from the throne, he left
behind him three sons and six daughters.
Two of the sons, Pheodor and Ivan, were
by a first marriage ; the third, Peter, was
by a second.

About the middle of the year 1689,
Peter, who had now attained his 17th
year, succeeded in securing to himself
the undivided sovereignty. His brother
Iv^n, though still nominally Tsar, had
voluntarily resigned all participation in
the administration of affairs, and with-
drawn to a life of obscurity. The first
objects to which Peter directed his atten-
tion, were the establishment of a regular
and well-disciplined army, and the con-
struction of a navy. Lefort, a Genevese,
and Gordon, a Scotchman, were of emi-
nent service to him for the organization
of the army ; and he spared neither trouble
nor expense so as to acquire a navy. As
has been related in his life, he travelled
into foreign countries, and worked like a
common carpenter in the dock-yards, that
he might become master of ship-building.
He prosecuted the war against the Turks
with vigor and success, and made him-
self master of Azof. He formed a plan,
with Augiistus king of Poland, and Fred-
erick king of Denmark, to deprive the
young and inexperienced Charles XII,
of his dominions, in which they entirely
failed. Indeed, at Narva, with a very
small body of troops, Charles obtained a
most signal victory over an immense
Russian army. After this Peter evacua- I
ted all the provinces that he had invaded. ^

Instructed, however, by disasters and
skirmishes, in which he was at times
victorious, Peter's troops at length de-
feated the Swedes, which animated them
with new courage. Notwithstanding this,

RUSSIA

569

they siijffered a disgraceful defeat near
the Dneper, when the northern Tsar was
glad to make overtures for an accommo-
dation. The advance of Charles XII,
to within a hundred leagues of Moscow,
— his deception by the traitor, Mazeppa,
ataman of the Koz^ks, who promised
more assistance than he could give — the
difficulties and hardships his army en-
countered near the river Disne, in a forest
above forty leagues in extent, and filled
with rocks, mountains, and marshes —
and his signal deleat, after gaining differ-
ent victories at the battle of Poltava, are
well-known events. Charles escaped
with great difficulty, and at length reached
Otchakof, on the frontiers of Turkey.
While Peter was reaping the advantages
of his victory, Charles found an invalu-
able friend in Achmet II, who then filled
the throne of the east. In 1711, this
sovereign assembled an immense army,
and made preparations to invade Russia.
The Tsar having had intimation of his
desigii, and expecting to receive great
assistance from Kantemir, hospodar of
Moldavia, and a vassal of the Porte, re-
solved to anticipate the Turks, and by
rapid marches advanced as far as Yassy,
the capital of that province, situated on
the Preuth. Here he was surrounded,
and but for the prudent and sage counsels
of his consort Catharine I, he would most
probably have been taken prisoner, or
reduced to the most humiliating terms.
But by the treaty which was concluded,
Peter was extricated from a dangerous
enemy, and returned to his capital. Three
years after the death of Charles, in 1718,
a peace was concluded between Russia
and Sweden. The Swedes ceded to
Russia, Livonia, Esthonia, and Ingria, or
part of Karelia, the territory of Wiburgh,
the isle of Oesel, and all the other islands
in the Baltic, from Courland to Wiburgh.
For these concessions they received back
Finland, which had been conquered by
Peter, together with 2,000,000 dollars,
and obtained some privileges.

After leading one of the most active,
extraordinary, and useful lives as a sover-
eign, and repeatedly having known the
extremes of good and bad fortune, Peter
died in the year 1725. He well merited
the cognomen, the Great, as well as the
73

title of emperor, which he^rst assumed,
and which has been ever since continued
to his successors. In his public charac-
ter, Peter must be allowed to have been
a great politician, statesman, and general,
although he made some important blun-
ders in all these capacities. He did not
civilize his people, as is generally stated ;
but he laid, or extended widely, the basis
of their civilization. Upon this basis a
structure has been gradually rearing,
which, it is to be hoped, will continue to
prosper through a succession of reigns,
until the demi-civilized inhabitants of the
north shall be entitled to rank with the
other states of Europe. He formed a
navy in his empire ; re-organised an ar-
my ; promulgated useful laws ; protected,
and, to a certain extent, purified the re-
ligion of his country ; introduced and
fostered arts and sciences, and literature ;
and he ardently and successfully promo-
ted the general improvement of Russia.
He founded Petersburgh, and made it his
residence, and the capital. He extended
the commerce of his empire, and gave
every encouragement to trade and manu-
factures. He made canals, repaired
roads, instituted regular posts, and gave
regulations for a uniformity of weights
and measures.

Peter was succeeded by his consort
Catharine I, who had previously shown
herself worthy of the imperial throne.
During the reign of her spouse, she was
distingaiished as a woman of a dignified
and noble character. After she ascended
the throne, she prosecuted, with vigor
and prudence, the plans commenced by
Peter the Great. Her short reign of two
years was characterized by forbearance
and mercy. Peter the Great's grandson,
Peter II, when only twelve years of age,
succeeded Catharine. His reign of three
years' duration was more distinguished
by court intrigue than interesting events.
He died of the small-pox, when on the
eve of his marriage in 1730. During the
latter part of his reign he held his court
at Moscow, a measure which gave great
satisfaction to the nobles.

The male issue of Peter being now
extinct, the duke of Holstein, son to Pe-
ter's oldest daughter, by the declaration
of the late empress, was entitled to tho

570

RUSSIA.

crown ; but. *Jie Russians, for political
reasons, filled the throne with Ann,
duchess of Courland, second daughter to
Ivan, Peter's eldest brother. Her reign
was extremely prosperous, and though
she accepted the crown under limitations
that were thought derogatory to her dig-
nity, yet she broke through them all, and
asserted the prerogatives of her ances-
tors. She was governed by her favorite
Biron, whom she raised to the duchy of
Courland. She had considerable influ-
ence in the affairs of Poland ; she nar-
rowly escaped a war with France ; she
ceded the territories on the shores of the
Caspian, which had been seized by Pe-
ter the Great, in consideration of some
privileges granted to the Russian mer-
chants ; she maintained a war against the
Turks, and, after one army had been se-
verely beat in the Krimea, she sent new
forces, who overcame the Tartars, and
desolated that peninsula ; she took Otch-
akof, and subdued Moldavia ; and after
the loss of above 100,000 men, and vast
sums of money, she concluded a treaty
with the Porte, by virtue of which Mol-
davia and Otchakof were given back, and
Russia gained nothing, except permission
to build a fortress upon the Don.

At the death of Ann in the year 1740,
Ivan Antonovitch, the son of her niece,
the princess Mecklenburgh, by her will,
succeeded to the throne. Biron, duke
of Courland, was at first regent ; but he
being unpopular, it was no difficult mat-
ter for that princess, assisted by her hus-
band, to accomplish his banishment to
Siberia, and for herself to assume the
administratorship.

But Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the
Great by Catharine, had a powerful par-
ty, by whose assistance she assumed the
throne, while the prince and princess of
Mecklenburgh were sent into banishment.
The young prince Ivan was kept in con-
finement, and afterwards murdered in the
castle of Schusselberg. Soon after her
accession, Elizabeth nominated as her
successor to the throne, Charles Peter
Ulric, son of the duke of Holstein Got-
torp, by Anne, daughter of Peter the
Great. This prince was accordingly in-
vited into Russia, became a member of
the Greek church was baptized by the

name of Peter Pheodorovitch, and pro-
claimed grand duke of Russia, and heir
of the empire, in the fortieth year of his
age. Soon afterwards he was married
to Sophia Augusta Frederica, daughter
of Cliristian Augustus, prince of Anhalt-
Zerbst-Donburg, who became the famous
princess Catharine II. By the death of
Charles XII, emperor of Germany, Ma-
ria Theresa, queen of Hungary, was left
at the mercy of the enterprising king of
Prussia, but was assisted by Elizabeth,
who entered into a confederacy, and sent
a body of troops into Germany.

Elizabeth died on the 5th of January,
1762, the victim of disease, brought on
by intemperance. The empress Ann
had given an unworthy example of keep-
ing favorites, which has been followed by
all the subsequent princesses who have
swayed the sceptre of Russia, and in a
more open manner than is sanctioned by
the custom of civilized nations. Eliza-
beth had her portion of them, and her
conduct deserves reprobation. She is
said to have possessed an extraordinary
share of humanity ; and during her reign,
punishment by death was unknown, in
consequence of a vow she had made,
and wliich led to numerous abuses and
enormities in the civil, military, and naval
departments. Though she was a woman
of no talents, her reign was prosperous ;
and the same means, as in the time of
her immediate predecessors, were con-
tinued with the view of improving and
civilizing her people. In the year 1758,
the Academy of Arts, now one of the
most magnificent establishments in the
universe, was founded at Petersburgh.
Fond of music, she encouraged its culti-
vation, and she laid the foundation of a
Russian theatre. She was also a great
patroness of architecture. She followed
the same policy as her predecessors, in
encouraging foreigners to come and set-
tle in her empire. But the army was
much neglected ; and a kind of inquisi-
tion, under the specious name of a secret
state chancery, was instituted, which led
to the most flagrant abuses.

The grand duke Peter III ascended
the throne of Russia on the demise of
Elizabeth in 1762. His whole life shows
that he was a feeble prince. He attempt-

RUSSIA.

571

ed many premature and foolish innova-
tions, and by that means disgusted his
people. By his inconstancy he lost the
affections of his wife, a lovely and accom-
plished princess in the prime of life.
Assisted by the wily princess Dashkof,
and by some officers, especially the Or-
lofs, she formed a party, and, to avoid
imptisonment and perhaps death, she
succeeded in the dethronement of her
husband. On this occasion, but for the
greatest pusillanimity, Peter would have
regained his crown, and escaped a cruel
and barbarous death by poison adminis-
tered to him while a prisoner at Ropsha,
not far from St. Petersburgh. He only en-
joyed the imperial dignity three months,
and thus ingioriously fell in the 34th year
of his age.

After Catharine had ascended the throne,
her conduct was cautious and judicious,
gentle and magnanimous, even to her de-
clared enemies. From motives of policy
she maintained the treaty of peace with
Frederic, which had been concluded with
Elizabeth. She appears to have had
considerable uneasiness at the chance of
Ivan's being set at liberty. Greater vigi-
lance was employed in gTiarding him in
the castle of Schusselberg ; and he was
afterwards assassinated, in consequence
of the failure of badly concerted mea-
sures for his deliverance. Whether his
death is to be imputed to the empress and
her counsellors is still matter of dispute.

When firmly seated upon the throne,
Catharine proved herself worthy of the
high destination, and her reign was one
of the most brilliant in the annals of time.
Her private character seems to have been
excellent, except the outrage she did to
her sex and to morality by openly adopt-
ing in succession, a number of declared
favorites.

Among the most memorable events of
Catharine's reign are to be enumerated,
the establishment of a new code of laws
for her dominions, however badly they
were administered ; the maintenance of i
a seven years' war with the Turks ; the [
unexpected and extraordinary destruction
of the Turkish fleet at Tchesme, by the
Russian fleet under the command of count j
Alexei Orlof, but chiefly directed by the
counsels of the British admiral Greig ;

the division of the empire into vice-roy-
alities ; the visit of the emperor Joseph
to Russia ; the establishment of public
schools throughout her realms ; the erec-
tion of the justly celebrated monument of
Peter the Great ; the capture of the Kri-
mea ; the receiving under her protection
the dominions of Heraclius H, tsar of
Kartalinia and Kachetia ; the institution
of the imperial Russian academy ; the
repair of roads throughout the empire ;
the establishment of a loan bank for
the accommodation of the nobles and
the burghers ; her visit to the south of
Russia and to the Krimea ; the capture
of part of the Kubdn, and of all the ter-
ritory between the Boog, the Dnester,
and the Black Sea, from the Turks and
their adherents, after a series of victo-
ries ; the obtaining of various advantages
over the Swedes, both by sea and land,
and then the conclusion of a peace ; her
participation in the dismemberment of
Poland after a successful but cruel war ;
the conclusion of a treaty of defensive al-
liance between Russia and Great Britain
in 1795; the successful invasion of the
Persian territories and her subsequent
defeat ; and, finally, her sudden disease,
which was followed by death.

Catharine II died on the 9th of Nov.
1796, and the grand duke Paul, or rath-
er Pavel Petrovitch, was seated on the
throne in the fortieth year of his age, to-
tally ignorant of the duties he had to per-
form, in consequence of having been
obliged by his mother's will, to pass much
time in obscurity and retirement. His
politics and general conduct were very
blameable. In consequence of his ex-
traordinary actions, by many he was
reckoned a fool and a madman, while
others have spoken of him as a misgui-
ded man of uncommon penetration, ge-
nius, and rectitude, whose grand plans
were not allowed to develope themselves ;
and which were calculated to have ren-
dered him one of the brightest orna-
ments of his country. The chief politi-
cal events of his life were his diifering
with England in 1797; his contrivance
to become grand master of the order of
St. John of Jerusalem, in 1798; the
sending of a Russian army under field-
marshal Suvdrof to join the Austrian ar-

572

RUSSIA.

my in Italy ; and his declaration of war
against England.

Panl's conduct became daily more and
more singular and tyrannical. The demi-
barbarous but brave Suvdrof is supposed
to have fallen a victim to his caprice, and
the atamfin of the Kozaks, the celebrated
Platoff, had nearly shared a similar fate.
Others in power and favor had sufTered
sndden and great reverses, and no indi-
vidual could lie down to quiet rest, as he
knew not what might be his fate before
the dawn of day. The regulations of
the emperor with respect to dress and
salutations, and the exercise of his po-
lice in seeing his errors executed, would
fill volumes with ridiculous anecdotes,
and have been a great source of amuse-
ment for travellers. Dr. Clarke's works
are peculiarly rich on these subjects,
which are highly absurd and amusing.

Some of the nobles who had suffered
private injuries, and who persuaded them-
selves that they would render a most im-
portant service to their country, conspired
and effected Paul's death in the most de-
termined and barbarous manner, while in
his new palace of St. Michael, and on
the 11th March, O. S. 1801.

Early on the following morning, Alex-
ander was proclaimed emperor of all the
Russias, and ascended the throne in his
24th year, beloved by all classes of his
siTbjecls. Mildness and forbearance were
the characteristic of the first acts of his
government. He arrested the power of
the senate, and recalled those who were
innocent from banishment. He cultiva-
ted the friendship and entered into ami-
cable arrangements with the states of
Europe, and he adopted every measure j
which might pi'ocure advantages to his i
empire. vSome of the most remarkable j
deeds of his commencing reign, were
his taking oft' the embargo which had j
been laid by Paul on British vessels ;
his entering into a treaty of commerce
with Sweden ; his guaranteeing the sov-
ereignity of Malta to the knights of St.
John of Jerusalem ; his ])roclamation of
the union of Georgia to the empire ; his
sending two vessels round the world on
a voyage of discovery under the com-
mand of captain Krusenstern ; and the
emancipation of the Jews from the shack-

les under which they had long groaned,
and allowing them various privileges.

After some disputes with France, war
was declared, and an alliance formed be-
tween Russia and Austria, as also between
Russia and Great Britain. The king of
Prussia and the king of Sweden soon
afterwards entered into an alliance with
Alexander. It was expected that by the
united forces of these sovereigns. Napo-
leon would have been hurled from his
throne or compelled to listen to equitable
terms of pacification. The allied forces
were, however, defeated, and a treaty of
peace between Russia and France was
concluded at Tilsit in 1807, where Na-
poleon and Alexander had a meeting.
After this a rupture between Great Bri-
tain and Russia took place. An embargo
was, in consequence, laid upon all Brit-
ish vessels. Sweden having refused to
comply with the requests of France and
Russia, to abandon her alliance with
Great Britain, Russia marched an army
into Sweden, which, though checked in
its progress of hostility, proved but too
successful. In 1808 the two emperors
Napoleon and Alexander, held a second
meeting near Erfurt. In 1 809 the junc-
ture between Russia and Austria was
broken, because this power had carried
on war against France. Peace was con-
cluded whh Sweden, by which Russia
acquired Finland as far as the river Tor-
neo with the Aland islands. In 1810, a
new form was given to the imperial coun-
cil, and by a manifesto, a part of Gallacia
was taken under protection. In 1811
considerable changes took place with
the ministers and the colleges, and the
beautiful cathedral of the mother of God
of Kazan, which was founded by Paul,
and built after the plan of a Russian
bondsman, was consecrated. The army
of the grand vizier, consisting of 35,000
men, became prisoners to the Russians,
who were protecting Imeritia and Bes-
sarabia, and peace was concluded in 1812.
Shortly afterwards peace was likewise
concludedbetween Britain and Russia, and
then commenced the preparations for the
grand struggle of the European powers.

With an army of nearly half a million
of men, collected from almost every na-
tion in Europe, Napoleon advanced to the

RUSSIA.

573

conquest of Russia. The first action of
importance was at Smolensk, which the
Russians themselves set on fire, as they
were forced to abandon it. The bloody-
battle of Borodino was next fought, {see
France,) which compelled the Russians
to abandon Moscow.

On the 14th of September, 1812, while
the rear-guard of the Russians were in
the act of evacuating Moscow, Napoleon
reached the hill called the Mount of Sal-
vation, because it is there where the na-
tives kneel and cross themselves at first
sight of the Holy City.

Moscow seemed lordly and striking as
ever, with the steeples of its thirty church-
es, and its copper domes glittering in the
sun ; its palaces of Eastern architecture,
mingled with trees, and surrounded with
gardens ; and its Kremlin, a huge trian-
gular mass of towers, something between
a palace and a castle, which rose like a
citadel out of the general mass of groves
and buildings. But not a chimney sent
up smoke, not a man appeared on the
battlements, or at the gates. Napoleon
gazed every moment, expecting to see a
train of bearded boyards arriving to fling
themselves at his feet, and place their
wealth at his disposal. His first excla-
mation was, " Behold at last that cele-
brated city !" — His next, " It was full
time." His army, less regardful of the
past or the future, fixed their eyes on the
goal of their wishes, and a shout of" Mos-
cow ! Moscow !" passed from rank to rank.

Meantime no one interrupted his medi-
tations, until a message came from Mu-
rat. He had pushed in among the Cos-
sacks, who covered the rear of the Rus-
sians, ar.d readily admitted to a parley
the chivalrous champion, whom they at
once recognized, havhig so often seen
him blazing in the van of the French cav-
airy. The message which he sent to Bo-
naparte intimated, that Miloradovitch
threatened to burn the town, if his rear was
not allowed time to march through it.
This was a tone of defiance. Napoleon,
however, granted the armistice, for which
no inhabitants were left to be grateful.

After waiting two hours, he received
from some French inhabitants, who had
hidden themselves during the evacuation,
the strange intelligence that Moscow was

deserted by its population. The tidings
that a population of two hundred and fifty
thousand persons had left their native
city was incredible, and Napoleon still
commanded the boyards, the public func-
tionaries, to be brought before him ; nor
could he be convinced of what had actu-
ally happened, till they led to his pres-
ence some of that refuse of humanity, the
only live creatures they could find in the
city, but they were wretches of the low-
est rank. When he was at last convinced
that the desertion of the capital was uni-
versal, he smiled bitterly, and said, " The
Russians will soon learn better the value
of their capital."

The signal was now given for the
troops to advance ; and the columns, still
in a state of wonder at the solitude and
silence which received them every where,
penetrated through that assemblage of
huts, mingled with palaces, where it
seemed that Penury, which had scarce
means to obtain the ordinary necessaries
of life, had for her next door neighbor all
the wealth and profuse expenditure of
the East. At once the silence was bro-
ken by a volley of musketry, which some
miserable fanatics poured from the bat-
tlements of the Kremlin on the first
French troops that approached the pal-
ace of the Czars. These wretches were
most of them intoxicated ', j'^et the deter-
mined obstinacy with which they threw
away their lives, was another feature of
that rugged patriotism of which the French
had seen, and were yet to see, so many
instances.

When he entered the gates of Moscow,
Bonaparte, as if unwilling to encounter
the sight of the empty streets, stopt im-
mediately on entering the first suburb.
His troops were quartered in the deso-
late city. During the first few hours after
their arrival, an obscure rumor, which
could not be traced, but one of those
which are sometimes found to get abroad
before the approach of some awful cer-
tainty, announced that the city would be
endangered by fire in the course of the
night. The report seemed to arise from
those evident circumstances which ren-
dered the event probable, but no one took
any notice of it, until at midnight, when
the soldiers were startled fiom their quar-

574

RUSSIA.

Napoleon mewing the conflagration of Moscow.

ters by the report that the town was in
flames. The memorable conflagration
began amongst the coachmakers' ware-
houses and workshops in the Bazaar, or
general market, which was the richest
district of the city. It was imputed to
accident, and the progress of the flames
was subdued by the exertions of the
French soldiers. Napoleon, who had
been roused by the tumult, hurried to the
spot, and when the alarm seemed at an
end, he retired, not to his former quar-
ters in the suburbs, but to the Kremlin,
the hereditary palace of the only sove-
reign whom he had ever treated as an
equal, and over whom his successful
arms had now attained such an apparent-
ly immense superiority. Yet he did not
suffer himself to be dazzled by the ad-
vantage he had obtained, but availed
himself of the light of the blazing Ba-
zaar, to write to the emperor proposals
of peace with his own hand. They were
despatched by a Russian officer of rank,
who had been disabled by indisposition
from following the army. But no an-
swer was ever returned.

Next day the flames had disappeared,
and the French officers luxuriously em-
ployed themselves in selecting out of

the deserted palaces of Moscow, that
which best pleased the fancy of each for
his residence. At night the flames again
arose in the north and west quarters of
the city. As far the greater part of the
houses were built of wood, the conflagra-
tion spread with the most dreadful ra-
pidity. This was at first imputed to the
blazing brands and sparkles which were
carried by the wind ; but at length it was
observed, that, as often as the wind
changed, and it changed three times in
that terrible night, new flames broke al-
ways forth in that direction, where the
existing gale was calculated to direct
them on the Kremlin. These horrors
were increased by the chance of explo-
sion. There was, though as yet unknown
to the French, a magazine of powder in
the Kremlin ; besides that a park of ar-
tillery, with its ammunition, was drawn
up under the emperor's window. Morn-
ing came, and with it a dreadful scene.
During the whole night, the metropolis
had glared with an untimely and unnatu-
ral light. It was now covered with a
thick and suffocating atmosphere, of al-
most palpable smoke. The flames de-
fied the efforts of the French soldiery,
and it is said that the fountains of the

RUSSIA.

575

city had been rendered inaccessible, the
water-pipes cut, and the fire-engines de-
stroyed or carried off.

Then came the reports of fire-balls
having been found burning in deserted
houses ; of men and women, that, like
demons, had been seen openly spreading
the flames, and who were said to be fur-
nished with combustibles for rendering
their dreadful work more secure. Seve-
ral wretches against whom such acts had
been charged, were seized upon, and
probably, without much inquiry, were
shot on the spot. While it was almost
impossible to keep the roof of the Krem-
lin clear of the burning brands which
showered down the wind, Napoleon
watched from the windows the course
of the fire which devoured his fair con-
quest, and the exclamation burst from him,
" These are indeed Scythians !"

The equinoctial gales rose higher and
higher upon the third night, and extended
the flames, with which there was no
longer any human power of contending.
At the dead hour of midnight, the Krem-
lin itself was found to be on fire. A sol-
dier of the Russian police, charged with
being the incendiary, was turned over to
the summary vengeance of the Imperial
Guard. Bonaparte was then, at length,
persuaded, by the entreaties of all around
him, to relinquish his quarters in the
Kremlin, to which, as the visible mark of
his conquest, he had seemed to cling with
the tenacity of a lion holding a fragment
of his prey. He encountered both difli-
culty and danger in retiring from the pal-
ace, and before he could gain the city-
gate, he had to traverse with his suite
streets arched with fire, and in which the
very air they breathed was suffocating.
At length, he gained the open country,
and took up his abode in a palace of the
Czar's called Petrowsky, about a French
league from the city. As he looked back
on the fire, which, under the influence of
the autumnal wind, swelled and surged
around the Kj-emlin,like an infernal ocean
around a sable Pandemonium, he could
not suppress the ominous expression,
" This bodes us great misfortune."

The fire continued to triumph unop-
posed, and consumed in a few days what
it had cost centuries to raise. " Palaces

and temples," says a Russian author,
"monuments of art, and miracles of lux-
ury, the remains of ages which had pass-
ed away, and those which had been the
creation of yesterday ; the tombs of an-
cestors, and the nursery-cradles of the
present generation, were indiscriminate-
ly destroyed. Nothing was left of Mos-
cow save the remembrance of the city,
and the deep resolution to avenge its
fall.*

The fire raged till the 1 9th with una-
bated violence, and then began to slacken
for want of fuel. It is said, four-fifths of
this great city were laid in ruins.

This unexpected sacrifice on the part
of the Russians, caused the ruin of Napo-
leon. Being without quarters, and short
of provisions, he off'ered terms of peace.
The Russians replied, that they could
listen to no terms, while an enemy re-
mained in their country. No alternative
was now left but to retreat towards the
frontiers. One of the most distressing
scenes on human record, now followed.
A Russian winter, unusually severe, now
set in with all its horrors. The wretch-
ed soldiers pursued by the Russians,
overcome by hunger, cold, and fatigue,
sunk down by thousands, and were left
by their companions to perish amid the
Russian snows. About 30,000 horses
perished in one day by the severity of the
weather. The passage of the river Be-
resina, in the Russian province of Minok,
by the French, presented one of the most
horrible in modern warfare.

On the heights of Studzianka, Victor,
who commanded the French rear-guard,
amounting perhaps to 8,000 or 10,000
men, was prepared to cover the retreat
over the bridges. The right of this corps
d'armee rested on the river ; a ravine full
of bushes covered their front, but the left
wing had no point of support. It re-
mained, according to the military phrase,
in the air, and was covered by two regi-
ments of cavalry. Behind this defensive
line were many thousands of stragglers,
mingled with the usual followers of a
camp, and with all those individuals who,
accompanying, for various reasons, the

* Karamzin, a Russian historian of eminence,
whose works were e.x-pressly excepted from the
censorship, by the late emperor Alexander.

576

RUSSIA

French from Moscow, had survived the
horrors of the march. Women, children,
domestics, the aged and the infants, were
seen among the wretched mass, and wan-
dered by the side of this fatal river, like
the fabled spectres which throng the banks
of the infernal Styx, and seek in vain for
passage. The want of order, which it
was impossible to preserve, the breaking
of the bridges, and the time spent in the
repair — the fears of the unhappy wretch-
es to trust themselves to the dangerous
and crowded passages, had all operated
to detain them on the right bank. The
baggage, which, in spite of the quantity
already lost, of the difficulty of transpor-
tation, and of Napoleon's precise orders,
amounted still to a very great number of
carts, wains, and the like, and which was
now augmented by all that belonged to
the troops of Oudinot and Victor, was
seen, some filing towards the bridges,
and the greatar part standing in confusion
upon the shore. The artillery itself, such
as remained, was in no better state.

Such was the condition of matters at
the bridge, when Wittgenstein, after his
victory over Partouneaux, marching up the
right bank of the Beresina, engaged in
a fierce combat with the rear-guard under
Victor ; and the balls of the Russians
began to fall among the mingled and dis-
ordered mass which we have endeavored
to describe. It was then that the whole
body of stragglers and fugitives rushed
like distracted beings towards the bridges,
every feeling of prudence or humanity
swallowed up by the animal instinct of
self-preservation. The horrible scene
of disorder was augmented by the despe-
rate violence of those, who, determined
to make their own way at all risks, threw
down and trampled upon whatever came
in their road. The weak and helpless
either shrunk back from the fray, and sat
down to wait their fate at a distance, or
mixing in it, were thrust over the bridges,
crushed under carriages, cut down per-
haps with sabres, or trampled to death
under the feet of their countrymen. All
this while the action continued with fury,
and, as if the Heavens meant to match
their wrath with that of man, a hurricane
arose, and added terrors to a scene which
was already of a character so dreadful.

About mid-day the French, still brave-
ly resisting, began to lose ground. The
Russians, coming gradually up in strength,
succeeded in forcing the ravine, and com-
pelling them to assume^a. position nearer
the bridges. About the same time, the
larger bridge, that constructed for artille-
ry and heavy carriages, broke down, and
multitudes were forced into the water.
The scream of mortal agony, which arose
from the despairing multitude, became at
this crisis for a moment so universal,
that it rose shrilly audible over the noise
of the elements and the thunders of war,
above the wild whistling of the tempest,
and the sustained and redoubled hurras
of the Cossacks. The witness from
whom we have this information, declares
that the sound was in his ears for many
weeks. This dreadful scene continued
till dark, many being forced into the icy
river, some throwing themselves in, be-
twixt absolute despair, and the faint hope
of gaining the opposite bank by swimming,
some getting across only to die of cold
and exhaustion. As the obscurity came
on, Victor, with the remainder of his
troops, which was much reduced, quitted
the station he had defended so bravely,
and led them in their turn across. All
night, the miscellaneous multitude con-
tinued to throng across the bridge, under
the fire of the Russian artillery, to whom
even in the darkness, the noise which
accompanied their march made them a
distinct mark. At day-break, the French
engineer. General Eble, finally set fire to
the bridge. All that remained on the
other side, including many prisoners,
and a great quantity of guns and baggage,
became the prisoners and the prey of the
Russians. The amount of the French
loss was never exactly known ; but the
Russian report, concerning the bodies of
the invaders which were collected and
burnt as soon as the thaw permitted,
states that upwards of 36,000 were found
in the Beresina.

Napoleon after the passage of the Be-
resina, left the army and- travelled in dis-
guise to Paris.

The soldiers of the Imperial Guard,
who had hitherto made it their pride to
preserve some degree of discipline,
would, after the departure of Napoleon,

RUSSIA.

577

give obedience to no one else. Murat, to
whom the chief command had been dele-
gated, seemed scarcely to use it, nor
when he did was he obeyed. If Ney,
and some of the Mareschals, still retained
authority, they were only attended to from
habit, or because the instinct of disci-
pline revived when the actual battle drew
near. They could not, howcA^er, have
offered any effectual defence, nor could
they have escaped actual slaughter and
dispersion, had it not been for Loison's
troops, who coutinued to form the rear-
guard, and who, never having been on
the eastern side of the fatal Beresina,
had, amid great suffering, still preserved
sufficient discipline to keep their ranks,
behave like soldiers, and make them-
selves be respected, not only by the Cos-
sacks, but by Tchaplitz, Wittgenstein,
and the Russians detached from the main
army, who followed them close, and an-
noyed them constantly. The division of
Loison remained like a shield, to pro-
tect the disorderly retreat of the main
body.

Still, some degree of order is so es-
sential to human society, that, even in
that disorganized mass, the stragglers,
which now comprehended almost the
whole army, divided into little bands,
who assisted each other, and had some-
times the aid of a miserable horse, which
when it fell down under the burden of
what they had piled on it, was torn to
pieces and eaten, while lile was yet pal-
pitating in its veins. These bands had
chiefs selected from among themselves.
But this species of union, though advan-
tageous on the whole, led to particular
evils. Those associated into such a fra-
ternity, would communicate to none save
those of their own party, a mouthful of
rye-dough, which, seasoned with gun-
powder for want of salt, and eaten with |
a bouille of horse-flesh, formed the best
part of their food. Neither would they |
permit a stranger to warm himself at
their fires, and when spoil was found,
two of these companies often, especially
if of different countries, fought for the j
possession of it ; and a handful of meal
was a sufficient temptation for putting to
death the wretch who could not defend
his booty. The prisoners, it is said,
73

(and we heartily wish the fact could be
refuted,) were parked every night, with-
out receiving any victuals whatsoever,
and perished, like impounded cattle, from
want of food, cold, and the delirious fu-
ry which such treatment inspired. Among
these unfortunates some became canni-
bals, and the same horrible reproach has
been cast on the French themselves.

To enhance misfortunes so dreadful,
the cold, which had been for some time
endurable, increased on the 6th of De-
cember, to the most bitter degree of frost,
being twenty-seven or twenty-eight de-
grees below zero. Many dropped down
and expired in silence, the blood of others
was determined to the head by the want of
circulation ; it gushed at length from
eyes and mouth, and the wretches sunk
down on the gory snoAv, and were reliev-
ed by death. At the night bivouacs, the
soldiers approached their frozen limbs to
the fire so closely, that, falling asleep
in that postvire, their feet were scorched
to the bone, while their hair was frozen
to the ground. In this condition they
were often found by the Cossacks, and
happy were those upon whom the pursu-
ers bestowed a thrust with the lance to
finish their misery. Other horrors there
were, which are better left in silence.
Enough has been said to show, that such
a calamity, in such an extent, never be-
fore darkened the pages of history. In
this horrible retreat, twenty thousand re-
cruits had joined the army since cross-
ing the Beresina, where, including the
corps of Oudinot and Victor, they amount-
ed to 80,000 men. But of this sum of
80,000 men, one half perished betwixt
the Beresina and the walls of Wilna.

For an account of the subsequent events
respecting the overthrow and banishment
of Napoleon, see France. A congress
of allied sovereigns was held at Vienna in
Oct. 1814, the professed object of which
was to take measures to secure the re-
pose of Europe, and settle the bounda-
ries of the different kingdoms, &c. In
consequence of this congress, that part of
Gallacia acquired by Russia from Austria
in 1 809, was returned to that power, and
the greatest part of the principality of
Warsaw was then ceded to Russia. Po-
land, or that part of it over which the

578

SCOTLAND.

emperor of Russia extends his sway, has
since been called the Kingdom of Po-
land.

At Paris a general treaty of peace was
concluded by the associated sovereigns,
between Russia, Austria, England, and
Prussia, on the one side, and France on
the other ; in virtue of which the ancient
boundaries of France, as in 1790, were
again adopted, and 150,000 of the troops
of the allies were left in that kingdom for
five years in possession of seventeen for-
tresses, until the return of order and tran-
quillity. In 1815, the Holy Alliance, as it
is called, was formed between the empe-
rors of Russia, Austria, and the king of
Prussia, and some other powers after-
wards joined it. On the return of Alexander
to his capital, the new exchange, a large
and handsome edifice, was opened at Pe-
tersburgh with great ceremony, by his
majesty. In 1816, the emperor visited

part of his dominions and issued an
ukase, henceforth forbidding punishment
by tearing out the nostrils. In the winter
1817-18, the imperial court was held at
Moscow, and ever since, as before, at Pe-
tersburgh.

The emperor Alexander died Decem-
ber 1st, 1825, and was succeeded by Ni-
cholas I. In 1828 the Russians declared
war against the Turks. The Russian com-
mander, Diebitsch, gained a number of vic-
tories over the Turks, particularly one
near Shumla, in which 4,000 Turks were
killed. Diebitsch leaving Shumla, passed
the Balkan mountains, and took posses-
sion of Adrianople. Constantinople now
lying open to the Russians, the Turkish
sultan Mahmoud II, was obliged to make
peace with the Russians on humiliating
terms. Since this period, they have been
engaged in warfare with the Poles and
Persians.

SCOTLAND,

There is reason to believe that the
first inhabitants of Scotland were of
Celtic origin. About the first or second
century before Christ, a Gothic race,
known by the name of Picts, settled in
Scotland, and probably established them-
selves by the conquest of the original
Celts, as the Danes and Ostmen in
general did, in after times, in Britain
and Ireland. Hence, the low country of
Scotland derives its Saxon, or rather Da-
nish language, the very language which
it possesses to this day. These were
the Caledonians, who so long and suc-
cessfully resisted the invasions of the
Romans.

The history of Scotland, before the
reign of Malcolm Ill.surnamed Canmore,
is obscure, from the deficiency of histori-
cal records. This prince, by the defeat
of Macbeth, the murderer of his father
Duncan, succeeded to the throne in 1057 ;
and espousing the cause of Edgar Athe-
ling, heir of the Saxon kings of England,
whose sister he married, he thus pro-
voked a war with William the Conqueror,

which was equally prejudicial to both
kingdoms. In an expedition of Malcolm
into England, it is alleged that, after con-
cluding a truce, he was compelled by
William to do homage for his kingdom.
The truth is, that this homage was done
for the territories in Cumberland and
Northumberland won by the Scots, and
held in vassalage of the English crown,
though this homage was afterwards ab-
surdly made the pretext of a claim of
feudal sovereignty over all Scotland. In
a reign of twenty-seven years, Malcolm
supported a spirited contest with England,
both under William I, and his son Rufus ;
and to the virtues of his queen Margaret,
his kingdom, in its domestic policy, owed
a degree of civilization remarkable in
those ages of barbarism.

Alexander I, his son and successor,
defended, with equal spirit and good poli-
cy, the independence of his kingdom ;
and his son David I, celebrated even by
the democratic Buchanan, as an honor
to his country and to monarchy, won from
Stephen, and annexed to his crown, the

SCOTLAND.

579

whole earldom of Northumberland. In
those reigns we hear of no claim of the
feudal subjection of Scotland to the crown
of England; though the accidental for-
tune of war afterwards furnished a ground
for it. William I, (the Lyon,) taken pri-
soner at Alnwick by Henry II, was com-
pelled, as the price of his release, to do
homage for his whole kingdom ; an obli-
gation which his successor Richard vol-
untarily discharged, as deeming it to have
been unjustly extorted. ^

On the death of Alexander III, without
male issue, in 1285, Bruce and Baliol,
descendants of David I, by the female
line, were competitors for the crown, and
the pretensions of each were supported
by a formidable party in the kingdom.
Edward I, of England, chosen umpire of
the contest, arrogated to himself, in that
character, the feudal sovereignty of the
kingdom, compelling all the barons to
swear allegiance to him, and taking actual
possession of the country by his troops.
He then adjudged the crown to Baliol,
on the express condition of his swearing
fealty to him as lord paramount. Baliol,
however, soon after renouncing his alle-
giance, the indignant Edward invaded
Scotland with an immense force, and
compelled the weak prince to abdicate
the throne, and resign the kingdom into
his hands.

William Wallace, one of the greatest
heroes whom history records, restored
the fallen honors of his country. Joined
by a few patriots, his first successes in
attacking the English garrisons brought
numbers to his patriotic standard. Their
successes were signal and conspicuous ;
victory followed upon victory ; and while
Edward was engaged on the continent,
his troops were utterly defeated in a des-
perate engagement at Stirling, and forced
to evacute the kingdom. Wallace, the
deliverer of his country, now assumed
the title of Governor of Scotland under
Baliol, who was Edward's prisoner ; a
distinction which was followed by the
envy and disaffection of many of the no-
bles, and the consequent diminution of
his army. The Scots were defeated at
Falkirk, in 1298.

The English archers, who began about
this time to surpass those of other nations,

first chased the Scottish bowmen off the
field, afterwards threw the pikemen into
disorder, and thus rendered the assault
of the English lancers and cavalry more
easy and successful. The whole Scot-
tish army was broken, and driven off the
field with prodigious slaughter. In this
general rout Wallace kept his troops en-
tire; and retiring behind the Carron, he
marched leisurely along the banks of that
river. Young Robert Bruce, the grandson
and heir of him who had been competitor
for the throne, who, in the service of
England, had already given many proofs
of his aspiring genius, appeared on the
opposite banks; and distinguishing the
Scottish chief, he called to him, and de-
sired a short conference. He represented
to Wallace the fruitless and ruinous en-
terprise in which he was engaged, and
the unequal contest between a weak state,
deprived of its head and agitated by in-
testine discord, and a mighty nation con-
ducted by the ablest and most martial
monarch of the age. If the love of his
country was his motive for perseverance,
his obstinacy tended only to prolong her
misery ; if he carried his views to private
grandeur and ambition, he ought to reflect,
that so many haughty nobles, proud of
the pre-eminence of their families, would
never submit to personal merit. To these
exhortations Wallace replied, that, if he
had hitherto acted alone as the champion
of his country, it was because no leader
had yet appeared to place himself in that
honorable station ; that the blame lay
entirely with the nobility, and chiefly with
Bruce himself, who, uniting personal
merit with dignity of family, had deserted
the post which both nature and fortune
invited him to assume ; that the Scots,
possessed of such a leader, might hope
successfully to oppose all the powers and
abilities of Edward; and that as for him-
self, he was desirous that his own Ufe, as
well as the existence of the nation, might
terminate when they could not otherwise
be preserved, than by receiving the chains
of a haughty victor. The gallantry of
these sentiments was felt by the generous
mind of Bruce; and he secretly deter-
mined to seize the first opportunity of
embracing the cause of his oppressed
country.

580

SCOTLAND.

Interview between Wallace and Bruce.

The battle of Falkirk had not complet-
ed the subjection of the Scots. They
chose for their regent John Cummin, who
surprised the English army, and routed
them after an obstinate conflict, in 1299;
and it became necessary for Edward to
begin anew the conquest of the kingdom.

The king prepared himself for the en-
terprise with his usual vigor and abilities.
He marched victorious from one extremity
of Scotland to the other, and compelled
even Cummin himself to submit to his
authority. • To render his acquisition
durable, he abrogated all the laws and
customs of Scotland, endeavored to sub-
stitute those of England in their places,
entirely rased or destroyed all the monu-
ments of antiquity, and hastened wholly
to abolish the Scottish name.

Wallace himself was at length betTay-
ed into Edward's hands, in 1305, by his
friend Sir John Monteith ; and the king,
whose natural bravery and magnanimity
should have induced him to respect
similar qualities in an enemy, resolved to
overawe the Scots by an example of se-
verity. He ordered the hero to be car-
ried in chains to London ; to be tried as
a rebel and a traitor, though he had never
sworn fealty to England ; and to be exe-

cuted on Tower-hill. Such was the un-
worthy fate of Wallace, who, through the
course of several years, with signal
conduct, intrepidity, and perseverance,
defended, against a public and oppres-
sive enemy, the liberties of his native
country.

The barbarous policy of Edward failed
of the object to which it was directed.
The Scots were enraged at the injustice
and cruelty exercised on their gallant
chief ; and it was not long ere a more
fortunate leader presented himself to con-
duct them to victory and to vengeance.
Robert Bruce, whose conference with
Wallace on the banks of the Carron has
been already noticed, determined to i"e-
vive the pretensions of his family, and to
aspire to the vacant throne. Edward,
being apprised of his intentions, ordered
all his motions to be strictly watched.
An intimate friend of Bruce, not daring,
amidst so many jealous eyes, to hold any
com'ersalion with him, sent him by his
servant a pair of gilt spurs and a purse
of gold, which he pretended to have bor-
rowed from him; and left it to his sa-
gacity to discover the meaning. Bruce
immediately contrived to escape, and in
a few days arrived at Dumfries, the chief

SCOTLAND.

581

seat of his family interest, where he
found a great number of the Scottish no-
bility assembled, and among the rest John
Cummin, with whom he had formerly
lived in strict intimacy.

The noblemen were astonished at the
appearance of Bruce among them ; and
still more when he told them that he was
come to live or die with them in defence
of the liberties of his country. These
generous sentiments, assisted by the
graces of his youth and manly deport-
ment, impressed the minds of his audi-
ence ; and they resolved to use their ut-
most efforts in delivering their country
from bondage. Cummin alone, who had
secretly taken his measures with the king,
opposed this general determination ; and
Bruce, already apprised of his treachery,
followed Cummin on the dissolution of
the assembly, and attacking him in the
cloisters of the Grey Friars, ran him
through the body.

The murder of Cummin sealed the
conspiracy of the Scottish nobles. The
genius of the nation roused itself; and
Bruce was solemnly crowned at Scone
by the bishop of St. Andrews. The
English were again expelled the king-
dom ; and Edward found, that the Scots,
twice conqiiered in his reign, must yet
be afresh subdued. To effect this, he
assembled a great army, and was prepar-
ing to enter the frontiers, when he unex-
pectedly sickened and died near Carlisle,
in 1307, in the sixty -ninth year of his
age and the thirty-fifth of his reign.
With his last breath he enjoined his son
and successor to prosecute the enterprise,
and never to desist till he had finally sub-
dued the kingdom of Scotland.

Edward 11 was in the twenty-third
year of his age when he ascended the
throne. He was of an agreeable figure,
and of a mild and gentle disposition ; but
the first act of his reign blasted the hopes
which the English had entertained of
him. Equally incapable of, and averse
to business, he entered Scotland only to
retreat : he disbanded his army, without
attacking Bruce.

Immediately after Edward's retreat
from Scotland, Robert Bruce left his fast-
nesses ; and, in a short time, nearly the
whole kingdom acknowledged his au-

thority. The castle of Stirling, the only
fortress in Scotland which remained in
the hands of the English, was closely
pressed ; and to relieve this place, Ed-
Avard summoned his forces from all quar-
ters, and marched with an army of an
hundred thousand men. At Bannock-
burn, about two miles from Stirling, Bruce
with thirty thousand hardy warriors, in-
xu-ed to all the varieties of fortune, and
inflamed with the love of independence,
awaited the charge of the enemy. A
hill covered his right flank, and a morass
his left ; and along the banks of a rivulet
in his front he dug deep pits ; planted
them with stakes, and covered the whole
with turf. The English, confident in
their superior numbers, rushed to the at-
tack without precaution. Their cavalry,
entangled in the pits, were thrown into
disorder; and the Scottish horse, allow-
ing them no time to rally, attacked them,
and drove them off the field with con-
siderable loss. While the English forces
were alarmed at this unfortunate event,
an army appeared on the heights towards
the left, marching to surround them.
This was composed of wagoners and
sumpter-boys, whom Robert had supplied
with military standards. The stratagem
took effect; a panic seized. the English,
who threw down their arms, and fled,
and were pursued to the gates of Ber-
wick. Besides considerable booty, the
Scots took many persons of quality pris-
oners, and above four hundred gentlemen,
whose ransom was a new accession of
strength to the victors. This great and
decisive battle which took place in 1314,
secured the independence of Scotland,
and fixed the throne of Bruce.

In no country of Europe had the feu-
dal aristocracy attained to a greater height
than in Scotland. The power of the
greater barons, while it rendered them
independent, and often the rivals of their
sovereign, was a perpetual source of tur-
bulence and disorder in the kingdom. It
was, therefore, a constant policy of the
Scottish kings to humble the nobles, and
break their factious combinations. Rob-
ert I, attempted to retrench the vast ter-
ritorial possessions of his barons, by re-
quiring every landholder to produce the
titles of his estate ; but was resolutely

582

SCOTLAND.

answered that the sword was their char-
ter of possession.

On the death of Robert, in 1329, and
during the minority of his son David,
Edward Baliol, the son of John, formerly
king of Scotland, with the aid of Edward
III, of England, and supported by many
of the factious barons, invaded the king-
dom, and was crowned at Scone, while
the young David was conveyed for secu-
rity to France. The mean dependence
of Baliol on the English monarch de-
prived him of the affections of the peo-
ple. Robert the Steward of Scotland,
Randolph and Douglas, supported the
Brucian interest, and assisted by the
French, restored David to his throne ; a
prince destined to sustain many reverses
of fortune ; for in a subsequent invasion
of the English territory by the Scots,
David was taken prisoner in the battle of
Durham, and conveyed to London. He
remained for eleven years in captivity,
and witnessed the similar fate of a broth-
er monarch, John, King of France, taken
prisoner by the Black Prince in the battle
of Poictiers. David was ransomed by
his subjects, and restored to his kingdom
in 1357 ; and he ended a turbulent reign
in 1370-1. The crown passed at his de-
mise to his nephew Robert, the High
Steward of Scotland, in virtue of a des-
tination made by Robert I, with consent
of the States.

The reign of Robert II, which was of
twenty years duration, was spent in a
series of hostilities between the Scots
and English, productive of no material
consequence to either kingdom. The
weak and indolent disposition of his suc-
cessor, Robert III, who found himself
unequal to the contest with his factious
nobles, prompted him to resign the gov-
ernment to his brother the Duke of Al-
bany. This ambitious man formed the
design of usurping the throne by the
murder of his nephews, the sons of Robert.
The elder Rothsay, a prince of high spirit,
was imprisoned, on pretence of treasona-
ble designs, and starved to death. The
younger James escaped a similar fate
which was intended for him ; but on his
passage to France, whither he was sent
for safety by his father, he was taken by
an English ship of war and brought pris-

j oner to London. The weak Robert sunk
imder these misfortunes, and died 1405,
after a reign of fifteen years.
I James I, a prince of great natural en-
! dowments, profited by a captivity of eigh-
{ teen years at the court of England, in
I adorning his mind with every accomplish-
ment. At his return to his kingdom,
which in his absence had been weakly
governed by the Regent Albany, and suf-
fered under all the disorders of anarchy,
he bent his whole attention to the im-
provement and civilization of his people,
by the enactment of many excellent laws,
enforced with a resolute authority. The
factions of the nobles, their dangerous
combinations, and their domineering ty-
ranny over their dependents, the great
sources of the people's miseries, were
firmly restrained, and most severely pun-
ished. But these wholesome innova-
tions, while they procured to James the
affections of the nation at large, excited
the odium of the nobility, and gave birth
to a conspiracy, headed by the Earl of
Athole, the King's uncle, which termina-
ted in the murder of this excellent prince,
in the 44th year of his age, A. D. 1437.
His son James II, inherited a consid-
erable portion of the talents of his fath-
er ; and in the like purpose of restraining
the inordinate power of his nobles, pur-
sued the same maxims of government,
which an impetuous temper prompted
him, in some instances, to carry to the
most blameable excess. The earl of
Douglas, trusting to a powerful vassal-
age, had assumed an authority above the
laws, and a state and splendor rival to
those of his sovereign. He was seized,
and, without accusation or trial, behead-
ed. His successor imprudently running
the same career, and boldly justifying in
a conference, his rebellious practices,
was put to death by the king's own hand.
Thus were the factions of the nobles
quelled by a barbarous rigor of authority.
To his people James was beneficent and
humane, and his laws contributed mate-
rially to their civilization and prosperity.
He was killed in the 30th year of his
age, by the bursting of a cannon, in be-
sieging the castle of Roxburg, A. D. 1460.
His son James HI, without the talents
of his predecessors, affected to tread in

SCOTLAND.

583

the same steps. To humble his nobles,
he bestowed his confidence on mean fa-
vorites ; an insult which the former aven-
ged by rebellion. His brothers Albany
and Mar, aided by Edward IV, of Eng-
land, attempted a revolution in the king-
dom, which was frustrated only by the
death of Edward. In a second rebellion,
the confederate nobles forced the prince
of Rothsay, eldest son of James, to ap-
pear in arms against his father. In an
engagement near Bannockburn the re-
bels were successful, and the king was
slain, in the 35th year of his age, 1488.

James IV, a great a;nd most accom-
plished prince, whose talents were equal-
led by his virtues, while his measures of
government were dictated by a true spi-
rit of patriotism, won by a well placed
confidence the affections of his nobil-
ity. In his marriage with Margaret, the
daughter of Henry VII of England, both
sovereigns wisely sought a bond of amity
between the kingdoms ; but this purpose
was frustrated in the succeeding reign of
Henry VIII. The high spirit of the ri-
val monarchs was easily inflamed by
trifling causes of offence ; and France,
then at war with England, courted the
aid of her ancient ally. James invaded
England with a powerful army, which he
wished to lead to immediate action ; but
the prudent delays of Surrey, the Eng-
lish general, wasted and weakened his
force ; and in the fatal battle of Flodden,
the Scots were defeated with prodigious
slaughter. The gallant James perished
in the fight, and with him almost the
whole of the Scottish nobles, A. D. 1513.

Under the long minority of his son
James V, an infant at the time of his
father's death, the kingdom was feebly
ruled by his uncle Albany. The aris-
tocracy began to resume its ancient spi-
rit of independence, which was ill brook-
ed by a prince of a proud and uncontrol-
lable mind, who felt the keenest jealousy
of a high prerogative. With a systema-
tic policy, he employed the church to
abase the nobility, conferring all the offi-
ces of state on able ecclesiastics. The
cardinal Beaton co-operated with great
zeal in the designs of his master, and
under him ruled the kingdom.

Henry VIII, embroiled with the papa-

cy, sought an alliance with the king of
Scots, but the ecclesiastical counsellors
of the latter defeated this beneficial pur-
pose. A war was thus provoked, and
James was reluctantly compelled to court
those nobles whom it had hitherto been
his darling object to humiliate. They
now determined on a disgraceful revenge.
In an attack on the Scottish border the
English were repelled, and an opportuni-
ty offered to the Scots of cutting oflf their
retreat. The king gave his orders to
that end, but his barons obstinately re-
fused to advance beyond the frontier.
One measure more was wanting to drive
their sovereign to despair. In a subse-
quent engagement with the English,
10,000 of the Scots deliberately surren-
dered themselves prisoners to 500 of the
enemy. The high spirit of James sunk
under his contending passions ; and he
died of a broken heart, in the 33d year
of his age, a few days after the birth of
a daughter, yet more unfortunate than her
father, Mary Queen of Scots, A. D. 1 542.
{See England.)

The seeds of the Reformation were
sown in Scotland by several noblemen
who had resided on the continent during
the religious disputes of the German em-
pire. A spirit of general inquiry and in-
dependence was awakened, which ren-
dered men attentive to their privileges as
subjects, and jealous of the encroach-
ments of their rulers.

Patrick Hamilton was the first who
avowed the reformed doctrines, but he
was accused of heresy and thrown into
prison. He was soon after brought to
trial, condemned to the flames, and led to
the stake on the same day on which he
had been condemned. From 1530 to
] 540, ten persons suffered death for con-
fessing Hamilton's sentiments ; and num-
bers fled to England and the continent.
During the same period, the earls of
Glencairn and Errol, the lords Ruthven
and Kilmaurs, Sir David Lindsay, Sir
James Sandilands, and a multitude of oth-
er persons of respectability, made open pro-
fession of the Reformed faith. They nar-
rowly escaped persecution and death ; but
James was averse to a persecuting spirit.

The nobility soon began to cast a
wistful eye on the church revenues and

584

SCOTLAND.

possessions ; and hoped to enrich them-
selves by the plunder of the ecclesias-
tics. And as the reformers inculcated
subordination to the civil power, and de-
claimed against the ambhious prelates,
they were further inclined to the new
opinions from political considerations.
Lord Maxwell proposed in parliament,
that the people should be permitted to
read the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue.
The archbishop of Glasgow, in name of
the clergy, was the only opposer of
this measure ; but the bill received the
approbation of parliament ; and the regent
made it generally known by proclamation.
From that time, copies of the Bible were
imported from England in great numbers ;
and books were multiplied in every quar-
ter, which displayed the pride, the tyran-
ny, and the superstition of the Romish
clergy.

In John Knox, the reformers acquired
an active and powerful auxiliary ; and of
his followers, the most eminent was
George Wishart, who had formerly been
driven into exile by Beaton for teaching
the New Testament at Montrose. The
revolution in England which followed the
death of Henry the Eighth, contributed
to demolish the popish church of Scot-
land ; and the effects of religious liberty
in one country inspired the inhabitants
of the other with an equal desire of re-
covering it. The ambition of the house
of Guise, and the bigotry of Mary, hasten-
ed the subversion of the papal power in
Scotland. Many of the persecuted prot-
estants fled to Scotland, where they found
a milder government ; and they filled the
whole kingdom with just horror against
the cruelties of the catholics.

Other circumstances which contributed
to overturn the catholic church, were the
writings of the poets and satirists of the
age. In these, the ignorance, the negli-
gence, and the immorality of the clergy,
were stigmatized ; and they were read
with avidity, notwithstanding prohibitory
statutes and prosecutions. The catholics
lulled to sleep by indolence and security,
were awakened only by the crash of
their decayed and falling system. In a
convention held at Edinburgh, an ineffec-
tual motion was made for correcting the
abuses of the church; and four years after,

fifty-seven canons were enacted for re-
forming the corruption of the clergy, and
for introducing learning into the ecclesi-
astical estate.

The last provincial council was held at
Edinburgh in 1558, and continued a year.
To this assembly were presented by the
chiefs of the congregation, the prelimin-
ary articles of Reformation ; and the
council separated to meet no more.

Mary being instigated by the princes
of Lorrain, her relatives, took measures
for suppressing the protestant opinions in
Scotland. The reformation was rapidly
advancing in that kingdom, and the queen
regent connived at doctrines which she
had not the power to suppress. Argyll,
Morton, Glencairn, Lord Lome, Erskine
of Dun, with other protestant gentlemen,
subscribed a bond for their mutual pro-
tection, and called themselves the Con-
gregation of the Lord.

Before the league was known, the
clergy attempted to recover their lost au-
thority, the primate seized Walter Mills,
and having tried him at St. Andrews,
condemned him to the flames. This was
the last act of barbarity that the catholics
had the power of executing under the
sanction of the laws.

The congregation now openly solicited
subscriptions to the league, presented a
petition to the regent, craving a reforma-
tion of the church, and to the convocation
then sitting, a petition, which they called
the preliminary articles of the reforma-
tion, desiring " that public prayers be
conceived, and the sacrament adminis-
tered in the vulgar tongue ; that bishops
be admitted with the assent of the barons
of the diocese, and parish priests with
the assent of the parishioners ; that they
who are unfit for the pastoral charge, be
removed from their benefices, and such
others placed in their room as are able
and willing to instruct the people by con-
stant preaching ; that in future, immoral
and ignorant persons be excluded from
the administration of the sacraments, and
the other ecclesiastical functions."

The convocation evaded or rejected
their demands, and the queen regent
publicly expressed her approbation of the
decrees by which their principles were
condemned, and summoned the most

SCOTLAND.

585

eminent protestant preachers to appear
before her council at Stirling.

The members of the congregation as-
sembled in great numbers to attend their
pastors to the place of trial. Dreading so
formidable a party, the regent deputed
Erskine to assure them that she would
put a stop to the present proceedings, if
they would advance no further. But she
forfeited her word, and sentence of out-
lawry was passed against them for not
appearing. At that crisis John Knox
arrived, and lost no time in confirming
the resolution of the wavering, and stim-
ulating their indignation against popery.
He declaimed with great vehemence
against the idolatry of the mass and im-
age worship. The congregation then
quietly dismissed ; but a petty affray hav-
ing occurred, in the course of a few min-
utes, the images, the altar, and the orna-
ments of the church, were demolished,
and trampled under foot. The assailants
then proceeded to the monasteries of the
Grey and the Black Friars, which they
pillaged and laid in ruins.* With that,
the queen regent assembled an army, and
advanced towards Perth to chastise the
insurgents. The latter prepared to de-
fend themselves, being joined by the earl
of Glencairn ; and a treaty was conclud-
ed, in which it was stipulated that an
indemnity should be granted, and that
the parliament should be convoked to
compose religious differences. These
stipulations were violated by the regent,
and she left a garrison order to allow the
exercise of any religion except the Ro-
man catholic.

The reformers now renewed the
league, and collected their followers for
defensive operations. The queen took
shelter in Dunbar, which she fortified,
and the dispute between the regent and
the congregation now assumed a more
complex character. Being joined by
Argyll and the prior of St. Andrews, the
reformers aimed at the redress of civil as
well as religious grievances ; and requir-
ed as a preliminary towards settling the

* It is said John Knox himself justified this
unlimited destruction by the noted saying, "Pull
down the nests and the rooks will fly off !" an ex-
pression, the politic meaning of which could only
apply to the cloisters of the monks and friars.
74

peace of the kingdom, the immediate
dismissal of the French forces from
Scotland. The queen amused them with
promises, which were finally terminated
by the arrival of 1,000 men from France,
and she immediately broke off all nego-
tiations with her opponents. On this the
associated lords assembled all the peers,
barons, and representatives of barons that
adhered to them, and imanimously gave
their suffrages for deprivingMaryof Guise
of the office and authority of regent.

The queen had retired into Leith,
which was immediately invested by the
forces of the congregation, but the French
refused to surrender, and their besiegers
were not possessed of the artillery and
magazines necessary for the purpose of a
siege. Accustomed also to decide every
quarrel by immediate action, the assail-
ants became impatient of severe and con-
stant duty. The garrison, apprised of
their discontent, made a sally, which so
dispirited the remainder, that they aban-
doned the siege, and retreated to Stirling.

Having received from France a re-en-
forcement, the queen regent detached a
party to lay waste the adjacent country.
In this pressing extremity, the lords of
the congregation turned their eyes to-
wards JEngland, and Maitland and Mel-
ville were despatched to solicit succors
from the queen of England. Elizabeth's
ministers did not hesitate to grant a re-
quest so consonant to the wishes and
interests of their mistress, and they in-
stantly despatched a squadron to cruise
in the Frith of Forth. After the flight
of the congregation to Stirling, the queen
dowager took possession of Edinburgh ;
but her scheme was rendered abortive by
the alUance of her enemies with the
English queen. Early in the spring,
Elizabeth sent 6,000 foot and 2,000
horse into Scotland, under Lord Grey of
Wilton. To meet their allies, the forces
of the reformers assembled from all parts
of the kingdom, and the combined army,
amounting to 13,000 men, besieged Leith.
The French garrison was speedily redu-
ced to great difficulties, and the queen
dowager retired to the castle of Edin-
burgh, where she died soon after.

The French court now abandoned their
schemes of distant conquest. It became

586

SCOTLAND.

necessaiy to withdraw the few veteran
troops in Scotland, instead of sending
new re-enforcements to that country. A
negotiation was therefore opened, through
the mediation of Ehzabeth. Two sepa-
rate treaties were concluded at Edin-
burgh, and it was stipulated that the
French troops should immediately evac-
uate Scotland ; that Francis and Mary
should thenceforth abstain from bearing
the arms of England ; that an amnesty
should be published for all past offences ;
that none but native Scotsmen should be
eligible to fill any office of state, or hold
either civil or military authority ; that the
parliament should nominate twenty-four
persons, of whom the queen might select
seven, and the estates five, for conducting
the government during their sovereign's
absence ; and that Mary should make
neither peace nor war without the con-
sent of parliament.

Being masters of the kingdom, the
leaders of the congregation speedily
completed the work of reformation. A
parliament was convened, to settle the
internal tranquillity of the country, and
the protestant members greatly outnum-
bered their adversaries. After ratifying
the late treaties, the parliament approved
of a confession of faith which ha.d been
composed by John Knox and other pro-
testant leaders. Several acts were passed
against the catholics ; and the presbyte-
rian form of church government was es-
tablished nearly as it exists at present.
After the death of queen Elizabeth of
England, in 1 603, king James VI of Scot-
land, succeeded by hereditary right to the
throne of England, thus uniting the two
crowns. He died in 1625, and was
succeeded by Charles I.

In 1 633, this monarch visited his Scot-
tish dominions where his reception was
affectionate and joyful, but by an unfortu-
nate attempt to force a liturgy into their
national church, he called their secret
discontents into open action. The litur-
gy destined for Scotland was a little dif-
ferent from the English, but in receding
from that service, it approached more to
the forms of popery, — a religion which
was never named in Scotland without
horror. During the whole week before
the new service was to be performed in

the churches of Edinburgh, the people
were agitated by discourses and pamph-
lets. On Sunday the 23d of July, the
dean of Edinburgh prepared to officiate in
St Giles's, and the bishop of Argj'le in
the Grey Friars' church; and to increase
the solemnity, each was attended by the
judges, prelates, and a part of the council
The congregation in St Giles's continued
quiet till the service began, when an old
woman, impelled by sudden indignation,
started up, and exclaiming aloud against
the supposed mass, threw the stool on
which she had been sitting at the dean's
head. The service Avas interrupted by a
wild uproar, and but for the interposition
of the magistrates, the bishop might have
been sacrificed at his own alts,r. When
most of the people had retired, and the
turbulent had been excluded, the doors
were locked, and the service was re-
sumed ; but was soon overpowered by
the people from without, who burst open
the doors, broke the windows, and rent the
air with exclamations of, "A Pope, an
Antichrist, stone him, stone hira !" With
a few exceptions, the prelates were equal-
ly unsuccessful throughout all Scotland
in imposing the liturgy.

The Scottish privy council plainly
perceiving the resolution of the whole
nation, represented to Charles the diffi-
culty of enforcing the new rites. Their
remonstrance had no effect, but to pro-
duce a threat from the sovereign of re-
moving the seat of government from Ed-
inburgh. In the mean time, a conflux
of supplicants against the liturgy, from
all Scotland, arrived at Edinburgh ; and
an accusation against the prelates was
subscribed by all ranks, from the peer to
the peasant. The citizens of Edinburgh,
exasperated at the threat of the seat of
government being removed, surrounded
the town council house, and demanded
the replacing the ministers who had been
ejected for refusing the liturgy. In this
tumult, the principal citizens, and even
the wives and sisters of the magistrates,
took a share.

The council, uninstructed by Charles,
conceded a most important point to the
supplicants, in permitting the celebrated
Tables, a representative body of nobles,
gentry, clergy, and burgesses, to sit per-

SCOTLAND,

587

manently in Edinburgh, while the multi-
tude dispersed to their homes. An eva-
sive answer from court was insufficient to
satisfy the public mind. A formal revo-
cation of the liturgy was required, and
the accusation of the prelates proceeded
to be urged by the Tables. A royal
proclamation was issued, denouncing the
supplicants as traitors ; but the effect was
only to summon once more the whole
body of those men around their chiefs,
and the proclamation was every where
met by a protest, held equally legal and
sufficient to counteract its effects.

But the great era in this religious union
of the Scotch, was the renewal of the
national covenant, first framed at the Re-
formation, when the lords of the congre-
gation, by their bond, or covenant, under-
took the protection of the infant church.
This renewed a memorable bond, by
which the subscribers solemnly renounc-
ed Episcopacy as well as Popery, and
engaged to defend each other, and to sup-
port the sovereig-n in the preservation of
religious liberty ; and was prepared by
Alexander Henderson, the leader of the
clergy, and Archibald Johnston, after-
wards of Warriston, an advocate. It
was revived by the lords Balmerino, Lon-
don, and Rothes. It was sworn to by
nobles, gentry, clergy, and burgesses,
and by thousands of all denominations,
after solemn exhortation and prayer in
the Grey Friars' church of Edinburgh.
Throughout Scotland, it roused and
agitated the people by a zeal unfelt since
the Reformation.

The king began to think of temporiz-
ing with the Scotch when it was too late.
He sent the marquis of Hamilton with
authority to treat with the Covenanters.
He required the covenant to be renounced
and recalled. The Covenanters answer-
ed, that they would sooner renounce their
baptism. Hamilton returned to London ;
made another fruitless journey with new
proposals, and was again sent back by
the Covenanters. After some negotiation,
Charles made concessions, which, at an
earlier period, might have proved satis-
factory. He recalled the canon's liturgy
and the high commission, suspended the
articles of Perth, and seemed only anx-
ious on any terms to continue the bishops.

But the Scotch could not now think
themselves secure, without the absolute
abolition of Episcopacy. A weak at-
tempt was made amidst these disputes to
substitute a counter-covenant, in which
the renunciation of Popery, and submis-
sion to the royal authority, were combin-
ed ; but the new bond was signed by few,
and with little zeal. An assembly, which
Charles had agreed to grant to the Scot-
tish religionists, was held at Glasgow ;
an assembly, which, from a large acces-
sion of the nobility and gentry, far ex-
ceeded in influence what the ecclesiastics
alone could have possessed. As a pre-
parative to the abolition of Episcopacy,
there had been laid before the presbytery
of Edinburgh, and solemnly read in all
the churches of the kingdom, an accusa-
tion against the bishops, of heresy, simo-
ny, bribery, perjury, cheating, and numer-
ous other crimes, to the suspicion of
which the lax lives of the episcopal cler-
gy had but too much exposed them. The
bishops sent a protest, declining the au-
thority of the assembly. The commis-
sioners, too, protested against the court
as illegally constituted, and in his majes-
ty's name dissolved it. But this measure
was foreseen, and little regarded. The
court still continued to sit. All the acts
of assembly since the accession of James
were, on strong grounds of reason, de-
clared null and void ; and with these the
acts of parliament regarding ecclesias-
tical affairs. Thus Episcopacy, the high
commission, the articles of Perth, the
canons, and the liturgy, were abolished,
and declared unlawful ; and the whole
fabric which James and Charles had
been rearing with so much industry, fell
to the ground. Of 14 bishops whom the
assembly degraded, eight were excom-
municated, four were deposed, and two
were merely suspended from ecclesias-
tical functions. These were bold pro-
ceedings. Yet it may still be doubted,
if, with so much justice on their side,
they entitled the sovereign to think of
coming to the last extremities. But
Charles' preparations for war were by
this time far advanced ; it appears indeed
that he anxiously solicited the rupture
with the assembly, to justify having re-
course to arms. By economy he had

588

SCOTLAND.

amassed about 200, OOOZ., loans were pro-
cured from the nobility ; his queen in-
cited the Papists, and Laud instigated the
clergy, to contribute to this Episcopal
war. The nobility ware summoned to
attend their sovereigiv at York. The
Scotch had not been idle in meeting the
hour of danger. The covenant had been
received by Scotchmen abroad as well
as at home. Lesly, a commander dis-
tinguished in the Swedish service, was
recalled, to lead the Covenanters at home,
and he -was followed by many experienc-
ed ofRcers, who had served Gustavus.
Arms, ammunition, and artillery were
provided, and the people were trained to
the use of them. After France and Hol-
land had entered into a league against
Spain for the partition of the Netherlands,
England had been invited to a neutrality.
But Charles, in replying to the French
ambassador, threatened to send 15,000
troops to oppose the parthion ; an im-
politic threat, in return for which Riche-
lieu now secretly supplied the Cove-
nanters with money.

When the king's forces had assembled
at York, when Himtly began to arm for
his cause in the north, and the marquis
of Douglas in the south, the Covenan-
ters seized, by surprise, some of the
most important fortified places. Edin-
burgh, Dumbarton, and Dalkeith, fell at
once into their hands. The marquis of
Hamilton arrived with the king's fleet
from England; but he found Leith, which
had been fortified by volunteers of all
ranks, secure from assault, and could only
land his few regiments on the uninhabit-
ed islands of the Forth. The king ad-
vanced from York to Berwick with
23,000 horse and foot, and the Scotch, to
the number of 24,000, encamped in sight
of his army on Dunse Law. The latter
had hitherto, though with swords in their
hands, constantly addressed Charles as
their sovereign, petitioning redress of
grievances from him, and never desisting
from pacific overtures. Formidable as
they seemed from their numbers, zeal,
national spirit, and the excellence of their
officers, the king listened to their propo-
sals. His own army had few officers of
experience, and the men were inspired by
no such zeal as that which animated the

Scotch. In the pacification of Berwick,
it was agreed, that the armies on both
sides should be disbanded, and that eccle-
siastical matters should be referred to the
decision of another assembly, and civil
affairs to another parliament soon to be
summoned. The fortifications of Leith
were surrendered, and 30 castles were
restored to the king's government.

The assembly of the Scottish church
accordingly met, and again abolished
Episcopacy, stigmatizing the liturgy,
canons, and high commissioners, as be-
fore. The Scottish parliament also as-
sembled, a truly patriotic parliament, who
proposed to re-establish all their legisla-
tive rights which had been usurped since
the accession of James, and to rectify
many public abuses. Charles, who had
never been sincere in his treaty with the
Scotch, made these proposals a pretext
for suddenly ordering the earl of Tra-
quaire to prorogue their parliament,
and both sides again prepared for hostil-
ities. The bigotry of Laud, and the
violence of Wentworth, overpowered in
the English council the moderation of
Hamilton and Morton ; for to those four,
under the name of the junto, the Scottish
affairs had been long entrusted. A letter,
which had been signed by seven of the
Scottish nobility before the pacification
of Berwick, and addressed to the French
king, (but from proper motives never sent,)
to solicit assistance, was thought a suffi-
cient justification of war on the royal
side ; and Loudon, the Scottish commis-
sioner from the Covenanters, was ordered
for execution, (though the order was re-
voked,) for being the author of the letter.

After eleven years intermission, it was
necessary to convoke another parliament
in England. By the mouth of the lord
keeper Finch, the king discovered his
wants, and representing his debts, for
which he had given security on his
crown lands, amounting to 300,000/.,
pleaded for immediate supplies to support
his armaments, and promised, though
indefinitely, to promote the best wishes
and interests of his English subjects.
The house of commons, instead of listen-
ing to his wants, began with arranging
the grievances of the public, under three
different heads : those of the broken privi-

SCOTLAND.

589

Scotch Covenanters defeating the English

leges of parliament, of illegal taxes, and
of violence done to the cause of religion.
After an intercession on the part of the
peers in the king's behalf, which, so far
from obtaining the supplies, was declar-
ed by the commons to be an illegal inter-
position, Charles dissolved the parlia-
ment ; and to make this procedure still
more dangerous and unpopular, imprison-
ed Bellasis and sir John Holham, for the
share they had taken in the debates.

Though the parliament was dissolved,
the convocation of the clergy was still
allowed, which, besides granting to the
king a supply from the spirituality, im-
posed an oath on the clergy and the gra-
duates of the University, to support the
established government of the church, by
archbishops, bishops, deans, chapters, &c.
The public notions of liberty were too
far matured not to perceive, that such an
assembly as the convocation, without con-
sent of parliament, was unconstitutional ;
and an oath, which contained an &c,
was justly exposed to ridicule. In the
mean time, subscriptions were raised at
court, or extorted from merchants ; nor
were former illegal exactions, however
productive of discontent, omitted. In-
stead of Arundel, Essex, and Holland,

whose capacity, or whose zeal, in the
last expedition was suspected, the earl
of Northumberland was appointed gener-
al, the earl of Strafford lieutenant-general,
and lord Conway general of the horse.
The army which was now raised, consist-
ed of 1 9,000 foot and 2,000 horse.

The Scottish covenanters and parlia-
ment were much more successfully ac-
tive. The parliament having secured
their own constitution, by the creation of
a third estate ; having passed a statute
for trennial renovations ; and having
guarded the legislative power against the
encroachments of royalty by other wise
regulations, appointed a committee of
estates to superintend at the camp and
in the capital, the operations of the war.
Conscious of the good wishes of the pop-
ular party in England, and we may well
suppose in correspondence with the Eng-
lish parliamentary leaders, they crossed
the Tweed with 23,000 foot, 3,000 horse,
and a train of artillery. Maintaining as
before the most submissive language,
they entered England, they said, with no
hostile intentions, but to obtain access to
the king's person, and lay their petition at
his feet. At Newburn upon Tyne they
were opposed by general Conway, with

590

SPAIN.

batteries erected on the opposite bank,
and 6,000 horse and foot. Lesly, their
general, first requested permission to
pass ; then on a shot being fired by an
Enghsh sentinel, they opened their ar-
tillery, and charging their opponents, put
them to flight. Their army thus ob-
tained immediate possession of Newcas-
tle, Tynemouth, Shields, and Durham.
Charles retired with a mutinous and pa-
nic-struck army from Northallerton to
York, where an address reached him
from the city of London, petitioning for
a parliament. He contented himself,
however, for the present, with summon-
ing a great council of the peers at York.
A treaty was suggested, as the only
means to prevent the advance of the
Scotch.

The subsequent events in the history
of Scotland are intimately blended with
the history of Great Britain. The union
of the two kingdoms, in 1706, relieving

Scotland from the burden of a separate
government, procuring for them a suitable
representation in the united parliament,
and a gradual uniformity of municipal
laws, has been highly advantageous to
the kingdom. From that event, the agri-
cidture, manufactures, and commerce of
the country have been constantly increas-
ing. The inhabitants who are consider-
ed the most moral people in Europe, are
inclined to the habits of domestic life,
steady and industrious, well calculated
for manufacturers, and have greatly ex-
celled in their respective arts. Scotland
has produced many learned men of the
first eminence in the various departments
of science. Her universities have long
been eminently distinguished. Her il-
lustrious historians, Robertson and Hume,
may be justly ranked among the first of
modern times. In the British armies,
the soldiers of Scotland, have ever been
distinguished for their valor.

SPAIN.

In ancient history the first inhabitants
of Spain were generally known by the
name of Iberians ; and it is also known
that the Celts or Gauls formed numerous
settlements west of the Ebro, and became
so blended by intermarriages with the
inhabitants, that they obtained the desig-
nation Celtiherians. The Greeks and
Phoenicians also planted colonies along
the maritime districts. The Phoenicians
having built the city of Gades, now Cadiz,
attempted to extend their authority over
the neighboring territory. The Span-
iards, alarmed at the growing prosperity
of the new city, collected their forces,
and would soon have driven out the in-
truders, had not the Phosnicians invited
the Carthaginians to their assistance,
who, furnishing them with powerful suc-
cors, not only repulsed the Spaniards,
but obtained the greater part of the pro-
vince.

This expedition formed the commence-
ment of the Carthaginian power in Spain.
Elated with their success, and delighted

with the richness of the country, and the
valuable mines of gold and silver which
it contained, they contemplated the con-
quest of the whole peninsula. For a
time, however, their arms made very little
progress against its warlike inhabitants,
who defended themselves with great bra-
very and resolution, till the whole power
of Carthage was directed to their subju-
gation. During nine years of incessant
hostility, the Carthaginians penetrated
into the very heart of the country, when
their general, Hamilcar, was killed in a
general engagement with the Vettones.
His successor, Asdrubal, carried his vic-
torious arms as far as the Ebro ; and, in
order to secure his conquests, built the
city of New Carthage, which afterwards
became one of the most considerable
cities in the world.

These successes excited the jealousy
of the Romans, who could not behold
without alarm the rapid advance of their
rivals to the entire dominion of such a
country as Spain. They, therefore, will-

SPAIN.

591

ingly listened to the request of the Sa-
guntines, who had implored their protec-
tion, and interposing in their behalf, pre-
vailed upon the Carthaginian general to
enter into a treaty, in which it was stip-
ulated that the Carthaginians should not
pass the Ebro, and that the Saguntines
and other Grecian colonies should enjoy
their ancient rights and privileges. No
violation of this treaty occurred during
the life of Asdrubal ; but extending his
conquests in other directions, he, either
by force or persuasion, established the
dominion of Carthage over the finest pro-
vinces of Spain. A few years after, how-
ever, he fell by the hands of an assassin :
and no sooner had Hannibal succeeded
to the command of the Carthaginian
army, than he made preparations for the
siege of Sagimtum. Though this city
was situated within the Carthaginian ter-
ritory, it was expressly excepted by
treaty from all hostilities ; but Hannibal
promised himself many advantages from
its reduction. It was a key by which
the Roman army could easily enter into
Spain ; and its possession would serve
as a barrier against their future encroach-
ments. This colony also was immense-
ly rich, and he expected to find in it
treasure sufficient to defray the expenses
of a premeditated war against that rival
power. The Sagiantines, however, brave-
ly defended themselves for eight months ;
and every inch of ground was disputed
with undaunted resolution. Being at last
reduced to great extremity by the scar-
city of provisions, and having no prospect
of assistance from the Romans, the prin-
cipal senators collected in the market
place their richest effects, and the con-
tents of the public treasury, and having
set fire to the pile, threw themselves into
the midst of it, and perished in the flames.
Many of the inhabitants soon after fol-
lowed their example ; and the rest, mak-
ing a sally on the besiegers, were all put
to the sword.

This siege, one of the most memorable
in ancient history, produced a lengthened
and bloody war betwixt the Romans and
Carthaginians, of which Spain, for several
years, continued to be the theatre. The
Romans, taking advantage of Hannibal's
absence in Italy, sent an army into that

country. After a long contest between
these rival nations, and attended with
various success, the Carthaginians were
driven out of Spain, and the Roman
standard planted on the walls of Cadiz,
which, as it was the first, was also the
last strong-hold which the Carthaginians
held in that country. But though the
Roman power was thus in a manner ex-
tended over Spain, they found it no easy
matter to maintain their authority.

Numantia had maintained its independ-
ence during the struggle between Rome
and Carthage ; and its inhabitants had
resisted every attempt at its subjugation
with such daring courage, that the bra-
vest troops of Rome trembled at the very
idea of a Numantine war. The first
army that sat down before its walls was
completely routed and dispersed. In the
following campaign 4,000 Numantines
pursued an army of 30,000 Romans,
seized and plundered the camp which
they had abandoned, killed 20,000 in the
pursuit, and shut up the remainder in a
rough and mountainous country. In this
situation the Roman commander, seeing
no way of escape, was compelled to sue
for peace. This was generously granted
by the Numantines, who, for the lives of
10,000 Romans, merely stipulated that
they should be allowed to maintain their
independence, and be reckoned among
the friends of the Roman people. But,
in return for this noble and disinterested
conduct, the senate of Rome refused to
ratify the treaty ; and, lost to all sense
of honor and of justice, they basely re-
solved, in opposition to the remonstrances
of all the officers who had served in
Spain, to extirpate that brave and gener-
ous people. Scipio, one of their most
experienced generals, and the conqueror
of Carthage, was chosen for this danger-
ous expedition. Unwilling to expose his
men, by hazarding an engagement with
the Numantines, he enclosed the city
with 60,000 troops, who were protected
by a wall and ditch, being resolved to
reduce the inhabitants not by force, but
by famine. The besieged, after several
brave attempts to break through the ene-
my's lines and obtain succors, seeing
their ruin inevitable, entreated the Roman
commander that he would either allow

592

SPAIN.

them to die like brave men in a general I
action, or preserve their liberty by an \
honorable capitulation. Scipio, how-
ever, vk'ould listen to no proposals, and
insisted upon an unconditional surrender.
This drove the Numantines to despair,
who were now reduced to such straits
that they were destroying and devouring
each other ; but, preferring death to sla-
very, they set fire to their city, and either
killed one another, or perished in the
flames. The Ml of this city was con-
sidered of such consequence that Scipio
was honored with a triumph, and had
the surname of Numantinus added to that
of Africanus. It consummated the sub-
jection of Spain ; for though that noble
love of liberty, for which this nation was
so justly famed, frequently led them to
attempt their emancipation, yet they were
never afterwards able to make any head
against the Romans ; but were at last
compelled to receive the religion, the
laws, and the customs of their conquer-
ors. The last who submitted were the
Cantabrians, who were almost extermi-
nated by Agrippa ; and from that time
Spain continued incorporated with the
Roman empire until the irruption of the
northern nations.

The Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, in
their progress southward, broke into
Spain about the begiiming of the fifth
century, and in a few years had reduced
and partitioned among them that beautiful
country. The native militia, for a time,
successfully repelled the inroads of bar-
barians ; but when these were supplanted
by the mercenary guards, the gates of
the PjTenees were betrayed to the ene-
my, whose progress was marked by
rapine and carnage. They exercised
their cruelty indiscriminately upon the
Romans and Spaniards, and ravaged with
equal fury the cities and the open
country. Famine, and its inseparable
attendant, pestilence, swept away a large
proportion of the inhabitants ; and the
barbarians were not satiated till they be-
gan to feel the destructive effects of
those calamities which they themselves
had occasioned. The majority of the
nation submitted to the yoke of their
conquerors, while a few maintained their
independence in the mountains of Gali-

cia. These barbarians, however, were
not allowed long to enjoy their conquests.
The Goths had become the allies of
Rome by the marriage of their king with
the daughter of the Emperor Theodosius,
and were induced to draw their swords
for the recovery of Spain. During three
years the contest was obstinately sup-
ported with desperate valor and various
success, when the superior achievements
of the Gothic king at length prevailed,
and Spain was once more restored to
the authority of the empire.

The history of the Gothic dominion in
this country, from the accession of Euric
to that of Roderic, afibrds few materials
of any interest. Their princes were
frequently engaged in civil or religious
wars, and long adhered to the wandering
and warlike manners of their fathers.

The followers of Mahomet had overrun
the whole of Mauritania, and reduced it
to the obedience of their master, except
the castle of Ceuta, which resisted for a
time all their eftbrts. This fort, with a
small district around it, was the only ter-
ritory south of the straits belonging to
Spain, and was intrusted to Count Julian,
who defended it with such skill and in-
trepidity, that Musa, the Moslem com-
mander, was compelled to retire with
disgrace from before its w^alls. This
nobleman, it is supposed, was married to
a sister of King Witiza, and, being con-
sequently involved in the downfall of the
deposed family, his resentment was ex-
cited against the usurper of their rights.
Besides his command in Africa, he pos-
sessed extensive estates and numerous
followers in Andalusia, and thus held in
his hands the keys of the Spanish mon-
archy. These, in an evil hour, he be-
trayed to the enemy ; and this Christian
commander, who had so nobly repulsed
that very enemy from the gates of Ceuta,
forgetting the highest claims of religion
and of country, sacrificed all in revenge
of a private wrong. When the first inti-
mation of his purpose was conveyed to
Musa, the wily Moslem hesitated to trust
an army of the faithful to the traitors of a
foreign land ; but, having ascertained
what might be expected from the in-
trigues and influence of the count, and
having been well informed of the dissen-

SPAIN.

693

sions among the Spaniards, he despatched
an army under Tarik to the easy conquest
of a populous and wealthy kingdom. On
the descent of the Saracens, Roderic
hastily collected a small army to oppose
their progress, and to check the devasta-
tions which they committed upon the
unarmed inhabitants. He, at the same
time, endeavored to heal the divisions
which were so fatal to his country, and
was so far successful that the sons of
Witiza, with a seeming devotion to the
common cause, joined his standard with
their dependants. The bishops also, and
the flower of the nobility, assembled with
their followers at the royal summons ;
and his army amounted to nearly one
hundred thousand men ; but they were
without discipline, and their fidelity was
suspected. The troops of Tarik were
composed of twelve thousand veteran
Saracens, and a crowd of Moors who
were eager to share in the expected
plunder. The two armies met on the
plain of Xeres, and after three days of
hard skirmishing, they joined in a gene-
ral engagement. The issue was long
doubtful. Sixteen thousand Moslems had
fallen under the swords of the Goths ;
and they would soon have been over-
whelmed by the numbers of the Chris-
tians, had they not been saved by the
defection of the sons and brother of Wi-
tiza, who held the most important post
in the army of Roderic. The ranks of
the Christians, being thus broken and
thrown into disorder, opened a way for
the action of the Moorish cavalry, which
made prodigious havoc ; and during the
three succeeding days of flight and pur-
suit, the remains of the Gothic army
were scattered or destroyed. This deci-
sive and fatal battle sealed the ruin of
the Gothic monarchy in Spain ; and in
the course of a few years the Adctorious
Moslems had subjected the finest prov-
inces of the peninsula to the obedience
of the calif. The vanquished were al-
lowed to retain their laws, religion, and
language, upon the payment of an annual
tribute ; but many, who preferred a life
of poverty, with the unrestrained exercise
of their religion, to the precarious pos-
session of their properties, retired under
Pelagius, a prince of the blood, into the j
75

mountains of Asturias, where, forgetting
every other care, they sought only to
provide for their safety and freedom.
Here the vital spark of national inde-
pendence was cherished and kept alive ;
and it was thence that the successors of
these warriors emerged in after times,
and by degrees recovered their country
from the Moorish yoke.

The first Moorish invaders under Tarik,
consisting of various tribes, asserted, by
assuming the name of Spaniards, their
original claim of conquest ; and though
they were afterwards joined by numer-
ous bands of Arabs of difl'erent countries,
who were allowed to share in the fruits
of this important enterprise, they appro-
priated to themselves the most fertile
districts of the country. " The royal le-
gion of Damascus was planted at Cor-
dova ; that of Emesa at Seville ; that of
Kinnisrin or Calchis at Jaen ; and that
of Palestine at Algezire and Medina
Sidonia. The natives of Yemen and
Persia were scattered around Toledo
and the inland country ; those of Egypt
were established at Murcia and Lisbon ;
and the fertile seats of Granada were be-
stowed on the ten thousand horsemen of
Syria and Irak, the children of the pur-
est and most noble of the Arabian tribes."
A spirit of emulation and jealousy existed
among these different tribes, which gave
rise to frequent disputes, and which be-
ing nourished by a factious and heredi-
tary pride, scattered those seeds of divis-
ion, which afterwards ripened into a full
harvest of intestine broils, and which led
to their final expulsion from the peninsula.
The Moorish conquests in Spain con-
tinued to be governed by a lieutenant of
the Calif of Damascus, until the depo-
sition and destruction of the Ommiades
in Arabia, when Abdalrahman, a royal
youth, who alone had escaped the mas-
sacre of his house, fled into Spain, where
he was hailed with joy by the party at-
tached to his family. After a short and
successful struggle with the lieutenant
and forces of the rival family of the Ab-
bassides, he established the throne of
Cordova, and became the first Calif of
the west. The dynasty of the Ommia-
des continued to reign in this country
with great splendor for nearly two cen-

594

SPAIN.

turies and a half, when the Spanish Ca-
lifate expired. Their dominions were
split into several petty states by the re-
bellion of the Moorish governors, who
usurped the sovereignty of the provinces
over which they presided, and assumed
the royal style in Cordova, Seville, Va-
lentia, and Granada. This dismember-
ment occasioned constant wars, which
were sometimes prosecuted with all the
rancor of hereditary feuds ; and during
which the monarchs, as well as" the
boundaries of the different kingdoms,
were continually changing. Their lim-
its were also greatly circumscribed by
the conquests of the Christians, who
were gradually extending their territories,
and threatened the complete recovery of
their native possessions.

The Goths, who had retired with Pe-
lagius to the mountains of Asturias, had
chosen that prince as their monarch ; and
his territories were at first confined to
the small province of Liebana, with the
hamlet of Cangas for its capital. This
district was so fortified by nature, that,
with a few defenders, it was capable of
resisting almost any number of invaders.
Here Pelagius laid the foundation of the
kingdom of Leon, and of the Spanish
monarchy ; and defied the whole power
of the Moors, who twice attempted with
numerous armies to dislodge his little
band of patriots, but were as often over-
thrown with dreadful slaughter. By
these victories he became master of all
the Asturias, and soon after extended his
dominion over the best part of Biscay.
His little territory afforded an asylum to
the oppressed Christians, who, retiring
privately from the Moorish provinces,
repaired in great numbers to his stand-
ard, and, by thus recruiting his forces,
enabled him and his immediate succes-
sors to descend with more confidence
into the lower and more fertile parts of
the country, and to push their conquests,
on the one hand, as far as Castile, and,
on the other, to the confines of Portugal.
The kingdom of Leon increased rapidly
in extent and resources during the reig-ns
of Alphonso III, who subdued Galicia,
and spread his dominion as far as Coim-
bra, and of Ramirus II, who penetrated
to Madrid, which he took by storm, and

even threatened Toledo, at that time one
of the strongest cities in the hands of
the Moors. Encouraged by the successes
of the Christians in Leon, other provinces
began to establish themselves as inde-
pendent states, and by similar means
rose to power and distinction. The in-
dependence of Navarre commenced about
the middle of the ninth century, that of
Castile thirty years later ; and Aragon
was erected into a kingdom in the be-
ginning of the eleventh century. The
wars and events which led to the forma-
tion of these kingdoms were signalized
by many heroic achievements ; and no
history records a succession of kings so
remarkable as those who shone in those
different states. Several of the name of
Alphonso were distinguished and able
princes, one of whom invented the Al-
phonsine tables, and superintended the
digesting of a code of laws, which like-
wise bears his name. By the establish-
ment of these states the Moors were
driven from the finest provinces of the
Peninsula, and confined within the king-
dom of Granada. In a series of years,
however, by the usual events of inter-
marriages, or succession, or conquest, all
these were united under Ferdinand and
Isabella, the former the hereditary mon-
arch of Aragon, and the latter the heiress
of Castile and Leon.

The first care of Ferdinand and Isa-
bella, after having wisely settled the in-
terior affairs of their dominions, was the
recovery of Granada. An opportunity
was soon found for breaking the peace
with the Moors ; and after a protracted
and bloody war, this wealthy kingdom,
which had occupied a large proportion
of the south of the Peninsula, having
under its jurisdiction thirty-two cities,
and ninety-seven walled towns, was re-
duced withm the small compass of the
city of Granada. Being now invested
by the Spaniards, and all communication
with the surrounding country cut ofi, the
inhabitants were reduced to the utmost
extremity. The Moors, however, made
a gallant defence ; and received an hon-
orable capitulation, in which it was stip-
ulated that the inhabitants should retain
the undisturbed possession of their prop-
erty, the use of their laws, and the free

SPAIN.

595

exercise of their religion. Thus the
last strong-hold of the Arabs in Spain
submitted to the christian arms, after an
almost uninterrupted war of eight centu-
ries, and during which, according to the
Spanish historians, three thousand seven
hundred battles were fought. Shortly
after the battle of Xeres in 712, the
Moors had overrun the whole peninsula,
except a small district in the mountains
of the Asturias ; but the tide of victory
was not long in setting in from an oppo-
site direction ; and they were gradually
driven by the arms of the christians from
all their possessions in Spain : from the
Asturais in 716 ; from Salvarba in 750 ;
from Catalonia in 820 ; from Leon in
923 ; from Castile in 1073 ; from Aragon
1118; from Cordova and Jaen in 1236 ;
from Seville in 1248 ; from Valentia in
1264 ; from Murcia in 1265 ; and from
Granada in 1492.

That part of Spain which was sub-
ject to the Moors, enjoyed a degree of
prosperity and civilization, unexampled
during any other period of its history.
This people were particularly skilled in
agriculture, and carried every branch of
public and private economy to a high de-
gree of perfection. They paid the most
minute attention to the analysis, classifi-
cation, and manure of the different soils,
to rustic buildings, plantations, and agri-
cultural implements, and to the care of
animals. They divided their lands into
small fields, which were kept constantly
under tillage, and by their reservoirs and
canals, they conveyed water to the highest
and driest spots. They were the first who
introduced into this country the cultiva-
tion of rice, sugar, cotton, and silk ; and
the general appearance of their estates
formed a striking contrast to the domains
of the crown, and the immense wastes
of the Gothic lords. They were also
expert in all the mechanical arts ; and in
almost every city were established looms,
forges, mills, glass-houses, &c. The
invention of paper is due to this people ;
and many kinds of manufactures, particu-
larly silk and cotton stuffs, morocco leath-
er, &c, were brought by them to so great
perfection, that, in the twelfth century,
the tissues of Granada and Andalusia
were highly prized at Constantinople and

throughout the eastern empire. Their
skill in architecture was equally conspic-
uous ; and the Alhambra of Granada,
still in existence, is an evidence of the
fine taste, studied elegance, and ability
of their artists. To this improved state
of industry the Moors added the love of
science and learning. These they intro-
duced into Europe at a time when it was
immersed in darkness ; and they possess-
ed many luxuries unknown to the neigh-
boring nations. " The successors of Ab-
dalrahman had formed a library of 600,000
volumes, 44 of which were employed in
the mere catalogue. Their capital of
Cordova, with the adjacent towns of Ma-
laga, Almeria, and Murcia, had given
birth to more than 300 writers ; and
above 70 public libraries were opened in
the cities of the Andalusian kingdom."
The Arab historians describe the reign
of the Ommiades as the most splendid
and prosperous era of Moorish Spain.
" The third of the Abdalrahmans derived
from this kingdom the annual tribute of
12,045,000 dinars or piece of gold, about
6,000,000 sterling. His royal seat at Cor-
dova contained 640 mosques, 900 baths,
200,000 houses ; he gave laws to 80 ci-
ties of the first, to 300 of the second and
third order ; and the fertile banks of the
Guadalquivir were adorned with 12,000
villages and hamlets. The inmates of
his seraglio, comprehending his wives,
concubines, and black eunuchs, amounted
to 6,300 persons ; and he was attended
to the field by a guard of 12,000 horse,
whose belts and cimeters were studded
with gold." To this extraordinary con-
currence of industry, wealth, talents, and
learning, this people united that roman-
tic gallantry which so eminently pre-
vailed in the ages of chivalry ; and their
noble conduct in many instances, inspired
with confidence in their honor, even the
enemies of their kingdom and of their faith.
The important conquest of Granada
was, in the same year, followed by the
more important discovery of America by
Columbus. After the death of Ferdinand
and Isabella, Cardinal Ximenes was ap-
pointed regent of Castile during the mi-
nority of Don Carlos, the son of Philip,
king of the Netherlands, and grandson
of Isabella.

596

SPAIN.

Francis visited by the Emperor Charles in the Castle of Madrid.

The affairs of Spain, until the arrival
of Charles, were conducted by the aged
cardinal with such wisdom, integrity, and
firmness, that the kingdom felt not the
loss of the powerful mind (yf Ferdinand.
Many of the nobles who, supposing that
the reins of government would be relax-
ed under the delegated power of a re-
gent, had taken up arms to prosecute
their private quarrels and pretensions,
were compelled to repress their hostili-
ties, and to submit to the terms of the
cardinal. The decision and vigor of his
administration, and the high authority
which he assumed, excited the fears of
the nobility for the safety of their peculiar
privileges ; and when they sent a deputa-
tion to question his power, and demand
by what right he held the regency of the
kingdom, he showed them the will of P'er-
dinand, ratified by Charles. This, how-
ever, not seeming to produce the acquies-
cence which he wished, he led them to
a balcony, and pointing to a body of
troops and a train of artillery stationed
before the palace, said, " These are the
powers by which I mean to govern Spain
until the arrival of his majesty." The
exertions of this able minister, dur-
*ing his short regency, did much for the

security of the kingdom, and the exten-
sion of the royal prerogative.

After the death of Ximenes, Charles
found great difficulty in establishing his
authority in Spain. His Flemish favor-
ites, by their exactions and avarice, had
become odious throughout the kingdom ;
and several cities of the first rank in
Castile entered into a confederacy for
the maintenance of their rights and priv-
ileges. This confederacy assumed the
name of the Holy Junta, and bound
themselves by a solemn oath to live and
die in the service of the king, and in
defence of the privileges of their order.

After a furious contest of nearly eight
months, the army of the Junta was com-
pletely routed, and three of their chiefs
were taken prisoners and executed. —
Francis I, of France, disatisfied that
Charles, his rival, should obtain the im-
perial crown, sought revenge in a war
which commenced in 1521. It was con-
tinued till 1525, when Francis w^as ut-
terly defeated before Pavia in Italy, and
taken prisoner and conducted to Madrid.
For many weeks Charles did not deign
to visit his captive. Such neglect stung
Francis to the soul, and threw him into
a fever which threatened his life, Charles

SPAIN.

597

fearful of losing the advantage of having
the person of the captive monarch in his
possession, visited him, and was profuse
of the kindest promises. Upon his re-
covery, however, he would not grant him
his liberty, until he had signed his re-
nunciation to Naples, Milan, Flanders,
Artois, and leave his two sons as hostages.
After this period, Charles turned his arms
against the piratical states of Barbary.
After his return he found himself em-
broiled in new wars, and the remainder
of his reign was spent in his contest with
France and the protestants of Germany
Worn out at length by his arduous du-
ties and the ravages of the gout, and
conscious of his inability much longer to
direct with vigor the multiplicity of af-
fairs which called for his attention
throughout his extensive dominions, he
resolved to resign his hereditary states
to his son Philip, who had now attained
his 28th year, and having been early ac-
customed to business, had discovered
both inclination and capacity sufficient to
sustain the weighty burden which was
about to devolve upon him. For this
purpose he recalled Philip from England,
and having assembled the states of the
low countries and of Brussels, Charles
seated on a chair of state, and surround-
ed by a splendid retinue of the princes
of the empire and grandees of Spain,
with great solemnity surrendered to his
son all his territories, jurisdiction, and
authority in the low countries. A few
weeks afterwards, he resigned with great
solemnity, and in an assembly no less
splendid, the crown of Spain, "reserving, ,
of all his vast possessions, nothing for
himself but an annual pension of one
hundred thousand crowns to defray the
charges of his family, and to afford him
a small sum for acts of beneficence and
charity." In the following year he re-
turned to Spain, and retired to the mon-
astery of St. Justus, near Placentia. —
Here in a mean retreat, he forgot the
ambitious thoughts and projects which
had so long engrossed his mind, and which
for half a century, had filled with terror
all the kingdoms of Europe, and devoting
the evening of life to innocent amuse-
ments and religious exercises, died on
the 21st of September, 1558,

Philip II, though his father, with all
his power and influence, was unable to
obtain for him the imperial crown, suc-
ceeded to a sceptre more powerful per-
haps than that of any monarch of the
age. Besides his dominions in Europe,
including Spain, Naples, the duchy of
Milan, and the Netherlands, he possessed
in the new world territories of such vast
extent, abounding in inexhaustible veins
of wealth, and opening such boimdless
prospects of every kind, as must have
roused into action a mind much less am-
bitious and enterprising than that of
Philip. He inherited with his crown a
war with France and the pope, but this
was but of short duration ; and the trea-'
ty of Chateau Cambresis left him with-
out an enemy. In memory of the battle
of St. Quintin, fought in this war, "on
the day consecrated to St. Laurence, he
built the splendid and magnificent palace
of the Escurial, in honor of that saint
and martyr, and so formed the plan of the
work as to resemble a gridiron, which,
according to the legendary tale, had been
the instrument of St. Laurence's martyr-
dom." This prince, however, was not
of a disposition to remain long inactive ;
and though he was not desirous of mili-
tary glory, yet in other respects, he was
not inferior to his father either in ambition
or abilities ; and during a long reign, he
gave more disturbance to his enemies by
his political intrigues, than the emperor
had ever done by his arms.

The severity of Charles' government
in the Netherlands, with respect to re-
ligious matters, had estranged from him
the aflections of his subjects in that
country; and the violent and bigoted
principles of Philip's administration, un-
der the Duke of Alva, exasperated them
into open rebellion. This afforded em-
ployment to the arms of Spain for near-
ly half a century, and at last lost to that
crown one half of its most valuable pos-
sessions in the lower countries. (See
Netherlands.)

The same spirit of intolerance which
raised such a flame in the Netherlands,
stirred up the Moors in Spain to a similar
resistance. This industrious people,
since their subjection, had lived as quiet
subjects. But it had been insinuated to

598

SPAIN.

the court of Rome, that though nominally
Christians, they still adhered to the Ma-
hometan faith, which induced the pope to
press upon Philip the necessity of bring-
ing them by force within the pale of the
Catholic church. The king ever ready
to listen to the instigations of monkish
zeal, sent express orders into the king-
dom of Granada, to oblige the Moors to
change at once their habits, manners,
and language ; and the clergy were en-
joined to require the registration of all
Moorish children between five and fifteen
years of age, that they might be taught
the Castilian tongue, and be instructed in
the Catholic faith. Notwithstanding the
humble representations of loyalty and at-
tachment from this unfortunate race, and
the louder remonstrances of the govenor
and principal officers of the province,
against so impolitic and impracticable a
measure, Philip remained inflexible.
The Moors were driven to despair, and
having taken up arms, renounced their
allegiance to the king of Spain, and pro-
claimed one of their chiefs king of Gran-
ada and Cordova. The struggle was
prosecuted on the part of the Moors with
all the fury of religious frenzy, commit-
ting every where the most outrageous ex-
cesses, and inflicting inexcusable cruel-
ties upon the innocent inhabitants, par-
ticularly ecclesiastics ; while the Span-
ish commanders acted with great mode-
ration, treating their prisoners with lenity,
and receiving many to mercy. This war
lasted between tvi'o and three years, cost
the lives of 20,000 Castilian soldiers, of
about 100,000 Moors, and depopulated
and destroyed some of the finest countries
in Spain.

With a weak and despicable policy,
PhiUp III, expelled from his kingdom all
the Moors, who were the most industri-
ous of its inhabitants, in 1 6 1 0 ; and this de-
population joined to that already produced
by her American colonies, rendered Spain
a lifeless and enervated mass. The na-
tional weakness and its disorders in-
creased under Philip IV and Charles II.
The succession to the kingdom on the
death of this latter monarch, was the ob-
ject of much political intrigue. Philip,
grandson of the king of France, and
Charles, brother of the emperor of Ger-

many, were competitors. France and
Spain supported the claims of Philip, and
Germany, England, and Holland, those
of Charles ; Philip V, however, obtained
possession of the throne. The most re-
markable event during his struggle for
the supremacy, was the siege of Barcelo-
na in Catalonia.

Ardently attached to their native cus-
toms and laws, and holding in detesta-
tion those of Castile, the inhabitants of
Barcelona resisted every offer of accom-
modation, short of the actual acknow-
ledgement of their ancient privileges.
Though abandoned by all, they prepared
for a vigorous defence, determined to re-
linquish their liberty only with their lives.
Villaroel, who had received the rank of
general in the Austrian service, was en-
trusted with the military command. He
had only 16,000 troops besides armed
citizens, to oppose the whole army of
Philip, supported by 20,000 French,
under the renowned duke of Berwick.
But every expedient that skill or valor
could suggest, was employed to ensure
success in the approaching conflict. All
who were imfit for service, the timid, the
sickly, and the aged, were removed to
the island of Majorca, which also held
out against the authority of Philip, the
fortifications were repaired and strength-
ened, the streets barricaded, and every
house converted into a citadel, by pierc-
ing the walls for the use of musketry ; and,
in order to excite the popular enthusiasm,
and to strengthen their patriotism with
the sanctions of religion, they deposited
on the high altar of the cathedral the
written promise of the queen of England
to maintain their constitution, making a
solemn appeal to heaven against the de-
sertion of those, of whose selfish ambi-
tion and crooked policy they were aboui
to become the victims.

The Spanish trenches were opened on
the 12th of July ; on the 30th a lodgment
was made in the covert way ; and by
the 12th of August, breaches were effect-
ed in two of the bastions. After a
struggle of three days, the assailants ob-
tained a footing upon the rampart ; and,
while arrangements were making for a
general assault, the duke of Berwick,
anxious to prevent a farther effusion of

SPAIN.

599

blood in this unnatural contest, and to
save the city from the horrors of a storm,
repeated the offers of a general amnesty.
His compassionate efforts were treated
with contumely, and served only to add
fuel to their enthusiasm. The signal for
the assault was given on the morning of
the 11th of September, " Fifty battalions
of grenadiers," says Coxa, "commenced
the dreadful work, and were supported
by forty others. The French attacked
the eastern bastion, the Spaniards that of
St. Clara and the new gate. The resis-
tance was obstinate even to ferocity.
Cannon loaded with grape made the most
dreadful carnage in the breaches. With-
out being able to advance a single step,
the assailants perished by hundreds.
Fresh troops incessantly arriving, at
length overpowered the weaker number
of the besieged. The French and Span-
ish columns mounted the breaches at the
same instant, and the French pushed for-
ward into the town. But here the con-
flict really commenced. Every street
was intersected with barricades ; every
inch of ground viras purchased with the
sacrifice of lives. Unprovided with means
to force the barricades, or fill up the
ditches, the assailants were swept away
by an incessant fire from every house.
At length all obstructions were overcome
by torrents of blood. In the heat of the
combat, the victors spared not ; the Cat-
alans, lavish of life, demanded no quarter.
When they were driven into the great
square, the assailants deemed the conflict
at an end, and dispersed for pillage. But
the insurgents, profiting by the moment,
returned to the charge ; the assailants
were driven back to the breach, and
would have been again precipitated into
the ditch, had they not been rallied by
the bravery and exertions of their officers.
Again the combat raged with aggravated
fury, for the Spanish column, which had
penetrated by the other breach, was driven
back as the. French retreated. Numbers
and bravery at length vanquished all re-
sistance. The Spaniards turned their
own cannon against them, and additional
artillery was brought up to the breach.
Yet, though thrown into disorder, they
did not cease to combat. The assailants,
galled with a continual and terrible fire,

by a desperate efTort forced the bastion of
St. Peter, where the besieged made their
principal stand, and turned its artillery
against them. In this crisis, the chiefs
led them to a new charge, but were re-
pulsed, and Villaroel desperately wound-
ed. Though discouraged by the misfor-
tune of the commander, the besieged still
maintained the struggle for twelve hours,
in every quarter of the town ; and there
was scarcely an inhabitant of any age,
sex, or condition, who did not share in
the defence. The history of this century
does not furnish an example of a siege
so long and bloody. The women at
length retired into the convents ; the pop-
ulace, vanquished and straitened on every
side, and unable to defend themselves,
did not demand quarter ; and the French
massacred all without distinction. At
this moment, some individuals raised a
white standard ; and Berwick seized the
opportunity to suspend the carnage, or-
dering his troops to maintain their posts,
till he had heard the proposals of surren-
der. But a sudden cry of " kill and burn,"
bursting from the ranks, revived the fury
of the troops ; the streets were again del-
uged with blood, and the authority of
Berwick himself scarcely sufficed to ar-
rest the disorder. Night arrived, and
with it new horrors ; for in the short in-
terval of suspense, the inhabitants re-
sumed their arms, and again poured a
destructive fire from the houses. Depu-
ties at length advanced to the breach to
parley with marshal Berwick, but re-
quired a general pardon, and the restora-
tion of their privileges. The marshal
contemptuously rejected the demand, and
threatened to give no quarter, if they did
not surrender before morning. His an-
swer inflamed the spirit of the insurgents ;
and the combat raged with redoubled fury,
a storm of fire pouring upon the assailants
from the houses, which, by order of the
marshal, had been respited from destruc-
tion. This night was one of the most
horrible that imagination can form. The
marshal ordered the dead and wounded
to be removed, kept the troops under
arms, and prepared to reduce the town to
ashes. Day broke, and notwithstanding
the obstinacy of the insurgents, he grant-
ed a delay of six hours. This concession

600

SPAIN.

producing no effect, the houses were set
on fire. Apprised of their danger by the
burst of the flames, the insurgents once
more hoisted a flag of truce. The fire
was extinguished, the deputies of the
magistracy yielded the town without con-
dition, and the offers of Berwick pro-
cured the immediate surrender of Mont-
juich and Cardona.

The lives and property of the inhabi-
tants were spared ; but twenty of the
chiefs, among whom were Villaroel, Ar-
mengol, the marquis of Peral, and Nebot,
were consigned to perpetual imprison-
ment in the castle of Alicante ; and the
bishop of Albaracin, with two hundred
ecclesiastics, banished to Italy. Of the
rest, the inferior officers were dismissed
on taking the oath of allegiance. The
standards of the town were publicly
burnt, the privileges of the province an-
nulled, and a new government establish-
ed, according to the constitution of Cas-
tile.

Thus ended a conflict which recalls to
the recollection the fate of the ancient
Numantia and Saguntum, and in recent
times finds a parallel in the immortal de-
fence of Saragossa. The royalists pur-
chased their victory with the loss of no
less than 6,000 men in the siege, and
4,000 in the assault ; and the besieged
were equally sufferers.

At the accession of Philip V, of the
house of Bourbon, to the throne, Spain
had become much reduced in its wealth
and population, and still more in the
genius and activity of the people. The
reign of Philip was long, but the despo-
tism of his government with the super-
stition and oppression of the Catholic
church at that period, no other being
tolerated, joined to natural indolence,
gradually destroyed the strength and
reputation of the people. Philip died
in 1746, and was succeeded by his son
Ferdinand VI, who would gladly have
restored the privileges and prosperity of
people ; but the general corruption of the
court, the clergy, and the nobility, formed
an obstacle to reformation, that no ordi-
nary abilities in a sovereign could ex-
pect to surmount.

Ferdinand dying without issue, was
succeeded by his brother Charles III,

then king of Naples, in 1759. Possess-
ing the natural sloth of his countrymen,
with the effeminacy of an Italian, his
motherbeing a princess of Parma, he was
wholly under the influence of favorites.
During his reign in 1762, the strong for-
tress of Havanna was taken by the Brit-
ish forces, who were assisted by a body
of New England troops. The most re-
markable warlike event in his reign was
the celebrated siege of Gibraltar. Tliis
celebrated fortress had been in possession
of Great Britain since the year 1704,
and its possession by that power, was
ever a mortifying circumstance to the
Spanish nation.

In the war which broke out between
England and Spain, in 1779, the last at-
tempt was made for the recovery of Gib-
raltar. The Spanish ambassador having
announced the intention of his court, in
London, on the 16th of June, 1779, on
the 21st of the same month all commu-
nication between Gibraltar and the sur-
roimding country was closed, by the com-
mand of the government at Madrid. It
was the middle of the following month,
however, before the Spaniards began to
blockade the fort. Fortunately, in the
early part of this year. General Elliot,
who had been recently appointed gover-
nor, had arrived in the fort, and brought
to the crisis that was approaching the aid
of his great military science and talents.
Another fortunate circumstance was, that
a supply of provisions had arrived in the
preceding April. Had it not been for
this, the garrison might have suffered
from the sudden stoppage of their accus-
tomed intercourse both with Spain and
with Africa. The first firing which took
place was on the 12th of September,
when a cannonade was opened from the
fort which destroyed the works that the
besiegers had spent many of the preced-
ing weeks in erecting. The blockade,
notwithstanding, became every day closer,
and the occasional boats, which had, for
some time, stolen in from the African
coast and other places, at length found it
impossible to continue their attempts. By
the end of October provisions had be-
come extremely dear ; about the same
time, too, the small-pox broke out among
the Jewish inhabitants of the town, and

SPAIN.

601

every precaution was used to prevent the
spread of the disease. In November,
the governor, in order to try on hovi^ little
food life and strength could be sustained,
restricted himself for eight days to four
ounces of rice per diem. Thistles, dan-
delions, wild leeks, &c, began to be eaten
by the people of the town, and meat sold
from half-a-crown to four shillings the
pound.

The first firing from the besiegers took
place on ihe 12th of January, 1780. By
the end of March the first supply of pro-
visions arrived, brought in by the gallant
Admiral Rodney, who had not only cut
his way to the assistance of his distressed
countrymen, through all the opposition
of the enemy, but had captured six of
their men-of-war, including a sixty-four
gun ship, with the admiral on board, to-
gether with seventeen merchantmen.
His late Majesty, then known as Prince
William-Henry, Avas serving on board
one of Sir George Rodney's ships as a
midshipman, and often visited the garri-
son while the fleet remained in the bay.
Captain Drinkwater relates that, on see-
ing a prince of the blood thus serving as
a warrant-officer, the captive Spanish
admiral exclaimed, that Great Britain
well deserved the empire of the seas,
when even her king's sons were found
thus holding the humblest situations on
board her ships.

For many months after this, things con-
tinued nearly in the same state. The
garrison and towns people were again
and again reduced to the greatest priva-
tions by scarcity of provisions, before
supplies arrived. In the spring of 1781,
the besiegers at last opened the batteries,
and continued firing upon the town till
they had completely destroyed it. On
the 27th of April, however, a most gal-
lant exploit was performed by a party
from the garrison, who, making a sortie
from their fortifications, succeeded in
setting fire to, and reducing to ashes, all
the erections of the enemy, although dis-
tant not less than three-quarters of a mile.
This, however, brought only a temporary
relief. The firing soon after recom-
menced, and, for more than a year, con-
tinued incessantly. In the course of the
year 1782, it was, on the suggestion of
76

general Boyd, returned from the rock
with red-hot balls, a device which was
found to produce the most powerful effect.
The enemy, however, now prepared for
a grand effort. On the 12th of Septem-
ber the combined fleets of France and
Spain arrived in the bay ; next morning
they were drawn up around the south
and west sides of the promontory, a most
formidable armament, consisting of forty-
seven sail of the line, seven of which
were three-deckers, together with ten
battering-ships, the strongest that had
ever been built, and many frigates and
smaller vessels. On land there lay an
army of 40,000, with batteries on which
were mounted 200 pieces of heavy ord-
nance. On the other side, the garrison
now consisted of about 7,000 eflfective
men. The ships were permitted to take
their stations without molestation ; but,
about a quarter before ten o'clock, as soon
as the first of them dropped anchor, the
citadel began to pour upon them its hith-
erto reserved artillery. Now commenced
a scene of terrible sublimity. Four hun-
dred pieces of the heaviest ordnance
thundered without intermission, and filled
the air with smoke and flame. For sev-
eral hours the attack and defence were
so well supported as scarcely to admit
any appearance of superiority in the can-
nonade on either side. The wonderful
construction of the ships seemed to bid
defiance to the powers of the heaviest
ordnance. In the afternoon, however,
the face of things began to change con-
siderably. The smoke, which had been
observed to issue from the upper part of
the flag ship, appeared to prevail, not-
withstanding the constant application of
water ; and the admiral's second was
perceived to be in the same condition.
Confusion was now apparent on board
several of the vessels ; and, by the even-
ing, their cannonade was considerably
abated. About seven or eight o'clock it
almost entirely ceased, excepting from
one or two ships to the northward, which,
from their distance, had suff'ered very
little mjury.

In the end, the attack concluded in the
complete annihilation of the assailing
squadron. All the larger ships were
beaten to pieces or burnt. As night ap-

602

SPAIN,

Defeat of the Spaniards before Gibraltar.

preached groans and signals of distress
from those on board the shattered navy
supplied the place of the now slackened
fire. Many of the wretched men were
struggling for life in the waters ; and the
victors themselves at last put out to their
assistance, and picked numbers of them
up. The loss of the enemy was supposed
to amount to about 2,000, including pris-
oners. Of the English there were only
16 killed, and 68 wounded. The rock
was a much better defence than even
those strong-built men-of-war. The as-
sailants had had three hundred pieces of
ordnance in play ; the garrison only em-
ployed eighty cannon, seven mortars, and
nine howitzers. Captain Drinkwater
states that upwards of 8,300 rounds, more
than half of which were hot shot, and
716 barrels of powder, were expended
by the English artillery.

Even this complete discomfiture, how-
ever, did not subdue the obstinacy of the
besiegers. They continued to encom-
pass the place, and even to keep up a
feeble fire upon it some months longer.
At length the long blockade was termi-
nated by the announcement of the sign-
ing of the preliminaries of a general
peace on the 2d of February, 1783.

Charles III, upon his death-bed, charg-
ed his successor to retain Florida Blanc a
in his service, as an upright and faithful
counsellor, to whose able and unv^earied
exertions the kingdom was indebted for
many valuable improvements. Charles
IV, however, held only the nominal
sovereignty of Spain, the whole power
and influence of the government resided
virtually in the queen. This princess
was a daughter of the duke of Parma,
and soon after her marriage with the
prince of Asturias, discovered a strong
propensity to gallantry, which the severe
and jealous temper of her father-in-law
was scarcely able to check. But the
death of the old king left her without an
obstacle in the pursuit of her licentious
pleasures, as her weak and good-natured
husband seemed neither to feel nor to
see her disgraceful conduct. Her favor-
ite at this time was Don Manuel Godoy,
a young ofiicer in the horse-guards, and
descended of an ancient but decayed
family in Estremadura. This person
{ had obtained his present elevation by
supplanting his brother in the afi'ections
of the queen ; and he continued, in spite
of his own imprudence and infidelities,
which were well known to his royal mis-

SPAIN.

603

tress, to maintain his ascendency over
her to the last. He had also ingratiated
himself into the confidence of the mon-
arch, and was rapidly advanced to the
first ranks of the army, and the highest
honors of the state. Having been raised
to a grandeeship of the first class, he re-
ceived a princely estate belonging to the
crown, with the title of Duke de la Al-
cudia, and the faithful Florida Blanca
■was removed to make way for his ap-
pointment to the head of the government.

At this period the revolution in France
had involved Spain also within the vor-
tex of its influence ; but her ill-conducted
and disastrous efforts were of little avail
to the general confederacy. The revo-
lutionary forces overran the greater part
of Navarre, and would soon have dicta-
ted their own terms at Madrid, had not
the favorite minister concluded and rati-
fied the peace of Basle, by which the
French conquests were restored in ex-
change for the Spanish part of St. Do-
mingo. The nation had been so alarmed
at the successes of the republican army,
that this peace was hailed with universal
joy, and no reward was considered too
extravagant for the person by whose
management it had been accomplished.
A new dignity was created for him alone,
under the title of " Prince of the Peace,"
which placed him next in rank to the
princes of the blood royal ; and this was
soon after followed by his marriage into
the royal family, by receiving the hand
of the eldest daughter of the king's late
brother Don Louis.

The open and unguarded gallantries
of the favorite, however, excited the
jealousy of his royal mistress, and she
frequently formed the desigTi of accom-
plishing his disgrace, and driving him
from the court ; but her unextinguished,
and ever reviving passion, yielded to the
first offers of reconciliation ; and all her
attempts at revenge ended only in the
ruin of those who were employed as the
instruments of it. It was this which de-
prived Spain of the talents of the accom-
plished and patriotic Jovellanos, and
consigned him to the fortress of Bellver
in Majorca. The return of confidence
was always followed by an accession of
honor and influence. The antiquated

dignity of high admiral, accompanied
with great emoluments, and the title of
highness, was revived and conferred
upon Godoy, and a brigade of cavalry,
composed of picked men from the whole
army, was given him for a body guard.
His power at length became so unlimited,
that every department of the government
was filled by his dependents ; and it is
said, that " the queen finding it impracti-
cable to check his gallantries, had so
perfectly conquered her jealousy as not
only to live with him on the most amica-
ble terms, but to emulate his love of
variety in the most open and impudent
manner."

It could not be expected that a country
under such control could long maintain
its respectability and independence. The
incessant demands of the queen for the
support of her pleasures, formed the most
pressing and considerable item in the
Spanish budget ; and it is asserted that
" Caballero, the minister for the home
department, fearing the progress of all
learning, which might disturb the peace
of the court, sent a circular order to the
universities, forbidding the study of moral
philosophy. ' His majesty,' it was said
in the order, ' was not ii' want of philo-
sophers, but of good and obedient sub-
jects.' " Spain consequently became the
humble tool, first of the republic and then
of the emperor of France. Soon after
the peace of Basle, she entered into an
alliance with the republic, to which she
furnished a fleet and large contributions
in money ; but in her contest with Bri-
tain, her fleet of twenty-seven sail of the
line was defeated off" Cape St. Vincent
by a very inferior force, under Sir John
Jarvis, when four line of battle ships re-
mained with the victors.

Upon the renewal of hostilities after
the peace of Amiens, Spain, as a vassal
state, again attached herself to the for-
tunes of her more formidable neighbor, —
but the battle of Trafalgar stripped her
of her marine, and she continued to be
the passive instrument of Bonaparte, till
her population were roused to resistance
by a system of perfidy and aggression,
on the part of the French ruler, unexam-
pled in the history of the world.

Not satisfied with having at his dispo-

604

SPAIN

sal the resources of the Spanish monar-
chy, Bonaparte meditated the total sub-
jugation of the kingdom, and the confer-
ring of its sovereignty as a conquered
province upon one of his own family.
Having gained over Godoy to his inter-
ests, and sown dissensions among the
royal family, he decoyed them, imder the
mask of friendship, to Bayonne, and there
by threats compelled them to sign a re-
nunciation of their rights to the crown of
Spain and the Indies, and placed his
brother Joseph upon the throne of that
kingdom.

This barefaced perfidy and outrage,
awakened the long latent energies of the
Spanish people, they rose in arms against
their oppressors, and made a noble strug-
gle in resisting the progress of the French
armies. One of the most memorable
achievements in this conflict, or any
other in modern times was the defence
of Saragossa, or Zaragossa, the capital
of Arragon. This ancient city Avas but
slightly defended by an ancient wall about
ten feet high. Its garrison consisted
chiefly of the citizens of the place ; the
governor was a young nobleman, called
Don Joseph Palafox. The French, under
General Lefebvre Desnouettes, endeav-
oured to carry the place by a coup-de-
main, in which they failed with great
loss. As they began to invest the place
more closely, all the Zaragozans rushed
to man their defences — condition, age,
even sex, made no diflercnce ; monks
fought abreast Avith the laity, and several
women showed more than masculine
courage. After a horrid contest for
several weeks, the French were obliged
to retreat.

On the 30th of December, 1808, the
French under Marshal Moncey again be-
sieged Zaragossa. The marshal ad-
dressed a letter to Palafox, and summoned
him to surrender the city and spare the
efliision of blood ; he likewise informed
him, that Madrid had fallen, and that
Napoleon at the head of a great army,
was then in the act of chasing the English
to their ships. Palafox replied, that the
garrison would rather be buried in the
ruins of their city than surrender. The
aid of superstition was not wanting to
strengthen the confidence of the Zara-

gozans. They relied on the miraculous
protection of our Lady of the Pillar, who
had made their favored city the seat of
her peculiar woiship. The successful
termination of the former siege had given
strength to their belief in the beneficent
regards of the patron saint. Approaching
victory, in their belief, had been pre-
figured by unwonted conformations in
the clouds ; and celestial voices were
heard in the elements off"ering divine
protection, &c. On the 2d of Jan. 1809,
Moncey was superseded by Marshal Ju-
not in the command of the beseiging
army. Napoleon dissatisfied Avith the
slow progress of the siege, afterwards
sent Marshal Lannes to assume the com-
mand, who pushed the siege with vigor,
and having forced the outwork, gained a
footing in the city at various points.

The misfortunes of the Zaragozans
were hourly accumulating. The Fever
demon stalked through the city like a de-
stroying angel, conquering and to con-
quer. The number of dead per day
amounted ^o three hundred and fifty,
without including those who fell the more
immediate victims of war. The hospi-
tals were too small to contain the host
of patients, and the necessary medicines
were exhausted. The burying grounds
were choked with corpses ; and large
pits were dug in the streets, into which
the dead were tossed indiscriminately.
Heaps of bloated and putrescent bodies
were piled before the churches, which
were often struck by the shells ; and the
maimed and ghastly carcasses lay dis-
persed along the streets, a frightful spec-
tacle of horror. Even under such evils
the courage of the Zaragozans did not
quail.

The city was now open to the inva-
ders, and the war as formerly was carried
on in the streets and houses. Not one
inch of ground was yielded by the be-
sieged Avithout a struggle ; and when
finally driven from a building, they fre-
quently, by a desperate offensive effort,
recovered it ; and an equal resistance
had again to be encountered by the as-
sailants. Traverses were cut around the
portions of the city occupied by the
enemy ; and at the sound of the tocsin,
the garrison Avere always ready to rush

SPAIN.

605

to any quarter where hostilities had com-
menced.

Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of
the garrison, the French gained ground.
The first of February was marked by the
capture of the Convents of St. Augustin
and St. Monica. Having been repelled
in assaulting the breaches, the assailants
sprung a mine, and by that means effect-
ed an entrance, and took in reverse the
works erected for their defence. A
deadly struggle took place in the church.
Every chapel, every column, every altar,
became a point of defence, — the pave-
ment was strewed with blood, and the
aisles and nave of the church were cov-
ered with the dead. During this terrific
conflict, the roof, shattered by bombs, fell
in. Those who escaped, renewed the
contest on the bodies of the dead and
dying. The French were at length suc-
cessful, and advancing on the Rua Que-
mada, gained possession of several
houses. From these, however, they
were eventually compelled to retreat.

At the same time, an attack was made
on the houses near Sta. Engracia. Two
mines, one on the left, the other on the
right, of the Convent, were sprung by
the besiegers ; after which, two columns
of Polish infantry succeeded in gaining
possession of the ruins caused by the
explosion. The loss of the besiegers
was very considerable, and General La-
coste, commandant of engineers, was
killed. He was an officer of great pro-
fessional eminence, and untarnished
character.

During four days the besiegers were
employed in constructing three galleries
to cross the Rua Quemada. Two of
these failed. By means of the third
they succeeded in establishing them-
selves in the ruins of a house which
formed an angle of the Cozo, and of the
Rua del Medio. A building, called the
Escuelas Pias, commanded several trav-
erses, made for the defence of the Cozo.
Aware of the importance of this post, the
assailants made several unsuccessful
efforts to gain possession of it. They
then attempted the adjoining houses ; but
in this also they failed. The system of
blowing up the houses now adopted, was
favorable to the besieged ; for the enemy

who established themselves on the ruins,
were thus exposed to the fire of the sur-
rounding buildings. In the meanwhile,
the continual succession of formidable
and unforeseen obstacles, which present-
ed themselves to the French soldiers,
had considerably damped their ardor ;
while the spirits of the besieged, who
had to contend against famine, fever, and
the French army, were yet unbroken.

On the seventh of February, the Con-
vent of Jesus, on the left of the road to
Lerida, was attacked. Trenches were
opened against it ; and twenty battering
pieces having effected a breach, it was
carried with little loss, the building not
being considered by the besieged as of
meterial importance. The enemy then
succeeded in establishing a lodgment to
the right and left.

The loss of the suburb which was
carried by assault on the 18th, laid open
to the enemy the only part of the town
which had hitherto been exempted from
direct attack. The besiegers, imagining
that the courage of the garrison had been
abated by this irreparable misfortune,
continued their operations with vigor.
By means of mining, two enormous
breaches were made in the University —
both of which were attacked and carried ;
and the traverses of the Cozo were at
length abandoned by the Spaniards. In
the meantime, Palafox had been smitten
with the dreadful disease, whose raA^ages
had been more widely spread than even
those of famine and the sword. This
admirable and heroic leader, who, for
above a month, had been unable to quit
the vault where he lay stretched on a
bed of suffering, at length saw the ne-
cessity of resigning the command.

On the nineteenth, he transferred his
authority to a Junta, of which Don Pedro
Ric was appointed president. A council
was immediately assembled to deliberate
on the condition of the city, and the
measures most proper to be adopted. At
this meeting it was stated, by the Gen-
eral of cavalry, that only sixty-two horses
remained, the rest having died of hunger.
Of the infantry it appeared there were
little more than two thousand eight hun-
dred men fit for service. Ammunition
was nearly exhausted ; and should a

606

SPAIN.

shell penetrate the Inquisition, their only
manufactory of powder would be destroy-
ed. The fortifications were stated, by
the chief engineer, to have been almost
utterly demolished. There were neither
men nor materials necessary for repair-
ing them ; and bags of earth coidd no
longer be formed from want of cloth.

With regard to the measures to be
adopted, the Junta were divided in opin-
ion. Twenty-six voted for capitulation ;
eight against it. The latter were averse
to surrender, while even a possibility of
succor remained. With proud gallantry
of spirit the opinion of the minority was
adopted by the Junta. A flag of truce
was sent to the enemy, proposing a sus-
pension of hostilities, with the view of
ascertaining the situation of the Spanish
armies ; it being understood that should
no immediate succor be at hand, the
Junta would then treat for a surrender.
This proposal was peremptorily declined
by Marshal Lannes ; and the bombard-
ment recommenced.

On the twentieth the garrison made a
last and unsuccessful effort to recover
two guns which the enemy had captured
on the preceding day. Affairs were
now desperate. The fifty guns which
had been employed in the attack of the
suburb, now opened fire on the city ; and
the streets in the neighborhood of the
quay were laid in ruins.

Thus situated, the Junta ordered mea-
sures to be taken to ascertain the senti-
ments of the people with regard to the
situation of their city. Two-thirds of it
were in ruins. Fire, famine, and slaugh-
ter had done their work ; and from three
to four hundred persons were daily dying
of the pestilence. Under such circum-
stances the Junta declared they had ful-
filled their oath of fidelity, — and that
Zaragoza was destroyed. A flag of truce
was despatched to the French head-
quarters, followed by a deputation of the
Junta, to arrange the terms of capitula-
tion. Marshal Lannes was at first dis-
posed to insist on unconditional surren-
der. The proposal was indignantly re-
jected by the deputies ; and Ric declared,
that rather than submit to it the Zarago-
zans would die beneath the ruins of their
city. "I, and my companions," said

this noble patriot, " will return there, and
defend what remains to us as best we
may. We have yet arms and ammuni-
tion, and if these fail, we have daggers.
War is never without its chances ; and
should the Zaragozans be driven to des-
pair, it yet remains to be proved who
are to be victorious."

In this temper of the garrison, Lannes
did not think it prudent to refuse grant-
ing terms. It was accordingly conceded
that the troops should march out with
the honors of war, that the heroic Pala-
fox should be suffered to retire to any
place where he might think proper to fix
his residence, and that all persons, not
included in the garrison, should be suf-
fered to quit the city, in order to avoid
the contagion.

On the twenty-first, the posts of the
city were delivered up to the French,
and thus terminated one of the most
strenuous and extraordinary struggles of
which history bears record. The resis-
tance continued for fifty-two days with
open trenches ; twenty-nine of these
were consumed by the enemy in effect-
ing an entrance, — twenty-three in the
war subsequently carried on in the
streets and houses. By their own ac-
count the French threw above seventeen
thousand bombs into the city, and expend-
ed above one hundred and sixty thousand
pounds weight of powder. More than
thirty thousand men and five hundred
ofiicers perished in the defence, exclu-
sive of a vast number of women and
children, who sank the mute and suffer-
ing victims of fire, famine, pestilence,
and slaughter. The amount of loss sus-
tained by the besieged was studiously
concealed, — that it was very great, can-
not be doubted ; and the contemplated
operations on Lerida and Valencia, for
which the army was destined, were in
consequence given up.

When the garrison quitted the city,
only two thousand four hundred men
were capable of bearing arms ; the rest
were in the hospitals. On the march to
France, two hundred and seventy of
these men, weakened by famine and dis-
ease, were found incapable of proceed-
ing with the rapidity which their inhuman
conductors considered necessary ; they

SPAIN.

607

were butchered and left on the road, to
serve as a spectacle and a warning to the
succeeding divisions.

Among the prisoners, was Augustina
Zaragoza, who had distinguished herself
in the former siege. At the commence-
ment, she had resumed her station by the
Portillo gate. When Palafox visited the
battery, she pointed to the gim she had
formerly served with so much effect, and
exclaimed, " See, General, I am again
with my old friend." Once, when her
wounded husband lay bleeding at her
feet, she discharged the cannon at the
enemy, in order to avenge his fall. She
frequently led the assaulting parties, and
with sword in hand, and her cloak wrap-
ped around her, mingled in the daily con-
flicts which took place in the streets.
Though exposed, during the whole siege,
to the most imminent danger, Augustina
escaped without a wound.

The record of female heroism must
be yet further extended. During the
struggle, the women of Zaragoza shrank
from no ordeal, however terrible. In the
combat, where the fight was the thickest,
— on the ramparts, where the fire was
most deadly, — in the hospitals, — in the
dark and airless dens of pestilence,
breathing a tainted and noisome atmos-
phere,— there were they found, these
"meek-eyed women, without fear," sooth-
ing the dying, ministering to the suffer-
ing, and exhibiting a proud and memo-
rable spectacle of fortitude and virtue.

The terms of the capitulation were
shamefully violated by Marshal Lannes.
Palafox was sent a prisoner into France ;
and the city became the scene of pillage
and atrocity. The province, on the fall
of Zaragoza, became comparatively tran-
quil. Fourteen thousand men, under
Suchet, were left to maintain tranquillity;
and the remainder of the besieging army,
under Mortier, moved into Castile.

In the meanwhile, Europe rang with
admiration of the noble defence of Zara-
goza. Every where the pulses of the
slave beat quicker and more strongly ;
and the heart of the freeman bounded
proudly in his bosom. Poets and histo-
rians consecrated, in undying records,
the virtue of her citizens ; and Zaragoza,
like Thermopylae, will remain linked

with associations of the purest patriotism
and devotion.

All opposition to the overwhelming
power of France must soon have been
crushed, had not the Spanish people re-
ceived efficient aid from Great Britain.
The French were driven from Spain
early in 1814, by the British forces under
Lord Welhngton, {see Great Britain,) and
Ferdinand VII, was seated on the throne.

A constitution framed by the Cortes
was promulgated in 1812, but owing to
its democratical principles, was violently
opposed in many parts of the kingdom.
The unhappy division of the nation into
constitutionalists and royalists, or, as they
were afterwards called, liberals and
serviles, was the source of much conten-
tion and trouble. The affairs of Spain
were discussed at the congress of Verona ;
and the powers there assembled, with
the exception of Great Britain, assumed
the authority of interfering with the in-
ternal arrangements of an independent
kingdom. They demanded a change in
the institutions formed by the Cortes, and
a subjection to the arbitary power of
Ferdinand. A French army under the
duke d'Angouleme entered Spain, and
after a slight resistance entered Madrid
on the 21st of May, 1823. The duke
having installed a regency, advanced up-
on Cadiz, whither the Cortes had retired,
carrying with them Ferdinand as a kind
of prisoner. Cadiz being besieged by a
force of 30,000 French troops, with a
formidable train of artillery, was forced
to surrender. This event was soon fol-
lowed by the surrender of all the impor-
tant fortresses in the kingdom. The
most effectual resistance against the
French power, was made by the gallant
Mina, who maintained a desultory and
protracted war against a very superior
force in the mountains of Catalonia. By
the aid of the presence of a French army,
Ferdinand became the absolute master
of Spain. The members of the Cortes,
and the principal chiefs ofthe former gov-
ernment fled from their oppressed country.
The gallant but unfortunate Riego, how-
ever, was taken, and after a mock trial
was executed. Since the death of Fer-
dinand, the affairs of Spain have con-
tinued in a very unsettled state.

608

SWEDEN.

SWEDEN

The ancient history of Sweden is
closely connected with that of Denmark,
{see Denmark.) The original inliabitants
were a colony of Finns from the banks
of the Volga, and the vicinity of Mount
Caucasus. And about three hundred
years before the Christian era, they were
driven from their northern settlements by
the Teutones, a people who came thither
from Germany, and who either expelled
the original inhabitants, or became incor-
porated with them. Except in the north-
ern extremity of Lapland, however, every
trace of the Finns has long been oblite-
rated. The present Swedes, therefore,
as well as the Danes and Norwegians,
are of Teutonic or Gothic origin ; and the
term Scandinavia, or Land of Caves, was
conferred on the extensive regions which
now form these three nations, from the
practice of the inhabitants dwelling in
rocky caverns.

This country was not converted to
Christianity till the end of the eleventh
century, when this happy event took
place by means of missionaries from
England. It renounced the errors of
popery, and adopted the reformed doc-
trines, five centuries afterwards. Swe-
den, though meanwhile it had various
forms of government at different periods,
remained free till the year 1392, when
Margaret, queen of Denmark, styled the
Semiramis of the north, conquered it by
policy and by force of arms, and made
one Idngdom of these three vast states.
This conquest was not destined to be
permanent. Sweden was the victim of
wars and insurrections ; and was alter-
nately free and enslaved for upwards of
a century ; at the end of which time
appeared Gustavus Vasa, a young man,
descended from the ancient kings of the
country ; and, abandoning the forests of
Delecarlia, where he had concealed him-
self, he aspired to become the deliverer
of Sweden. His attempt was successful ;
the Danes were expelled, and Gustavus
was himself elected king of the country
of which he had been the liberator. He
introduced the reformation into Sweden ;

and was in many respects a man superior
to his age. He had the influence to get
the crown declared hereditary in his
family, who, with various degrees of
eminence and merit, have continued till
within these few years to enjoy it. He
died in 1560, after a glorious reign of
thirty-seven years. Anxious to strength-
en the throne by an alliance with the
family of some of the neighboring pow-
ers, he endeavored to accomplish that
object by the marriage of his son Eric,
who succeeded him, to Elizabeth queen
of England. The offer, as is well known,
was rejected.

The successors of this enlightened
restorer of Swedish liberty were, with
few exceptions, not worthy of him. They
were all indeed endued with a chivalry
and heroism not common even in ages
when such attributes were regarded as
the perfection of character ; but they
were devoid of sober judgment, of nice
discrimination, and of sound policy.
Their romantic spirit and enterprises, as
in the case of Charles XII, not unfre-
quently approached to the verge of in-
fatuation or insanity ; and tended directly
to retard the progress of knowledge and
civilization in the territories over .which
they ruled.

Of the descendants of Vasa, Gustavus
Adolphus, on whom has been confer-
red the title of Great, was the most
distinguished, and was the bulwark of
the Protestant faith. He defended the
Lutherans against the Emperor with
equal bravery and good fortune. He
made war, with success and with con-
summate skill, against Russia, Denmark,
Poland, and Germany, and these great
achievements he performed before he
had completed his thirty-seventh year;
at which age he fell in the arms of vic-
tory at Lutzen ; carrying " to the tomb,"
says Voltaire, " the name of Great, the
regrets of the north, and the esteem of
his enemies."

With the great Gustavus and his gen-
erals, the fame and prosperity of Sweden
seemed to expire. Christiana, in 1654,

SWEDEN

609

six years after the peace of Westphalia,
resigned her crown to her cousin Charles
Gustaviis. The life and adventures of
this celebrated princess, exhibit the most
surprising extremes of magnanimity and
weakness — of elevation of mind, and per-
version of taste. The adventures, through
which she passed, would furnish ample
materials for the writer of romance.

Charles Gustavus, who was the tenth
of that name, was a prince of considera-
ble abilities, and gained some advantages
in a war with Poland ; but his reign last-
ed only six years. He died in 1660, and
was succeeded in his government by his
son Charles XI, who was an odious and
impolitic tyrant. So far from imitating
the example of several of his illustrious
predecessors, he used his utmost power
to oppress and enslave his people. Dur-
ing his long reign, though apparently suc-
cessful in several wars, his kingdom and
the Swedish name were falling from that
important and splendid rank, they once
held in Europe.

In 1697, by the death of Charles XI,
the throne of Sweden was left vacant to
the famous Charles XII, his son and suc-
cessor, than whom, probably, no mortal
man ever breathed more constantly the
spirit of war. But, instead of possess-
ing the great qualities of Vasa and Adol-
phus, he seemed capable of nothing but
war and conquest. Headlong as a tiger,
he rushed forward, as if only solicitous
to fight, with very little regard to pros-
pects of advantage, or the favorable mo-
ment.

While such a tiger, however, was about
to be let loose in the North of Europe, a
lion, if we may keep up the metaphor,
was prepared still further north, to keep
him at bay, and set bounds to his lawless
rage. Peter, justly styled the Great, had
just returned to his own dominions, en-
riched with discoveries and improve-
ments, calculated to aid him in the grand
scheme of civilizing the North of Europe
and Asia, when Charles XII, though but
eighteen years of age, ascended the
throne of Sweden. The views of Charles
relative to the conquest of Russia, may
well be compared with those of Alexan-
der in relation to the Persian empire.
But had Charles acted with that prudent
77

caution, which governed Alexander's
counsels and movements he might have
avoided those disasters, which ruined
himself and his kingdom, even though he
had failed in the main object of his
ambition.

The wars of Charles, however, were
tremendous ; and his name soon became
terrible through the world. But he was
too rash and impetuous to execute his
plans by means, which were necessary
to give permanence to his success. He
fought in all directions, and was general-
ly victorious. He humbled all his adver-
saries except one, and struck terror into
all his neighbors. He dethroned Augus-
tus, king of Poland, new modelled the
government of that kingdom, and caused
Stanislaus, a creature of his own, to be
invested with that sovereignty. But his
whole plan of operations may be clearly
traced to his great design of subduing
Russia, which issued in the battle of Pul-
towa, fought on the 11th July, 1709.

While Charles, mad with his design
of becoming a second Alexander and con-
quering all mankind, was with the utmost
diligence preparing the way for his oper-
ations against Peter, the latter by a stretch
of masterly policy, unequalled in its kind,
was widening his resources, fortifying
his power, improving his immense em-
pire, and strengthening the basis of his
throne. The victorious standard of
Charles, in 1707, which had been dis-
played in Saxony, to the terror of all
Germany, was removed, and again seen
in Poland. Thither, at the head of 43,000
men, Charles now proceeded to oppose
the Russian arms, which during his ab-
sence had been employed in favor of
Augustus, the dethroned monarch. From
Lithuania, where he had for some time
been, Peter directed his march toward
the river Boristhenes, avoiding for the
present a general battle with the Swe-
dish hero. So near were the two ar-
mies, that Charles arrived in the city of
Grodno, on the same day that Peter left
it. But the pursuit was in vain.

The sovereign of Russia, on this oc-
casion, displayed that wisdom and pru-
dence, which seemed the prelude to his
future triumph. Finding himself in his
own dominions, and justly fearmg the

610

SWEDEN.

consequences of so terrible a conflict, as
seemed approaching, he sent an embassy
to the king of Sweden, with proposals
of peace. Charles returned for answer,
that he would treat with him at Moscow.
The czar's remark, when this haughty
answer was brought him, gives us a trait
of the character of the two rivals. " My
brother Charles," said he, "always af-
fects to play the Alexander ; but I hope
he will not find me a Darius." The ce-
lerity of his retreat defeated all hopes of
overtaking him ; and the Swedish mon-
arch consoled himself by pursuing his
march toward Moscow. But in this, he
found no small difficulty. His army suf-
fered incredible hardships, in pursuing
the course of the czar, who, aware of
his approach, had destroyed all means
of subsistence, and indeed almost every
vestige of human habitation. Vast for-
ests, morasses and extensive solitudes
presented before them, scenes of desola-
tion, and the alarming prospect of de-
struction. Through these dreary wastes
the Russians moved with safety, being
in their own country, and led by a gTeat
commander, who knew well how to avail
himself of his own resources, and to
leave behind him, nothing to facilitate
the progress of his pursuer.

Charles, though now determined to
march to Moscow, was compelled to al-
ter his line of march, and by a more cir-
cuitous course, to pass through places,
whence some supplies might be derived
for his army, now nearly perishing with
fatigue and want. The north of Europe
abounds with vast forests and trackless
wilds, almost impassable even in the
summer season, and now clothed with
double horrors by the approach of win-
ter. The ablest officers of his army, re-
monstrated against penetrating those in-
hospitable climes, in the winter season.
Count Piper, on whom he had ever placed
much dependence, earnestly recommend-
ed to him to remain in the Ukraine, a
province lying along the river Boris-
thenes, till the winter, which at that time
was intensely severe, was past. He,
however, crossed that river, and advan-
ced to the banks of the Disna, beyond
which, he perceived a Russian army
posted to resist his passage.

He crossed, however, and continued
his march, making a slow progress into
the Russian territories. Hovering par-
ties of the enemy added continual sur-
prise to his painful and perilous march ;
and numbers of his men daily perished
through the inclemency of the season.
Wearing away the winter in those frosty
regions, he at length arrived, on the 10th
of May, at the town of Pultowa, where
was an important magazine of stores and
necessaries, of which the Swedish army
was in great want. But Pultowa was
defended by a garrison of 9,000 Rus-
sians ; and the czar himself lay not very
far distant, with an army of 70,000 men.

The attack of Charles upon this place,
which was strongly fortified, was one of
the most daring enterprises ever attempt-
ed by any commander. For that reason,
he could not be dissuaded from so rash a
measure. In spite of every effort of the
Swedes, the town could not be reduced
before the arrival of the czar with his
main army ; and Charles, although wound-
ed in his heel by a musket ball, deter-
mined to give him battle. He ordered
his army to advance and attack the Rus-
sian camp. The Swedes, long inured to
victory, made a formidable onset, and not
without impression. The Russian caval-
ry was broken, but soon rallied behind
the infantry. The king of Sweden,
borne in a litter, animated his troops, and
displayed all the talents of the soldier
and hero. But he contended against su-
perior fortune. On the side of Peter,
there were equal skill and bravery with
greater numbers. The Swedes fought
with astonishing fury, for two hours ; but
were exposed in the face of a tremen-
dous train of artillery, which the czar,
whose arrangements for the battle were
masterly, had opened upon them. Their
charge upon the Russian line, proved in-
effectual ; and their defeat, which was
inevitable, was only announced by their
destruction. 9,000 Swedes fell on the
field of battle ; and the army of Charles
was utterly ruined. Charles himself,
with a small party of horse, escaped
with difficulty, and hastily crossing the
Boristhcnes, fled with a few attendants
to Bender, a town in Moldavia, in the
Turkish domimons.

SWEDEN,

611

Death of Charles

While in Turkey his conduct resem-
bled that of a maniac, more than that of
a man in his senses. He still hoped to
dethrone the czar by engaging the Turk-
ish power against him. After many ef-
forts the sultan was induced to send
200,000 soldiers against the Russians.
But upon the capitulation of Peter's ar-
my, peace having been made, Charles
was much disappointed, and vented his
rage against the Turk. He had been
hospitably entertained more than three
years, but his arrogance becoming insuf-
ferable, he was ordered to quit the Turk-
ish dominions. This order he refused to
obey, and undertook to fortify his camp.
With only three hundred men, he defend-
ed himself for a time against an army of
twenty thousand Turks, and yielded only
when he was taken by the legs and arms,
and dragged to the tent of the bashaw.

While Charles remained in Turkey,
the czar and the king of Denmark rav-
aged Sweden on every side. This state
of affairs made him desirous of returning
to his own country, especially as he des-
paired of inducing the sultan to engage
in war with Russia. He returned in
disguise, and wishing to wrest Norway
from the Danes, made an attack on that

XII, of Sweden.

country. While visiting the works at
the siege of Frederickshall, Dec. 1718,
he was killed by a cannon shot, while
exposing himself to unnecessary danger.
Though he expired without a groan, he
instinctively grasped the handle of his
sword, and was found in that position, so
characteristic of his temper. After the
death of Charles, Sweden exhausted and
impoverished, demanded repose.

The extensive conquests which Swe-
den had made beyond the Baltic were
gradually taken from her during the
course of the last century. The late
Gustavus IV, on the French revolution,
entered into an alliance with Great Bri-
tain against France; and when, in 1808,
Russia joined her forces to those of the
latter kingdom, he broke off an alliance
with that power ; and on the invasion of
his territories by the Russians, lost Fin-
land, which has since (1809,) continued
dissevered from Sweden. The result of
this war was not merely this loss, but
the dislike of his people, and resentment
of the nobles. The duke of Sundermania,
who was at the head of the discontented
party, conceived and executed the plan
of dethroning Gustavus, and of investing
himself with his honors. This was easily

612

SWITZERLAND.

effected ; not the least disturbance took
place on account of it ; and the duke
assumed the crown under the title of
Charles XIII.

Charles changed the government from
a despotic to a limited monarchy. He
made peace with Russia. He joined
himself to the allies against France. By
a treaty made in 1814, and confirmed in
the subsequent year at the congress of
Vienna, Norway was added to his do-
minions, on condition of his ceding to
Prussia Pomerania and the island of Ru-
gen ; Finland was finally guaranteed to
Russia; and Sweden was confined within
the bounds which we have already de-
scribed. It may here be mentioned, that
when Norway was united to the country
which we are describing, her indepen-
dence, as to government, laws, and in-
stitutions, was solemnly stipulated. —
Meanwhile, in 1810, general Bernadotte,
a Frenchman, had the influence to get
himself declared crown-prince of Swe-
den ; a choice which, though at first it
excited general surprise, has proved very

judicious, from the prudent and liberal
character of that celebrated person. In
1818 Charles XIII died, and Bernadotte
quietly ascended the throne, under the
title of Charles XIV. This monarch
has indeed shown himself worthy of the
dignity conferred on him. He has pa-
tronised and promoted every species of
internal improvement. He has construct-
ed canals, erected schools, and done all
in his power to promote the cause of ed-
ucation. A new civil and penal code is
in progress. The public hospitals have
not been overlooked ; six useless ones
have been suppressed ; every modern
improvement or discovery is immediately
introduced. And, under his enlightened
sway, Sweden, though, from inherent
physical causes, she can never rise high-
er than a power of the second order, is
rapidly advancing in real prosperity and
influence, and is affording an example of
improvement and of enlightened policy,
which many nations more highly favored
in point of climate and physical advanta-
ges, would do well to imitate.

SWITZERLAND.

The history of Switzerland, previously
to the time of Caesar, may be regarded
as unknown or uncertain. It may, as has
been believed by one class of writers,
have been visited and colonized by the
Greeks, who founded Marseilles several
centuries before the time to which we
refer. This opinion has been supposed
to gain countenance from statements
made by Herodotus and Appolonius
Rhodius.

At the dawn of authentic history, we
find the country inhabited by the Helve-
tii and the Rhaetii ; the latter inhabiting,
in addition to Swabia and the Tyrol,
what afterwards formed the Swiss can-
tons of Appenzell, Claris, Uri, and the
Orisons ; the Helvetii occupying the re-
maining cantons. These people were of
Celtic origin ; and remains of the Celtic
language, which was long their native
speech, still exist. Their defeat by Cae-

sar is well known. They were after-
wards ranked among the people subject
to Rome, and were exposed to all the
hardships which such a connection always
imposed on conquered nations.

On the downfall of the Roman power,
the Helvetians, like the other people of
Europe, were overrun by hordes of bar-
barians ; they were successively con-
quered, and nearly extirpated by various
tribes, the Alemanni, the Franks, the
Huns, the Burgundians. From the be-
ginning of the eleventh century, the pro-
vinces which now constitute Switzerland,
began to be regarded as an appendage
of Germany ; and are mentioned in his-
tory as receiving at different times certain
privileges and immunities from the head
of that empire. These, however, did not
proceed from the spontaneous policy of
the emperors ; they were wrested from
them in consequence of the repeated ap-

SWITZERLAND.

613

William Tell the Swiss patriot.

plications and urgent remonstrances of
the Swiss themselves, who seem from
the earliest periods to have abhorred de-
pendence, and to have been animated
with principles of liberty. In truth, the
inhabitants of Uri, Schweitz, and Under-
walden, (three territories known by the
name of the Waldstetten.) possessed from
time immemorial the right of being gov-
erned by their own magistrates, and of
enacting their own laws ; they had al-
ways declared themselves averse to the
authority of the emperor's representative
among them ; and when, like the rest of
the country, they did consent to acknow-
ledge this officer, it was on the condition
that he would govern according to law,
and make no encroachments on their rights
and privileges. Usurpation, however,
followed after usurpation, till at length
the whole country was reduced under the
power of the house of Austria. Tyranny
in truth was carried to the utmost extent,
and freedom seemed to be for ever extin-
guished in Helvetia. But it was check-
ed not destroyed ; its spirit still continued
to linger among them ; and at length it
burst forth with a greater energy than
ever. A confederacy to shake off the
yoke of their oppressors, and to achieve

the independence of their country, was
formed in 1307, by three individuals, na-
tives respectively of the three cantons
that composed the "Waldstetten. The
conspiracy Avas embraced with delight by
all to whom it was communicated ; the
names of the heroes who organized it
have ever since been revered throughout
Switzerland ; and the spot where it was
first formed is regarded as sacred. The
revolution which was contemplated, was
accelerated, or rather secured, by the in-
sults shown on the part of Gesler, the
representative of the emperor.

Gesler who was governor of Uri, had
ordered his hat to be fixed upon a pole in
the market-place of Altorf, and command-
ed every passenger on pain of death to
pay the same obeisance to it as to him-
self. William Tell, of Burglen in the
valley of Uri, son-in-law to Walter Furst,
indignant at this insulting mark of wan-
ton tyranny, disdained to pay an homage
so absurd and so humiliating. This
manly resolution was punished by the
tyrant with the sentence of death. Tell
was condemned to be hanged, unless he
should be able to strike with his arrow an
apple placed upon the head of his son ;
being an excellent marksman, Tell ac-

614

SWITZERLAND.

cepted the alternative, and fortunately-
cleft the apple without injuring the child.
The tyrant Gesler, perceiving another
arrow in his belt, asked him for what pur-
pose that was intended ; when Tell re-
plied, " It was designed for thee, if I had
killed my son." For this heroic answer
he was condemned to perpetual imprison-
ment in a dungeon at Kuffnacht, the re-
sidence of Gesler ; he was accordingly
bound, and placed in a boat, that Gesler
himself might convey him across the
lake of Altorf to his castle.

Scarcely, however, had the boat per-
formed half the passage, when a furious
squall covered the surface of the lake
with threatening waves. Gesler, as
humble in the hour of danger as he had
been arrogant when fear was at a dis-
tance, entreated Tell, who was account-
ed the most skilful boatman in the can-
ton, to save him ; and unbound his pris-
oner with his own hands. Tell seated
himself at the helm, steered the boat to-
wards a rock, leaped upon it ; and then
in an instant with the same manly strength
pushed back the boat into the lake, es-
caped, and concealed himself At length
the storm abated, and Gesler gained the
shore. As he was about to enter his
fortress, Tell, who had by a circuitous
route reached the spot before him, dis-
charged an arrow at the tyrant, which
pierced his heart ; and thus paved the
way for that conspiracy which laid the
foundation of his country's liberty.

After many remonstrances against the
tyranny of these governors, which served
only to increase the cruelties of the ty-
rants, three patriots, Werner de Staflach
of Schweitz, Walter Furst of Uri, and
Arnold de Melchthal of Underwalden, at
length resolved to put in execution those
measures which they had concerted for
delivering themselves and their country
from the yoke of Austria. Bold and en-
terprising, and united by friendship, these
men had frequently met in private to de-
liberate upon the important subject ; each
associated three others in their cause ;
and these twelve men accomplished their
important enterprise without the loss of a
snigle life. Having prepared the inhabi-
tants of their several cantons for a revolt,
in the dead of night on the first of January,

1308, they surprised the Austrian gover-
nors, and conducted them to the fron-
tiers, obliged them to swear that they
would never more serve against the Hel-
vetian nation ; and then suffered them to
depart Avithout any injury. The other
cantons soon engaged in the confederacy,
and thus gave birth to the republic of
Switzerland. Albert prepared to attack
the new-born liberty of Helvetia ; and
was ready to hazard his forces against
the enthusiasm inspired by freedom, when
he himself fell a sacrifice to his rapacity
and injustice ; being assassinated in pre-
sence of his court and army on the banks
of the river PrUs, in the neighborhood of
Switzerland. The widow of Albert, oc-
cupied in revenging the death of her hus-
band, left the cantons to the undisturbed
enjoyment of their liberties, and to the
provision of the means of strengthening
themselves against future attacks. Un-
der these favorable circumstances, the
cantons of Uri, Underwalden, and
Schweitz, boldly displayed the standard
of liberty in 1308.

Until the year 1315, the confederated
cantons were unmolested by their former
sovereigns. At that period the emperor
Frederic sent against them a considera-
ble body of troops under the command of
his brother Leopold, whom he directed
to ravage the country with fire and sword.
The invaders could only enter it by en-
deavoring to force a passage into Schweitz
at a defile called the straits of Morgarten,
which 1,300 Switzers undertook to de-
fend against the numerous army of Leo-
pold. These patriots posted themselves
on the impending mountains, whence they
rolled down huge fragments of rock,
which crushed the hostile cavalry ; and
impetuously descending upon the infan-
try, they discomfited and dispersed them.
Leopold was panic-struck, and seeking
safety in flight he made his escape, leav-
ing multitudes of his soldiers dead upon
the spot. On this memorable occasion
the cantons lost only fourteen men ; and
from the circumstance of the engage-
ment having taken place in the canton of
Schweitz, the confederation which was
the result of it, took the name of Swiss.

Nothing could be more simple than the
condition which formed the basis of the

SWITZERLAND.

615

association of the. first three cantons.
" They were to afford each other aid in
case of attack ; to acknowledge no other
authority, protection, or supremacy, than
that of the empire ; to contract no alliance
without each other's consent. The three
states were to admit no judge, who is not
their fellow-citizen. If any contest should
arise between the cantons, it was to be
decided by arbitration ; and if one can-
ton refused to submit to the award, it was
to be compelled by the two others. Final-
ly, malefactors, incendiaries, robbers, and
other criminals, tried and condemned in
one canton, were to be considered as
tried and condemned in the others, and it
was forbidden to afford them an asylum."
Such was the treaty of alliance between
Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, called
the league of the three Waldstaetter or
Forest-cantons, which laid the founda-
tion of one of the wisest and happiest re-
publics that ever existed.

After these cantons had established
their liberty and independence, the neigh-
boring state of Lucerne, then subject to
Austria, was continually harassed by
their depredations. Under these circum-
stances the emperor imprudently loaded
the citizens of this canton with taxes as
exorbitant as they were unjust. To evade
both evils. Lucerne made peace with the
confederacy; and having expelled the
Austrian party in the year 1332, entered
into a perpetual alliance with them, and
became a member of the union. The
addition of Lucerne to the league enabled
the four cantons to resist all the hostile
efforts of Austria.

In the year 1 336, Leopold, the grandson
of that prince who was defeated at the
pass of Morgarten, eager to regain the
territory he had lost, invaded the canton
of Lucerne at the head of a numerous
army, and attended by the first nobility
of the empire. The troops of the four
cantons, greatly inferior in number, met
their enemies at the lake of Sempach,
near the town of Surzee. The Austrians
were drawn up in firm battalions, accou-
tered in heavy armor, and furnished with
long pikes. The Swiss advanced in the
form of a wedge, in order to open their
■way into the ranks of the enemy, and to
break the solidity of the battalion ; but

their endeavors proved fruitless, and the
fate of war hung doubtful ; when Arnold
de Wilkenreid, devoting himself to cer-
tain death, rushed upon the enemy, and
seizing as many lances as he could
grasp, endeavored to penetrate their
ranks, and was killed in the attempt. His
valor, however, opened the way to victo-
ry ; it inflamed his countrymen with new
courage, and taught them the best method
of breaking the battalion. The Austrians
yielded to the impetuous torrent, fled, and
left Leopold with the flower of his army
dead on the field. On the spot where
this memorable victory was gained, a
chapel stands, which was built in com-
memoration of the event ; and in the ar-
senal of Lucerne, the armor of the va-
liant Leopold is still preserved, together
with a large quantity of cords, with which
it is said he intended to have bound the
citizens.

In the year 1351, the confederacy of
the four Waldsteetters formed an alliance
with the canton of Zurich. The town
of Zurich as an imperial city had enjoy-
ed many privileges obtained from Fred-
eric II, till a civil war between the peo-
ple and their magistrates nearly reduced
it to ruins. After a struggle of two years
the magistrates were banished, and a new
form of government was established un-
der the sanction of the emperor Lewis of
Bavaria, in 1337. After several attempts,
however, the exiled magistrates were
permitted to return ; but being afterwards
proved guilty of a conspiracy against the
state, they fell a sacrifice to their treason-
able designs. This transaction brought
upon the people the resentment of the
neighboring nobles ; and the emperor
Charles IV refusing to aid them, the can-
ton of Zurich formed an alliance with,
and became not only a member of the
confederacy, but obtained a pre-eminence
in rank above the other four ; and has
retained that distinction to the present
time. Notwithstanding the advantages
which the Zurichers derived from this
alliance, their experience of the evils
and miseries of a ruinous war induced
them to submit to an arbitration of their
disputes with the house of Austria. The
arbitrators included in their award a point
which had not been submitted to their

616

SWITZERLAND.

judgment ; they decided that thencefor-
ward none of the nations of upper Ger-
many should be at liberty to league them-
selves with the Waldsteetters. This de-
cision was equivalent to a declaration
that the confederated cantons should not
increase their power by the accession of
other states. The confederacy, however,
not only despised this prohibition, but
acted in direct opposition to it.

During a war which ensued between
the emperor and these states in the year
] 350, the troops of Schweitz, assisted by
Zurich, Lucerne, Uri, and Underwalden,
entered the canton of Claris, and having
expelled the Austrians, received it into
the union ; imposing however, some re-
strictions upon the inhabitants, which
were not abolished till 1450.

In 1351 the six allied cantons laid
siege to Zug, an imperial city, which,
lying between Zurich and Schweitz, af-
forded the Austrians many opportunities
of harassing the Swiss. It was reso-
lutely defended by the citizens who ex-
pected succor from Albert duke of Aus-
tria ; but this prince not being in a con-
dition to assist them, the town at length
capitulated upon the most honorable
terms. The generosity of the conquer-
ors was equal to the courage displayed
by the vanquished ; and Zug accordingly
was admitted into the confederacy as a
free and independent city upon equal
terms. During these events the canton
of Berne was perpetually engaged in
wars with the house of Austria, or with
its neighbors. The state of Berne had,
in that part of the Alps which they occu-
pied, formed themselves into a republic,
that singly was more powerful than one-
half of the seven united cantons. As
early as the year 1323, a defensive alli-
ance took place between the Bernese
and the Waldstaitters, to whose aid they
were chilly indebted for the victory which
they obtained over the troops of Austria
in 1339. In consequence of this success,
Berne gained new tei'ritories, which
placed themselves under its protection.
These territories adjoined others which
were protected by the Helvetic confede-
racy. Between the inhabitants of both,
certain disputes arose which involved
the two republics in their quarrels ; and

the misunderstanding was on the point
of breaking out into open hostilities.
They had, however, the moderation to
perceive, that it was by no means the
interest of either state that they should
become enemies ; but that on the other
hand, a union of their interests would bo
the certain means of obtaining speedy
and permanent peace for territories
which, being thus left without any sup-
port in their petty dessensions, would
naturally find their best policy in amica-
ble agreement. These considerations
impelled the Bernese to wish for admis-
sion into the Helvetic league, and indu-
ced the latter to admit them. The ac-
cession of so considerable a canton as
Berne to the other seven considerably
increased the power of the confederacy.

These eight allied states are to the
present distinguished by the appellation
of the eight " ancient cantons." Although
Berne was the last of these that acceded
to the union, yet six of them yielded to
it the precedency, in consequence of
which they now rank in the following or-
der : Zurich, Berne, Lucerne, Schweitz,
Uri, Underwalden, Zug, and Claris.

From a review of the several treaties
which formed the constitution of this
union, it appears that we ought not to
consider the confederated states at this
epoch as one body, or one commonwealth.
The principal intention of the league was
to preserve the public liberties and private
rights of the citizens and subjects of the
union against any attacks that might be
made upon them ; without embracing
any hostile views against such rights as
belonged to the house of Austria or its
nobles.

The origin of the Helvetic diets may
be traced in the public meetings that
were appointed upon the frontiers of the
respective cantons. The different trea-
ties occasioned many distinct meetings
to be held by deputies between the
cantons. These meetings were attend-
ed with innumerable advantages ; they
maintained a cordiality, and connected
j more strongly the bond of union between
the cantons ; and prepared the way for
a closer and more intimate alliance. As
the first members of the Helvetic union
had formed no intention of erecting them-

SWITZERLAND.

617

selves into one separate and independent
state, it is natural to suppose that they
were actuated by the desire of extending
and ago^randizing their respective territo-
ries. There were besides two circum-
stances which strongly operated in draw-
ing them from the strict rules of a defen-
sive alliance, and were at the same time
the means of procuring them additional
allies ; namely, the insatiable ambition
and avarice of the nobles, which contin-
ually occasioned dissension and rebellion
in the neighboring states ; and the in-
trigues and artifices of the emperors, who,
being jealous of the increasing power of
the dukes of Austria, often encouraged
the inhabitants to break the fetters of
their allegiance. Helvetia was thus di-
vided into powerful factions, who were
perpetually at variance with each other ;
the one composed of the nobles, with the
dukes of Austria at their head ; the other
of the free cities and districts under the
protection of the allied cantons.

Thus half a century was spent in wars
and truces with the house of Austria,
who seems to have disdained to honor
the Helvetic league with either constant
peace or regidarly supported war. The
year 1370 is remarkable for the first
struggle of the Switzers against the
French. It arose from the pretensions
of Enquernand de Couci, who, inheriting
the rights of his mother, the grand-daugh-
ter of the emperor Albert, claiming cer-
tain lands, which he asserted to have
been usurped from his grand-father by
the Switzers. They successfully de-
fended their possessions, and, after a
bloody battle, drove De Couci's auxilia-
ries from their territory.

From this unsettled state of peace and
war, the Swiss derived the advantage of
being trained to the use of arms, and
were consequently always on their guard.
In the year 1393 they subjected them-
selves to a system of military discipline
worthy of the ancient Spartans. They
entered into an ordinance, which forbade
them, under pain of death, in whatever
circumstances they might be placed in
war, to violate the sanctity of churches
or the honor of women. It enjoined
them to defend and succor each other as
brethren, notwithstanding any contests
78

which might have previously existed be
tween them, and in spite of all danger
to which that mutual assistance might
expose them. They were not to quit
their ranks in battle, even though they
should feel themselves mortally wounded.
No Swiss was ever to pillage for his own
private emolument ; but was to carry all
the fruits of victory to the common stock.
Finally, the cantons engaged not to un-
dertake any war that had not been pre-
viously proposed and determined upon
by unanimous consent in a general diet.
The intervals of peace or suspension
from hostilities with the house of Austria,
afforded also to the cantons an opportu-
nity of strengthening themselves, not by
the accession of new states to their con-
federacy, but by the protection which
they granted to some neighboring states,
on which they conferred the right of
comburghership. That privilege attached
the latter to the Helvetic league, which
protected them without any dependence
on the part of the protected, except re-
spect and deference, and without any of
the degrading circumstances of subjec-
tion. Such, for instance, were the in-
j habitants of the valleys of Appenzel, the
i oppressed vassals of Saint-Gall.

In the year 1400, these people, loaded
I by the abbot of St. Gall with intolerable
taxes, joined the citizens of the town of
] St. Gall, who rebelled against the Austri-
' ans. They applied to the Helvetic con-
i federacy for assistance ; but these can-
tons having concluded a treaty of peace
with the emperor, refused their alliance ;
which obliged Appenzel to remain a se-
parate and distinct state for several years.
The treaty which the canton of Zurich
formed with the house of Austria in 1442,
merits particular notice, as its consequen-
ces were the occasion of very important
regulations in the constitution of the Hel-
vetic confederacy.

Frederic III, the last count of Tog-
genburg, had contrived by different arti-
' fices to occasion a jealousy between the
i canton of Zurich and those of Glaris
I and Schweitz ; which would have ended
I in a civil war had not the confederacy
interfered, and compelled them to observe
'. the articles of their treaty. Fresh dis-
I putes, however, arose after the death of

618

SWITZERLAND,

Frederic ; and the citizens of Zurich,
■with the intention of compelUng Claris
and Schweitz to submission, cut off all
communication with their inhabitants ;
by which means these mountaineers were
deprived of their supply of corn which
they usually received from Zurich, and
which constituted the main article of their
food. The other cantons, however, es-
poused their cause, and compelled the
Zurichers to refer the dispute to them
according to the terms of their engage-
ment. The residt of the arbitration was,
that Zurich should relinquish her different
claims, and provide Claris and Schweitz
with the necessary quantity of grain. The
citizens of Zurich, however, regarded this
award as partial, and therefore concluded
an alliance with the emperor Frederic
III, and the other branches of the house
of Austria; which engagement the con-
federacy considered as an infringement
of the articles of the union. The con-
federacy, in spite of the palliative clauses
introduced by Zurich into the treaty,
persisted in opposing it, and threatened
to use coercive measures to compel that
canton to withdraw from her alliance
with Austria. In this crisis the Zurich-
ers applied to the emperor for relief, and
received into their town a garrison of
Austrian soldiers. Hostilities ensued ;
and in the first action they were defeated,
and the Burgher-master of Zurich was
among the slain. Besieged within their
walls, they beheld during two fatal years
their fields and villages laid waste and
plundered.

During this period the free cities of
Basil and Soleure, who were indifferent
spectators of the contest between Zurich
and the cantons, embraced tlie opportunity
of invading the Austrian territories. The
latter applied for aid to Charles VII,
king of France, who, as well with a view
of desolving the council of Basil as of
assisting the Austrians, ordered a large
army to march against the confederacy,
imder the command of his son Louis.
The Dauphin entered Alsace, and after
laying waste and harassing the adjoining
provinces, appeared before the gates of
Basil. The confederates had previously
thrown into the town, which was but
thinly garrisoned, a detachment of fifteen

I hundred men from their army then em-
I ployed in besieging Famsburg. This
body of Swiss advanced with determined
valor to the plain of Bratteline ; where
they charged with such fury eight thou-
sand of the enemy's cavalry, that the lat-
ter were driven back as far as the village
of Muttenz. Here the repulsed were
joined by another corps ; but notwith-
standing this re-enforcement, the Swiss
renewed the assault with fresh intrepid-
ity, and obliged them to repass the river
Birs, where the main body of their army
was chiefly drawn up. Encouraged by
their wonderful success, exasperated
with the most spirited indignation against
the invaders of their country, and disre-
garding the remonstances of their officers,
they rashly attempted to force their pas-
sage, which was guarded by a strong
party of the enemy. Their effort proving
ineffectual, these gallant men threw them-
selves into the river, and gained the op-
posite shore in the face of a battery of
cannon, that was playing upon them.
The French army, consisting of thirty
thousand men, were advantageously post-
ed in an open plain ; the Swiss had no
alternative than that of throwing down
their arms, or gloriously expiring with
them in their hands. They bravely pre-
ferred the latter ; accordingly five hun-
dred of them took possession of a small
island near the bridge ; and after reso-
lutely defending themselves to the last,
were cut to pieces. The same number
of soldiers forced their way through the
ranks of the enemy, and were making
towards Basil, when they were opposed
by a large body of horse, posted there to
prevent any succors which the town
might send to the relief of their country-
men. Being thus surrounded on all sides,
they threw themselves into the hospital
of St. James, and there resisted for a
considerable time the assault of the whole
French army. The building was at length
set on fire ; the cannon battered down the
walls ; and still they fought, resolved to
sell their lives at the dearest rate, and to
defend themselves to the last extremity.
Of the five hundred only sixteen esca-
ped ; and they were branded with infamy
for not having sacrificed their lives in de-
fence of their country. Such w^as the

SWITZERLAND.

619

effect of the battle upon the mind of the
dauphin Louis, that he declared he had
derived no other advantage from the vic-
tory than a knowledge of the valor of the
Svi^iss. He accordingly gave up his de-
signs of conquest ; and after remaining
three days employed in burying the dead
upon the field of battle, he retired with
his shattered army into Alsace. The
remembrance of this action is still cher-
ished with the warmest enthusiasm by
the Swiss. The inhabitants of Basil form
parties every year to an inn situated near
the hospital and burying-ground, w^here
they commemorate in red wine produced
from vineyards near the field of battle,
the heroic deeds of their countrymen,
who sacrificed their lives on this occa-
sion. This wine is called the blood of
the Swiss.

The event of these battles lessened
the resentment of the confederate cantons
against Zurich ; and the latter, wearied
with the calamities of a civil war, re-
nounced its connections with the house
of Austria, and was again solemnly con-
firmed the first canton in rank of the
Helvetic confederacy. Upon this occa-
sion two articles of great importance in
the constitution of Switzerland were
finally settled : first, That all disputes
between any particular cantons should
be decided by the mediation of tlie neu-
tral cantons; and if either of the two
contending parties should refuse to abide
by their judgment, they were to be com-
pelled by force of arms. Secondly, not-
withstanding the reserved right of any
canton to contract alliances with foreign
powers, yet the confederates were to
judge how far such alliances were con-
tradictory or incompatible with the arti-
cles of the general union ; and if proved
to be so, they were empowered to annul
them.

As early as the eighth century Chris-
tianity was introduced into Switzerland
by two Scotsmen, educated at the famous
monastery of lona, founded by St. Co-
lumbus. The reformed doctrines were
also early introduced; and the name of
Switzerland is intimately connected with
the history of the reformation.

From a detestation of the traffic of in-
dulgences, Zuinglius, a priest of Zurich,

and others with him, proceeded to a per-
suasion that the dogma which inculcated
a confidence in these indulgences must
be erroneous. This doubt naturally gave
rise to others respecting the power of the
popes who promulgated them ; to these
again succeeded discussions on all the
points of religious discipline, and princi-
pally on the nature and obhgation of vows.
The first and most zealous proselytes
gained by Zuinglius were the nuns of a
convent at Zurich. As a proof of their
faith in the doctrines of their new preach-
er, they quitted their nunnery, and the
younger part of their number entered
into the matrimonial state. Zuinglius
himself, though a priest, and advanced
in years, married also. These innova-
tions attracted the attention of the magis-
trates. Those of Zurich approved of the
conduct of their priest and his disciples.
Not only were they pleased to see his
opinions disseminated through the coun-
try under their own jurisdiction, but they
viewed with an evil eye those of the
other cantons, who, by prohibitory laws,
retarded the progress of what was em-
phatically called " The Reformation."
They assumed the title of Evangelic, and
declared the reformed doctrine to be the
onl)^ true Gospel.

In 1523 the Zurichers had gained over
the Orisons to the reformation. At this
time the Roman catholic cantons, into
which the reformation had not yet pene-
trated, thought it their duty to adopt
vigorous measures of precaution against
what they considered as dangerous inno-
vations. As the Roman catholic cantons
formed a majority, they pronounced sen-
tence of exclusion from the Helvetic
confederacy against those which profess-
ed, or should profess, the new religion.
Their anathema accordingly fell on Zu-
rich, Berne, Schafi'hausen, and Appenzel,
which already contained numerous advo-
cates and proselytes of reformation, who
were denominated non-conformists.

But it was not only against the Roman
church that Zuinglius and his adherents
had to contend. The far more arduous
controversy was with one who was
cherished as a brother, and even revered
as one of the first champions of true re-
ligion. The article of faith in which

620

SWITZERLAND.

Zuinglius materially diflered from Martin
Luther, was the true meaning of the
words used in the institution of the
Lord's Supper ; the latter adopting them
in a strict literal sense, while Zuinglius
considered them as merely symbolical.

At the desire of Philip, landgrave of
Hesse, they, in the month of September,
1630, held a conference at Marburg, in
the presence of the most eminent di-
vines who had separated from the church
of Rome ; where though each persisted
in his opinion, they yet parted with cor-
dial assurances of mutual regard and
friendship. In consequence of these un-
happy differences on religious subjects
arose the civil wars of Switzerland.

Three memorable battles were fought
with the intrepidity and fury of religious
zeal. On the 9th of June, 1530, the
army of Zurich took post near the con-
vent of Cappel. Zuinglius, who was no
stranger to battles, having been present
at those of Novano and Marignan in the
capacity of chaplain, desired to attend
this expedition. Regardless of the re-
monstrances of the senate, who opposed
his wishes on account of the value of his
life, he mounted his steed, grasped a
spear, and followed the camp. An eye-
witness wrote thus from the camp : — " It
is admirable to behold what order and
subordination prevails among the multi-
tude ; the word of God is preached daily
by Ulrich Zuinglius, the abbot of Cappel,
the priest of Kussnacht, and many other
learned divines. Not an oath is pro-
nounced, not a quarrel is heard of : we
pray before and after each meal ; no
cards or dice are ever seen ; not a pros-
titute is tolerated. We sing, dance, and
practise manly sports ; and are eager to
encounter the pensioners ." By the me-
diation of the neutral cantons and the ci-
ties of Constance and Strasburg, hostili-
ties were suspended for a time.

The tranqidllity thus procured was,
however, of short duration. The five
cantons learned with the utmost indigna-
tion, that at a diet held at Zurich, on the
22d day of May, 1531, the reformed ci-
ties had, against the declared opinion of
Zuinglius, who never ceased to preach
and recommend forbearance, resolved to
break off all communication with them,

and even to deprive them of the neces-
saries of life which they derived from
those cities. After several fruitless at-
tempts towards an accommodation, these
cantons published an hostile declaration
against Zurich. They formed a camp at
Zug, and sent detachments to ravage the
free bailliages. Zurich was dilatory and
undecided in its preparations. Zuinglius,
who now saw the urgency of the case,
found great difficulty in persuading the
senate and Rudolph Lavater, the milita-
ry commander, to call together the forces
of the canton. A small party was sent
out to meet the enemy, whose numbers
by this time had increased to upwards of
eight thousand ; but this party was or-
dered not to hazard an engagement. On
the 10th of October the senate at length
ordered the great banner to be brought
forth ; but instead of four thousand men,
who heretofore had accompanied it, only
seven hundred joined the standard. Zu-
inglius attended them as chaplain. This
detachment hastened with all possible
speed across Mount Albis. Some, either
from cowardice or disaffection, exclaimed,
that they could not possibly arrive in
time, and resolved not to proceed. " As
to me," said Zuinglius, " I will, in the
name of God, advance and join our brave
countrymen. I will either assist in res-
cuing them, or perish with them." At
three in the afternoon the banner ar-
rived at Cappel and joined the forces that
had preceded, their whole strength now
amounting to about two thousand men.
Early on the next morning the catholic
army drew out in complete armor, and
close array. The leaders of Zurich,
deliberated in council whether they
should abide their approach or withdraw.
Rudolph Gallman, of the free bailliagers,
stepped forth, and stamping his foot on
the ground — "This," cried he, " shall be
my grave. God forbid that I should
ever yield one single step to an enemy !"
The cannonading began at noon ; the
Zurichers avoided its first effects by fall-
ing on their faces ; they then rose and
maintained an obstinate fight for more
than two hours ; when about three hun-
dred of the most intrepid among the ene-
my forced themselves into the centre of
them, as they were endeavoring to form

SWITZERLAND.

621

into two columns ; some fled instantly and
threw the remainder into confusion. A
person from the catholic army came among
them, and, personating one of their own
number, represented to them the impossi-
bility of making an effectual stand, and
exhorted them to retreat. They follow-
ed his advice, and were pursued till night
with much slaughter. The triumphant
foe then returned to the field of battle,
fell upon their knees, and returned thanks
to the holy Virgin and all the saints for
their victory ; they then sacked the
camp of the Zurichers, and with horrid
imprecations put to death the wounded,
who had been left behind. A few, less
inhuman than the rest, took some of them
prisoners, dressed their wounds, and
afforded them shelter from the intense
cold. Zuinglius was among the wounded.
He had been stunned and thrown down
by a shower of stones, and trampled
upon by the fugitives and their pursuers ;
he recovered several times, but was too
much exhausted to support himself. In
his last efforts he raised himself upon his
knees, and exclaimed, " They may in-
deed kill the body, but they cannoi des-
troy the soul ;" and then with clasped
hands and uplifted eyes, he once more
fell backward. A catholic soldier, ob-
serving his quivering lips, offered to
bring him a confessor, to which he made
signs of dissent. A captain of Under-
walden, who came by at the moment,
fired with holy indignation against the
obdurate heretic, pierced him through
the neck. Thus fell Ulrich Zuinglius ;
a man whom all parties allow to have
possessed an heroic spirit, a greater de-
gree of moderation than most of the
other reformers, uncommon sagacity, com-
bined with profound and extensive learn-
ing and refined taste. He was ever
averse to compulsive measures, but at all
times willing to hazard his life in sup-
port of his tenets. His manners were
affable and conciliatory : he was a friend
to cheerfulness and innocent mirth : and
though indulgent to others, severely rig-
id towards himself. The conquerors ex-
ulted in his fall : they caused his body
to be cut in quarters by the hangman of
Lucerne, and to be burnt ; and lest his
ashes should become an object of ven-

eration to his followers, they mixed pieces
of hog's flesh with his mangled limbs.

With Zuinglius also fell fifteen other
learned divines, whom a sense of duty
brought into the field. The number of
those slain on the part of Zurich, ac-
cording to BuUinger, was five hundred
and twelve ; and the loss of the catho-
lics did not exceed, according to the
most exaggerated account two hundred.
Zurich sent out fresh forces, which
were joined by re-enforcements from
Berne, Basil, Schaffhausen, and other
places. These troops, however, met
with new disasters, and the city was at
length obliged to sue for a separate peace.
A treaty was negotiated and signed on
the sixteenth of November. Each par-
ty was by this treaty confirmed in the
free exercise of its religion. Zurich
agreed not to afford any protection to the
protestants of the joint bailliages, and
the indemnification which the five can-
tons - claimed for the expenses of the
war was referred to the general pacifica-
tion that remained to be concluded with
Berne. It was further stipulated, that in
any further differences arbitration should
be resorted to. The Bernese lost no
time in following the example of the Zu-
richers in accepting terms similar to
those which had restored peace to
Zurich, with the additional conditions
that they should pay three thousand
crowns to the five cantons for damages
occasioned to the abbey of Muri and
other religious edifices ; that they should
exempt Underwalden from all further
claims ; and that the expenses of the
war, amounting to five thousand crowns,
should be paid jointly by Berne and Zu-
rich. This treaty was concluded by the
mediation of the king of France, the
duke of Savoy, the margrave of Baden,
and some of the neutral cantons ; and
was signed on the twenty-second of No-
vember. This unfortunate issue of the
war greatly retarded the progress of the
reformation ; which is the more to be
lamented, as it is now generally acknowl-
edged that had the protestant cities unani-
mously persevered, and kept the field
only a few days longer, the catholics
would have been compelled, by want of
provisions, to accept any terms which

622

TARTARY.

the former might have prescribed to
them.

In the year 1798, the history of the
Helvetic confederacy began again to be
connected with that of the surroimding
countries. Contrary to the express treaty
conchided between France and the coun-
try under review, in 1792, the French di-
rectory made a hostile descent on the
canton of Basil in the year 1797. The
Directory, without any other motive than
the hope of plunder, excited, says M.
Schoell, a revolution in Switzerland, and
under pretence of being invited by one
of the parties, they sent troops into the
that country ; overturned the existing
order of things ; and under the title of
the Helvetic Republic, established a
government entirely subject to their au-
thority.

Such was the downfall of the ancient
constitution. The Swiss, enslaved by
the Directory, made several bold efforts
to regain their former independence, but
in vain. Nor were they firmly united,
else success might have crowned their
exertions. Two parties which had long
existed, though they had not openly
avowed themselves, now appeared, and
Switzerland experienced a series of rev-
olutions in which the unionists, or aris-
tocratical party, and the federalist or de-
mocratic alternately had the ascendency.
A civil war now tore this country, so
long peaceful and happy. A French ar-
my, under the command of Ney, again
entered it, and established (1803!,) a con-
stitution not of a kind wished for by the
majority of the people, but recommended

by Bonaparte, now consul of France.
This constitution is known in history by
the name of the act of Mediation ; and
Bonaparte putting himself at the head of
it, commanded the able co-operation of
the Swiss in his future wars. Switzer-
land, as before mentioned, now included
nineteen cantons ; the constitution of each
of which was more or less democratic ;
while the equality of the citizens formed
the basis of them all. Under such circum-
stances, with the exception of some partial
commotions, did this country continue till
the success of the allied forces emanci-
pated her from the grasp of her conquer-
or. Immediately on this event, the can-
tons were far from being agreed as to the
future constitution of the country. A
civil war, indeed, was likely to be the
consequence. But the Congress of Vi-
enna, which met in 1815, and fixed the
boundaries of the different countries of
Europe as they now stand, prevented this
calamity, by taking the case of Switzer-
land into their consideration. They did
for her more than her best friends could
have expected. They restored her in-
dependence. They made, as stated in
the beginning of this article, an addition
of three new cantons to her territory.
They granted to her that constitution of
which we have already given an account.
Under all these advantages, however, the
Swiss cantons cannot be looked upon as
greater than a third rate power ; but in
other respects, particularly with regard
to literature, education and civil privi-
leges, she is not inferior to almost any of
the first powers in Europe.

TARTARY.

" The boundaries of Tartary have
never yet been ascertained. The cen-
tral regions of Asia, from time immemo-
rial, have been inhabited by numerous
tribes of roving people. They have
rarely combined under one head, although
that event is supposed to have taken place
in the thirteenth century, under the reign
of Jenghis, or Ghenghis Khan, and again

in the fifteenth under Timur, or Tamer-
lane. These people were anciently
called Scythians. Their character has
been surprisingly uniform in all ages."
From this country, in the heart of Asia,
mighty empires have arisen, and from it
anciently issued forth the conquerors of
India, and the present possessors of
China. In this country, during revolv-

TARTARY.

623

ing centuries, bloody wars "w^ere waged,
and battles fought, which decided the fate
of empires. There the treasures of south-
ern Asia have been frequently collected
and as often dissipated. In these, now
almost deserted lands, the arts and scien-
ces once were successfully cultivated
and protected ; and here flourished proud
and powerful cities, now buried in ruins
and forgotten.

The ancient religion of the Tartars
acknowledged the existence of one God;
they are now divided into two sects, viz.
the Mahometans and the worshippers of
the Grand Lama who resides at Thibet.
The empire of the Tartars, or Moguls,
(as they are sometimes called from a
number of Tartar tribes of that name,) is
one of the most remarkable which has
yet appeared in the world. It was im-
agined that the Arabs had carried their
victorioiis arms to the full extent even of
the desires of ambition itself ; and that
no human power could ever exceed the
efforts of that people, who, in the com-
pass of seventy years, subdued more
countries than the Romans had conquered
in five hundred ; but the Moguls have far
transcended the Arabs, and from as small
a beginning acquired a much larger em-
pire in less time. Jenghis Khan extend-
ed his dominions through a space of more
than eight hundred leagues from east to
west, and above one thousand from north
to south, over the most powerful and
wealthy kingdoms of Asia : hence he is
with justice acknowledged as the great-
est prince who ever filled the eastern
throne ; and historians have bestowed
upon him the highest titles that flattery
and servility have ever contributed to
offer to the possessor of sovereign power.

The ancestors of this great conqueror
were renowned for their valor, by which
they gradually augmented the originally
narrow extent of their dominion. His
father Pisuka first brought under his com-
mand the greater part of the chiefs of the
Mogul nations. After this, having re-
ceived an affront from the tribe of Su-
Moguls or Tartars, he entered their ter-
ritory, which he pillaged ; and being op-
posed by Temujin Khan, with several
tribes, who came to drive him away, he
put them to flight, after a bloody battle,

and returned to liis own country covered
with honor. To commemorate this vic-
tory, he gave the name of the vanquished
khan to a son, of which his wife was
shortly after delivered, calling him Te-
mujin. This child is said to have been
born with congealed blood in his hands,
from which the astrologers foretold that
he would overcome all his enemies in
battle, and at length attain to the dignity
of Grand Khan of Tartary. Pisuka chose
for a tutor to his son, a man of exalted
parts, and extensive erudition ; but be-
fore the child had attained his ninth year,
he showed a dislike to any other pursuit
than that of arms.

Temujin, at forty years of age, seeing
himself master of very extensive domin-
ions, he adopted the resolution to legiti-
mate his power, by the public homage of
all the princes within his dominions. He
convoked them at Karakorom his capital,
where they all met on the appointed day
clothed in white, among whom were the
princes of the blood attired like the rest.
The emperor, with a diadem encircling
his brow, advanced into the midst of this
august assembly, seated himself on the
throne, and received the compliments of
the khans and other nobility, who offered
up prayers for his health and prosperity.
They then proceeded to confirm to him
and his successors the sovereignty of the
Mogail empire. After some subsequent
victories, he renewed a similar inaugura-
tion at the head of his army, with less
pompous ceremonial, but much more af-
fecting simplicity. He took his place on
an ornamented seat, on an eminence of
turf, whence he harangued the assembly
with an eloquence that was natural to
him. His discourse being ended, he sat
down on a piece of black felt which had
been spread on the earth, and the orator
appointed for the occasion addressed him
in the following terms : " However great
the power you possess, O prince, you
hold it from heaven ; God will prosper
your undertakings if you govern your
subjects with justice. If, on the con-
trary, you abuse the authority lodged in
your hands, you will become black as
the felt on which you sit ; wretched and
an outcast." Seven khans then respect-
fully assisted him to rise, conducted him

624

TARTARY.

to the throne, and proclaimed him chief
of all the Mogul empire. Kokja, one of
his relatives, was present ; a man who,
by strictly practising the rigid duties of
religion, had gained the reputation of be-
ing inspired. He approached the prince,
and said, "I am come, by the command
of God, to inform you, that it is his plea-
sure you should henceforth take the name
of Jenghis Khan ; and you must publish
it to your subjects, that in future they
may give you that appellation." This
title signifies the greatest Khan of Khans.
The inauguration was ratified by the most
extravagant demonstrations of joy. The
Moguls, persuaded of the truth of the
revelation, considered the rest of the
world as a fit subject for conquest, which
belonged by divine right to their Great
Khan. When the emperor had thanked
the people for the marks of love and re-
spect which they had shown him, he de-
clared his resolution to add to the ancient
laws some new ordinances, which he
said were necessary for their welfare.

From this time, the Moguls thought
only of war, and those who resisted them
appeared in their ej'^es to be committing
a crime against the sovereignty of Hea-
ven. There was no enterprise, however
hazardous, which Jenghis Khan did not
think himself equal to accomplish. His
ambition, however, might perhaps have
been satisfied with Tartary in its natural
state, without walls or fortresses, had not
the sovereign of the Kin, or northern part
of China, imprudently demanded of him
the same tribute as was paid him by
princes whom he had dethroned, and
whose authority he had usurped. This
claim irritated the haughty conqueror,
who said in a sneering tone, "The Chi-
nese ought to have the Son of Heaven
for their master, but, at present, they
know not how to choose a man." Neither
the great wall built for the defence of
China against the invasions of the Tar-
tars, nor any other fortifications, could
arrest the victorious progress of his
troops. They poured like a torrent over
China, routed its armies, desolated the
country, and amassed immense treasures.
The cities, and even the royal residence,
fell into the hands of Jenghis Khan, by
unforeseen events, which he had neither

a right to expect nor hope for. In the
short space of five years, the Mogid be-
held himself master of all that extensive
territory. He appointed Muhuli, his ex-
perienced general, governor and lieuten-
ant, with the title of king, which was to
descend to his posterity ; while he him-
self determined to make the domains of
Mohammed, sidtan of Karazm, the boun-
dary of his empire.

It would exceed the limits of this work
to enter into the particulars of all the
cities taken and battles fought at this
period. The devastation made by the
Great Khan was like that of a thunder-
bolt bursting over several countries at
once, involving them in flames and ruin.
The celerity and extent of the military
exploits of Jenghis cannot be illustra-
ted by a more opposite comparison.
Never were those of any conqueror so
destructive. His generals rushed on
every part of the whole empire of Ka-
razm at once, and enveloped it in one
conflagration. The most beautiful and
flourishing cities were reduced to heaps
of ashes. Although the sultan employed
every effort to succor his wretched do-
minions, his armies were constantly de-
feated in general engagements ; and the
few partial advantages which they ob-
tained, served only to retard, for a short
time, the ruin of some particular cities
and countries, and to give a lustre to the
names of some of his captains.

While Jenghis Khan, on one side of
his empire, had fixed the Indus as its li-
mit, his lieutenants on the other subjuga-
ted Persia, inclosed the Caspian sea with-
in his dominion, and carried their victo-
rious arms as far as Iconium. As soon
as the princes and generals had returned
from their several expeditions, he assem-
bled them in a plain of twenty-one miles
in extent ; but this space was scarcely
sufficient for the tents and equipages of
all those who were convoked. The
khan's quarters alone occupied nearly six
miles in circumference. Streets, squares,
and markets, were appointed, and tents
were pitched for his household. The
tent destined for the assembly would
contain two thousand persons ; its cover-
ing was white to distinguish it from the
rest. A magnificent throne was erected

TARTARY.

625

in it, and the black felt was not forgotten,
on which the monarch sat when he first
took his assumed name. This symbol
of the original poverty of the Mogul's,
long continued an object of veneration
among them ; though they had already
estranged themselves from their original
simplicity, and all the luxury of Asia
glittered in their attire, horses, harness,
arms, and furniture.

There appeared a great deal of mag-
nificence in their equipages ; on the tops
of their tents were placed streamers of
the richest silks, of various colors, which
alTorded a gay and grand prospect. Al-
though the affairs of so vast an empire,
were very numerous and complex, yet,
by the regularity and order adopted by
the keeper of Jenghis Khan's laws, all
public business was transacted without
the least confusion. The khan, who
loved to harangue in public, took occa-
sion to make a speech in praise of those
laws, to which he imputed all his victo-
ries and conquests. As a farther proof
of his greatness, he ordered all the am-
bassadors who had followed the court,
as well as the envoys and deputies from
the countries he had subdued, to be call-
ed in, and gave them audience at the
foot of the throne ; when his children
and grand-children were also introduced
to kiss his hand with tenderness. He
graciously accepted their presents, and
in return distributed among them magni-
ficent donations. The ceremonial ter-
minated with a grand festival which con-
tinued many days, accompanied with ban-
quets, abounding with whatever was most
exquisite in liquors, fruits, and game,
throughout his immense dominions.

Soon after this assembly was dissolved,
Jenghis Khan departed with his court,
obliging the queen Turkhan Katun, whom
he had taken prisoner, to follow him on
a chariot, and loaded with irons, as the
proud monument of his victories in the
west. During his absence, the emperor
left the government of his dominions to
his brother Wache, who conducted him-
self in his charge with great prudence.

On the other hand, Muhuli, his lieu-
tenant-general in China, acquired much
reputation in the M'ar which he maintain-
ed against the emperor of the Kin, and
79

I the king of Hya. Muhuli was consid-
j ered by all the Moguls as the first cap-
tain of the empire, and Jenghis placed
entire confidence in him. The dignity
to which he was advanced did not lessen
his military ardor ; and in all his great
enterprises he underwent as much fa-
tigue as the meanest soldier. The khan,
before he was proclaimed emperor, re-
treating to his camp by night, after a se-
vere defeat, and not able to find it from
the snow that had fallen, lay down upon
some straw to sleep, when Porchi and
Muhuli took a covering and held it over
him all night in the open air, which ac-
tion gained them considerable reputation,
and rendered their families highly esteem-
ed among the Mogid princes.

In the year 1225, the emperor Jenghis
Khan arrived at the river Tula, after an
absence of seven years. Among those
who came out to meet him was Tyauli,
queen of Lyau-tong, with the princes her
nephews. That lady, who had a supe-
rior and well cultivated understanding,
fell on her knees before Jenghis, and paid
him high compliments on his numerous
conquests, and besought him to nominate
Pitu to be king of Lyau-tong, in the room
of the deceased king ; with this he com-
plied, associating with him in the gov-
ernment Shenko, the eldest son of the
late monarch.

In the next year Jenghis reduced the
kingdom of Hya, after it had continued
two hundred years under its own princes.
This triumph was followed by others ;
all his enterprises were crowned with
victory. Prosperity, indeed, never de-
serted him, even to his death. He was
desirous of completing the conquest of
the Kin empire ; but he fell sick before
he could accomplish this purpose, and
died at the age of seventy, A. D. 1227.
He left his throne to his son Otkay ; and
commanded Toley, another of his chil-
dren, to assume the regency till his broth-
er, who was then absent, should return.

The death of the emperor threw all
the court into extreme sorrow. His body
was interred with gi-eat magnificence, in
a place chosen by himself for that pur-
pose ; it was under a beautiful tree,
where, in his return from the chase, a
few days before he fell sick, he had rest-

626

TARTARY.

ed himself with much satisfaction, A
noble monument was erected over his
grave, and the people who came to visit
the tomb planted trees around it, in such
regular order, that in time it became one
of the finest sepulchres in the east.

Jenghis Khan on the whole merited
respect and esteem, by his extraordinary
talents. Besides all the qualities and
virtues requisite in a great conqueror, he
possessed a genius capable of forming
great designs, and prudence equal to
their execution ; a natural and persuasive
eloquence ; a degree of patience enabling
him to endure and overcome fatigue ; an
admirable temperance ; a superior under-
standing, and a penetrating mind, that
instantly conceived the measure proper
to be adopted on every occasion. His
military talents are conspicuous in his
successfully introducing a strict disci-
pline, and severe police among the Tar-
tars, who were till then unused to any re-
straint. Every thing was done accord-
ing to established rules ; whether ser-
vice, recompense, or punishment. In-
toxication was no excuse for such ac-
tions as required one ; neither were birth
or power admitted as a palliation for error
or misconduct.

His religion went to the acknowledg-
ment of " One God, the creator of hea-
ven and earth, who alone gives life and
death, riches and poverty, who grants
and denies whatsoever he sees proper ;
and has over all things an absolute and
irresistible power." Such was the creed
of the Tartar khan, but he granted most
extensive toleration to all his subjects.
Some even of his own children, and
princes of the blood, were Christians ;
some Jews and Mohammedans, without
incurring any marks of his disapproba-
tion.

His laws were simple, suitable to a
newly formed people, who have few com-
plex social connections. They enjoin
the belief of one God ; that the chief of
sects, and ministers of worship, of what-
ever denomination, shall be exempt from
taxes, which privilege was likewise ex-
tended to physicians ; that no person
shall assume the title of Great Khan un-
less previously elected to that dignity at
a general diet ; that no treaty of peace

shall be entered into, with any king, or
nation, till they are first subdued.

To banish idleness out of his domin
ions, he obliged every one of his sub
jects to serve the public in some employ-
ment. Adultery was punished with death
Polygamy was permitted in the greatest
extent ; and in order to multiply alliances
between families, marriages were allow-
ed to take place among the dead ; by this
law the nuptial ceremony might be per-
formed between a deceased man and wo-
man, and the families of the parties be-
came, in consequence of it, legally uni-
ted. This custom is still prevalent
among the Tartars, who throw the con-
tract of marriage into the fire, and ima-
gine that the flames will waft it to the
parties, who will be espoused in the other
world.

Spies, false witnesses, and sorcerers,
were by these laws condemned to death.
The same punishment was awarded
against those who attempted to plunder
an enemy before the general's leave had
been obtained. Unfortunately, however,
in this reign, leave was never refused.
All Jenghis Khan's generals were san-
guinary and inexorable. According to
the most moderate calculations, not fewer
than two millions of men fell beneath the
murdering sword, without reckoning the
number that affliction and the horrors of
slavery consigned to the grave. It is
said that during his reign fifty thousand
cities were demolished, some of them en-
tirely desolated, the very vestiges of
which scarcely remain. Such are the
melancholy fruits of victories, such are
the memorials that warriors leave behind
them !

After the death of Genghis Khan, the
next conqueror who makes a consider-
able figure in the history of Asia was
the celebrated Timur Beck, better known
by the name of Tamerlane, who was
born A. D. 1335. His father was one
of those chieftains who had taken pos-
session of a part of Persia, during the
troubles which desolated that country.
Timur, at his father's death, in 1359,
was ambitious of preserving his usurped
power, and with that view formed an al-
liance with the neighboring chiefs, of
whom the principal was the emir Hus-

TARTARY.

627

sayn. These two jointly encountered
the greatest dangers in the wars which
they were compelled to wage. After an
important action with Tekil, the gover-
nor of Kivah, the two princes thought it
safest to separate ; Timur crossed the
desert with his wife, Hussayn's sister,
and came to Jerfey, where he was sur-
rounded by the Turkmans, and his situa-
tion might have proved fatal if he had
not been known by one of them, who
protected him, and provided him with the
means of joining his brother-in-law.

Timur valiantly exposed his person in
every formidable engagement : he had a
genius capable of great actions, and was
as well acquainted with the art of com-
manding as with that of fighting. He
experienced the greatest vicissitudes of
fortune ; being at different times a con-
queror, defeated, prisoner, released,
wounded, fleeing almost alone through
deserts, received in the great cities, some-
times on terms of the strictest friendship
with Hussayn, at other times at variance
with him ; but in the end he became
more powerful than his colleague, whose
ill qualities estranged the affection of his
troops and generals, while the excellent
disposition of Timur captivated every
heart. At a great entertainment made
by the latter, A. D. 1364,he proposed to
deliver out of prison Hamid, general of
the Getes, whose father had been his
friend, and prince Eskander his compan-
ion. Hussayn consented, although the
latter was his personal enemy. When
those who assisted at the consultation
were returned home, Timur sent two
emirs to release the prisoners ; but their
keepers seeing them at a distance, and
imagining they came to put Hamid to
death, knocked him down and cut off
his head. This mistake proved fatal
also to Eskander ; for emir Hussayn sent
to demand that prince, and on getting
him into his power, put him to death.

In the following spring, news was
brought that the Getes were marching
towards Great Bukharia. The two
princes went out to meet them : Hussayn
commanded the right wing, and Timur
the left. In consequence of a violent
storm during the engagement, the Getes,
who were well sheltered, obtained a

complete victory. In a second attack
they were also successful, when Timur
rallied his forces, and a terrible slaughter
ensued. Hussayn might still, if he had
been attentive to Timur's advice, have
rendered the victory complete ; but,
whether through envy or presumption,
he twice abused the messengers sent by
Timur, who resolved to show his resent-
ment at seeing the opportunity thus lost ;
and when Hussayn, after he had recov-
ered from his ill-humor, sent several
messengers to Timur, requesting to see
him at his tent, that prince refused to go
to him. The battle was renewed the
next morning, when Timur's forces were
defeated with great slaughter. Hussayn
crossed the Jihun ; but Timur remained
in the country, with the resolution of op-
posing the Getes. Finding his endeav-
ors fruitless, he repaired to Balk, where
he took great pains to increase his forces.
The Getes laid siege to Samarcand, but
were obliged to abandon the enterprise.
Timur and Hussayn renewed their
friendship, and in conjunction extended
the limits of their empire. Although the
former had the greater share in the war,
he took but a secondary interest with re-
spect to the general administration of the
states which they had in this manner
added to their possessions. But Hussayn
was not satisfied with the authority ceded
to him by Timur. He obliged him, by
his unjustifiable conduct, to defend him-
self by declaring war against him. All
the princes ranged themselves on the
side of Timur. He besieged his rival
in the city of Balk, whither he had re-
tired, and took him prisoner. When he
was brought before Timur, the recollec-
tion of their ancient friendship drew
tears from the conqueror's eyes; who,
when it came to his duty to pronounce
sentence upon the captive, only said, " I
renounce the right of taking away his
life, and cancel the sentence of death
awarded against him." The nobles,
j fearing Hussayn's resentment, should he
be suffered to escape, determined not to
consider the emperor's renunciation of
his power as a pardon to the captive
' prince ; and when he withdrew, followed
I him and killed him. Thus was Timur
left alone at the head of a vast empire,

TARTARY.

which he afterwards augmented by sub-
sequent victories, that have placed him
among the most illustrious conquerors,
under the name of Tamerlane.

After the reduction of Balk, A. D.
1371, he was elected by the unanimous
voice of all the emirs, princes, and nobles,
assembled in that city, to fill the imperial
seat of Jagatay. At the ceremony of
the coronation, Timur ascended the
throne, placed a crown of gold upon his
own head, and girded himself with the
imperial belt, in the presence of the
princes of the blood and the grandees ;
who, kneeling before him in token of
homage, wished him prosperity. They
also made him sumptuous presents,
sprinkled handfuls of gold and precious
stones upon his head, and gave him the
title of Emperor of the age, and Conquer-
or of the world.

The emperor treated the inhabitants
of Balk with great rigor, putting some
to death, imprisoning others, making
their wives and children slaves, burning
their houses, and ravaging the country
around. By such methods he extermi-
nated the rebels, and distributed their
property among his own adherents.

From Balk, Timur repaired to Samar-
cand, which he made the seat of empire.
Here he ordered a diet to be held, at
which Zende Hasham refusing to attend,
the emperor sent him a threatening sum-
mons ; but this yoimg prince, instead of
obeying, imprisoned the officer who was
the bearer of it. The emperor, incensed
at this insult to his authority, marched
against him at the head of an army ; on
the appearance of which Hasham's cour-
age failed, and he sued for pardon, which
Timur granted him. Hasham, however,
rebelled a second time, and was again
forgiven, and admitted to the court.

This is not the only instance in which
Timur extended a repetition of his clem-
ency to princes who appeared against
him in the field of battle ; by which he
appeared to consider them in the light
of independent sovereigns, rather than
as rebels. For towards his natural sub-
jects who resisted his authority, and took
up arms against him, he behaved with a
degree of rigor approaching to savage
barbarity.

About, A. D. 1377, Timur seemed to
have attained to the summit of fehcity ;
many of his officers bearing the titles of
khan and sultan. While he was at Otrar,
Isuf Soft sent an army to Bokhara, which
ravaged that province. Timur complain-
ed of the outrage, but without obtaining
any sort of redress. In a short time af-
ter, Sofi, shut up in the town of Skuz,
sent a challenge to Timur, who accepted
it, and, putting on his armor, contrary to
the entreaties of his commanders, went
to the edge of the ditch, and called on
Isuf to come forth ; but the challenger
thought it safer to keep within the walls.
Notwithstanding this, Timur having
some time afterwards received a present
of some melons, thought it would be un-
civil if he did not send some of them to
Isuf who was so near : a part of the
fruit was accordingly sent to him in a
gold basin, and was delivered at the
wall ; but Isuf ordered the melons to be
thrown into the ditch, and gave the basin
to the town-porter. After this the be-
sieged made a furious sally, but were
repulsed, and obliged to return within
their city. Timur then ordered his
generals to begin the siege of the capital,
which continued about four months, till
the castle was ruined, when the khan
Isuf died of grief, and the town, after a
brave resistance, was taken, many of the
inhabitants slain, and all the learned men,
as well as tradesmen, sent to Kash.

This place, which had long been the
seat of learning, surnamed on that ac-
count. The Dome of Science and Virtue,
was, from the verdure of its gardens and
meadows, called also. The Green City.
The emperor made it his ordinary re-
sidence in summer, and the second city
in the empire.

Towards the end of the year 1380,
Timur raised a great army of Turks and
Tartars, crossed the Jihun, and made an
expedition into the country of Korassan.
When he arrived at Andekud, his devo-
tion prompted him to visit the illustrious
santon Baba Senku, one of those darwish
who make a profession of folly, and for
whom the Mohammedans have an extra-
ordinary veneration, from the idea that
God loved them before their creation,
and on that account did not render them

TARTARY.

capable of offending. The idiot flung a
breast of mutton at the emperor's head,
who took this reception as a favorable
augury, saying, " I am persuaded that
God will grant me the conquest of Koras-
san, because it has been always called
the breast or middle of the habitable
world."

The people of this country being pos-
sessed of a high degree of martial spirit,
were not an easy conquest. The forces
of Timur were several times repulsed ;
but at length that emperor triumphed, and
his glory and power were heightened in
proportion to the difficulty of the con-
quest. His court became that of the
supreme sovereign of nations. He was
surrounded with emirs and sheiks de-
scended from Mohammed ; men who
were held in a high degree of reverence,
who devoted themselves to the study of
the sciences, and professed the strictest
principles of religion.

Though Timur had fixed his residence
at Samarcand, he enlarged and embellish-
ed the city of Kash, and enriched it with
the ornaments which he had found in
the capital of the Getes. Even the gates
of the latter place, which were curiously
wrought and covered with remarkable
inscriptions, he removed to his new-built
town. He likewise transported thither
the treasures of the kings of Guris, con-
sisting of gold and silver coin, precious
stones of all kinds, magnificent thrones,
golden crowns, costly furniture, and a
variety of other valuable effects, the ac-
cumulated wealth of ages. He took
there two thousand prisoners ; who by
his command, were piled one upon an-
other with bricks and mortar to construct
towers, as a monument to deter his other
subjects from rebellion. This was a
species of cruelty not unfrequently prac-
tised by Timur, and reflects eternal dis-
grace on his name.

After this period, victory was almost al-
ways withhim the consequence of warfare.
Persia, Armenia, Georgia, Turkestan, Ka-
razm, the territory of the Kipjaks, and the
Turkmans, all were witnesses to the valor
of his arms ; and most of them were in
their turns,equally monuments of this cru-
elty, exhibiting testimonies, which endur-
ed for ages, of the ferocity of his character.

At Ispahan he issued an order for the
massacre of all the inhabitants, except
those who had saved some of his soldiers
from death ; and to insure the prompt ex-
ecution of his mandates, each company
were bound, under pain of the severest
punishment, to furnish a stated number of
heads, which the merciless conqueror
employed in building towers, in various
parts of the city.

From Ispahan, Timur carried his vic-
torious arms into Russia, crossed the ri-
vers Wolga, Yaik, and Oby, penetrated
into the northern parts of Muscovy, and
conducted his troops through regions
where, for several months together, they
beheld not the traces of any other human
beings. Astracan, Moscow, Tobolsk, and
otherlarge and important cities fell be-
fore his arms ; and, what must ever tar-
nish his glory, the more valiantly he was
opposed by those whom the great law
of self-defence excited to withstand his
progress, the more cruelly did he treat
them when the fortune of war threw them
into his power. The bloody scenes of
Ispahan were repeated again and again,
in cities at the distance of many hundred
miles from the capital of Persia. While,
however, we reprobate and detest this
part of his conduct, yet the modern war-
rior will admire his skill ; and will be
obliged to admit, that the laurels which
he gathered were the just reward of his
cares, his laborious life, and his courage.
The discipline which he kept up was
most severe ; as a chastisement to one
of his captains for having lost an incon-
.siderable post, he ordered him to be
shaved, his face painted, and a woman's
cap to be put on him ; and in this dis-
guise he was compelled to walk through
the town, barefooted.

A. D. 1392, Timur advancing to Ku-
laghi, a town in Kurdestan, led his troops
against the robber Serek Mehemud, the
Turkman, who had fortified himself in
the mountains, where he had a citadel.
This was taken and great numbers of the
banditti were put to the sword. While
the court resided at Ak Bulak, the great
mufti came as ambassador from tlie sultan
Ahmed Jalayr, of Bagdad, with offers of
submission and presents ; which the em-
peror did not receive with his usual po-

630

TARTARY.

liteness, because he suspected Ahmed's
sincerity, as the prayers were not read,
nor money coined at Bagdad in his
name.

Timur, however, paid respect to the
personal character of the mufti, but dis-
missed him without any positive answer
on the subject of his mission, and resolv-
ed to lay siege to Bagdad. In his march
to that city he travelled day and night.
When he had arrived at Ibrahim Lik, a
place within about a hundred miles of it,
he inquired of the inhabitants whether
they had sent pigeons to give notice of
the approach of his army ? On being
answeTed in the affirmative, he made them
write another advice, importing, that the
dust which they had perceived at a dis-
tance, was caused by the Turkmans who
fled to avoid Timur. This notice was
tied under the wing of a pigeon, which
was immediately despatched to Bagdad.
This fresh intelligence inspired Ahmed
with courage, though he was somewhat
mistrustful of it. A very few days unde-
ceived the sultan, when Timur with his
troops arrived at Bagdad. The Tartar
army were encamped on nearly two
leagues of ground, but such was their
panic, that they threw themselves into the
Tigris, which theypassed, notwithstand-
ing the rapidity of the stream. Timur pur-
sued them for a distance of ten leagues,
and then returned to Bagdad, at the en-
treaty of his emirs, who continued on their
route.

The emperor having sent ambassadors
to invite the sultan of Egypt and Syria to
conclude a treaty of amity, advanced to-
wards Takrit, a fortress on the Tigris, with
an intent to destroy that nest of robbers.
The town was built on a high rock near
the river, the passes were closed up with
stones laid in mortar, and it was so well
fortified, that it was deemed impregnable.

The emir Hassan, who commanded in j
the place, sent several times to offer to
capitulate. In the mean time the soldiers j
advanced to the foot of the wall, which
they began to undermine ; the whole ar-
my, consisting of 72,000 men, being em-
ployed in the work. At length part of i
the wall fell down ; but the besieged re-
paired the breach, and fought desperate-
ly. Fire being afterwards set to the

wooden props, most of the wall fell sud-
denly, together with a great tower. Still
the robbers, armed with planks and great
bu(;klers, continued to defend themselves
against the assailants ; who advanced to
the very middle of the place, where a
bloody battle ensued. Timur ordered the
rest of the walls to be undermined ; which
operation occasioning the fall of a large
bastion, Hassan was so terrified that he
retired to the edge of the mountain.
Some of the besieged came out, and be-
sought the emirs to intercede for their
lives ; but Timur answered, " Let him
come or not, no quarter shall be given."
The assailants animated by these words,
gained the top of the rock ; and seizing
Hassan and those about him, brought
them bound in chains to Timur, who or-
dered the soldiers to be separated from
the inhabitants and put to death ; he like-
wise left a part of the walls standing, as
a monument to posterity, of the arduous-
ness of his exploit ; and, according to his
usual custom, caused towers to be built
with the heads of the robbers, as a terror
to others.

Having conceived an intention of car-
rying his arms into China, in order to ex-
terminate the infidels of that country, he
determined to acquire the glory attached
to the leader in a religious war, and to
march into India in person ; for although
j the religion of the prophet was professed
in Delhi, and many other cities of that
empire, yet the greater part of the pro-
vinces were inhabited by idolaters. With
this view, therefore, in the month of
March, he took the field with a large ar
my, composed of many nations, chiefly
Tartars ; and after passing the Jihun, en-
camped at Anderab, A. D. 1398.

The inhabitants of this place having
complained that the idolaters of mount
Ketner, and the Siapushes, exacted large
sums from the Mohammedans, under the
denomination of tribute, and on the fail-
ure of payment, slew the men, and made
slaves of the women and children, the
warlike Timur marched against these
people. His emirs began to ascend the
mountain of Ketner with great fatigue ;
and as the infidels dwelt in narrow pas-
sages and among precipices, and the
roads were covered with snow, they

TARTARY.

631

could not be attacked without much diffi-
culty and danger. These obstacles how-
ever, could not oppose the progress of the
troops of Timur. The Siapushes, a sa-
vage and gigantic race, defended them-
selves with great obstinacy. The fight
lasted three days and nights without in-
terruption ; but at length the infidels beg-
ged for quarter. It was granted on the con-
dition of their becoming Mohammedans,
to which they readily acceded ; but these
having in the night treacherously put to
the sword an entire regiment of their
conquerors, the army of Timur ascended
the mountain, and, following Mohammed's
precept to spare the women, cut to pieces
all the men, both old and young ; then
raised towers of their heads, and left a
marble monument inscribed with the his-
tory of this action.

In September, Timur crossed the In-
dus, and in his march made a great num-
ber of captives. When he arrived with-
in two leagues of Delhi, he prepared for
a pitched battle, and harangued his troops
upon the art of fighting, breaking the en-
emy's ranks, and rallying after a defeat.
Fearing lest the prisoners attached to his
army should join the people of Delhi, he
ordered that every one of his soldiers
that had any Indian slaves should instant-
ly put them to death. This ferocious
mandate was immediately carried into
execution; and in one hour a hundred
thousand human beings were slaughtered,
to the eternal disgrace equally of the ty-
rant who could command, and the troops
who could perpetrate so atrocious a mas-
sacre.

On the 30th of December, Timur set
out for Delhi. When the astrologers
were consulting about the aspect of the
planets, and were at variance as to the
most favorable moment to begin the at-
tack, some of them earnestly entreating
him to delay it, he thus addressed them :
" Happiness or misery does not depend
on the influence of the planets, but on the
will of the Creator of the universe. For
my part, when once I have arranged my
plan, and taken every necessary precau-
tion, I would not defer the execution of it a
single minute, to wait for a fortunate cri-
sis" However, either to satisfy his own
devotion or to animate his troops, he open-

ed the Koran, and fell by accident or de-
sign on a verse which, according to his
interpretation, promised complete victory;
he announced the good tidings to his ar-
my, and pursued his design.

The Jagatays were not alarmed at the
Indian army ; but they had conceived
strange notions respecting the elephants,
having never before seen animals of this
sort. They imagined that neither the
arrow nor the sword could penetrate their
bodies ; that they were so strong as to
overthrow trees by only shaking the earth
as they passed along ; that they could
push down the firmest buildings ; and
that in battle they would throw man and
horse to a vast height in the air. This
opinion prevailing in the camp, dispirited
the troops, as well as all the rest of Timur's
train. The emperor always showed a
certain degree of respect to men of learn-
ing, and asked those who were near his
person, what posts they would choose.
Several doctors, terrified at what they
had read and heard of the elephants, im-
mediately answered, " If it please your
majesty, we will be near the ladies."

Timur took means to dissipate these
fears ; when the battle was about to com-
mence, he ascended an eminence to ob-
serve the motions of the hostile armies,
and as soon as the engagement began, he
fell on the ground, often bowing to im-
plore of Heaven victory.

Such an engagement had never been
witnessed before, nor so dreadful a noise
of warlike instruments heard. On the
4th of January, Timur erected his stand-
ard on the walls of Delhi, and the prin-
cipal inhabitants came to make submis-
sion and sue for mercy. Even the ele-
phants and rhinoceroses are said to have
fallen down before the emperor in an
humble posture, and to have uttered a
great cry, as if they demanded quarter.
On the 1 3th, the army of Timur entered
this great and magnificent city and entire-
ly destroyed it. Some soldiers carried
out one hundred and fifty slaves each ;
even boys possessed themselves of seve-
ral much superior to themselves in age
and strength. The other spoils, in pre-
cious stones, jewels, plate, and manufac-
tures, were innumerable ; for the Indian
women and girls were adorned with pre-

632

TARTARY.

cioiis stones, and had bracelets and rings
on their hands, feet and toes ; so that the
soldiers were loaded with them. On the
]5th day of January, the Indian troops in
Old Delhi retired into the mosque to de-
fend themselves ; but the emir Shah Ma-
lek, and Ali Sultan, entering it with five
hundred men, slaughtered them all with-
out mercy, as an acceptable sacrifice to
God and the prophet. The city was
plundered, and the remaining inhabitants
were made slaves. The different artifi-
cers were distributed among the princes
and commanders ; but the masons were
all reserved for the emperor, in order to
build him a spacious mosque at Samar-
cand, which at the close of the expedi-
tion he effected, making it large enough to
serve for all the faithful in that great city.

There is no danger of exaggeration in
asserting that millions perished in this
horrible war. The only privilege grant-
ed to the survivors was that of being re-
duced to slavery. It is scarcely possible
to conceive the prodigious booty that the
troops of Timur acquired in this expedi-
tion, which was one uninterrupted scene
of plunder and devastation.

Immediately after the war in India,
Timur undertook another expedition into
Georgia. His troops laid waste all be-
fore them, and the terrified inhabitants
who escaped the sword fled with their
effects and provisions to the high moun-
tains, where they had fortified caverns
and houses built upon craggy rocks, so
that no power had ever yet been able to
conquer them in these recesses.

Timur's soldiers, however, never con-
sidered danger when a sense of duty
and honor called them ; they ascended
the mountains, and were let down in
boxes by cords to the caverns of the
infidels, which they entered, making a
terrible slaughter. Some of these craggy
places were so well defended, that in
order to disperse the enemy and bum
their houses and entrenchments, the army
were obliged to make use of combustible
matter. In this expedition they took
fifteen strong places, giving quarter only
to such as embraced the religion of Mo-
hammed. Timur left a strong garrison
in Teflis, the capital of Georgia; and
encamped in the plain of Mohran. The

king of this place fled into the deserts,
but the greater part of the people came
to the camp and sued for pardon. When
the country was reduced, the temples
and monasteries were razed to the ground,
and chapels and mosques erected in their
room. The whole territory of Georgia
would have submitted to the yoke of the
conqueror, had not a quarrel made Timur
turn his arms against Bajazet emperor
of the Turks.

Bajazet and Timur were rivals for
glory, and burned with a desire of trying
their strength upon each other. Both
parties prepared for battle, in which for-
tune once more favored Timur. Ba-
jazet was taken prisoner, but the emperor
treated him in this situation with great
respect. In the course of their route,
Bajazet was seized with an illness, of
which he died, A. D. 1402. Timur be-
wailed his death with many tears, hav-
ing intended, after the conquest of Ana-
tolia, to re-establish him on the throne.

Timur enriched his troops with the
plunder of Anatolia, and then menaced
the Egyptian monarch, who despatched
embassadors with terms of submission,
which having accepted, he returned to
Georgia. The king, whose name was
Malek, made promises, M'hich after the
departure of Timur he neglected to per-
form. At length, however, learning that
the Tartar was once more ravaging his
dominions with fire and sword, Malek
sent to entreat him to suspend hostilities,
adding, that fear alone prevented him
from appearing personally before him,
and that if assured he could do so with
safety, he was ready to throw himself at
the feet of the emperor, and take the oath
of fidelity and obedience to him. " The
case of your master," replied the Tartar
khan, " who is a Christian, has no simi-
larity with that of the Mohammedans ;
because their religion pleads for them.
Tell him, if he wishes to preserve his
life, he must repair instantly to my court.
Should God refuse him the grace of em-
bracing the faith of the prophet, I will
impose a tribute upon him, and leave him
the government of his territories, and will
not molest the inhabitants. The emperor
of Constantinople, who is a Christian, is
on these terms with me."

TARTARY.

633

Bajazct b) ought htfoic Timui , or Tamcdanc.

Malek was still dilatory in complying
with these hard conditions, and Timur
resumed his religious warfare with his
customary barbarity. The king then sent
to offer to relinquish all his treasures, to
pay an annual subsidy, and to furnish
troops. The emirs conjured the emperor
on their knees to accept these submis-
sions. He consulted the doctors of the
law, who declared, that since the Geor-
gians consented to become tributary, and
promised never to injure the Mussulmen,
the law required that quarter should be
granted them, and that all pillage and
massacre should cease. On hearing this
judgment, Timur made a favorable mo-
tion of his head, and the peace was rati-
fied.

Notwithstanding the furious zeal with
which the Tartar emperor prosecuted his
religious wars, he appears occasionally
to have been animated with heroic prin-
ciples, which, if they had been properly
directed, would have excited him to gen-
erous actions. These laudable senti-
ments are apparent in a discourse which
he addressed to his council. " Until
now," said he, " my ambition has been
to make conquests, and to extend the

limits of my vast empire ; henceforth my
nobler ambition shall be to secure the
peace and prosperity of my subjects, and
render my dominions flourishing. Let
individuals make known their requests
and grievances to me in person ; let them
counsel me for the good of the Mussul-
men, the glory of the faith, and for the
extirpation of the wicked and the dis-
turbers of the public peace. The op-
pressed shall not, at the day of judgment,
demand vengeance against me ; neither
on that solemn occasion shall my brave
soldiers have reason to complain of me
or of fortmre. Their sorrows aflfect me
even more than themselves. My wishes
and intentions are, that the world should,
under my reign, be converted into a para-
dise ; and I know, that when a monarch
is just and merciful, his kingdom is
crowned with blessings and glory. In
short, I am determined to amass a trea-
sure of justice, that my soul may be en-
titled to happiness after death." This
was surely an extraordinary harangue
from the mouth of one who had spent a
long life in usurping dominions, dethron-
ing princes, depopulating countries, ex-
tending and multiplying scenes of misery

634

TARTARY.

and devastation, and destroying the hu-
man race with the most savage bar-
barity.

It must be for ever regretted, that a
man, who with proper ideas of justice
and religion would have been formed to
amend the faults of mankind, should have
been reduced by religious fanaticism into
the most horrible crimes. It was cer-
tainly under the impression that he was
performing a meritorious act, that he de-
termined to undertake a new war against
China. He announced his intention to
his council in the following terms: "My
dear companions, as my conquests have
not been effected without considerable
violence, which has unavoidably occa-
sioned the destruction of numbers of the
faithful, I am resolved to expiate my past
crimes by performing some good action.
I will therefore declare war against the
infidels, and exterminate the idolaters of
China. It is proper that the same troops
who have assisted me in committing these
faults, should become the instruments of
my penitence. Hence, then, let them
prepare to march to China, that they may
acquire the merit of this holy Avar, by
demolishing the temples of idols, and
erecting mosques in their places."

Timur now prepared to lead his army,
consisting of twelve hundred thousand
men, through dreary deserts, or already
desolated countries. The cold was so
excessive on their departure, that the
troops passed the largest rivers on ice.
They could not procure water without
digging to the depth of several feet.
Multitudes had their limbs frozen ; and
numbers both of men and horses per-
ished on the march ; but no obstacle
could daunt the spirit of the victorious
Timur; his presence animated every
heart.

He was obliged, however, by fatigue,
to stop in a town of small importance, not
far distant from the frontiers of China.
In this place he was seized with a raging
fever, which threatened his life. He
seemed to have a melancholy presenti-
ment of a speedily approaching dissolu-
tion. He thought he heard a voice call-
ing him to repent, for he must soon ap-
pear before God. Obedient to the solemn
admonition, he set about the great work

of repentance, and resolved to endea-
vor to make satisfaction for his faults,
by the performance of good actions.
Although his sickness daily increased,
he was not unmindful of his army,
but was perpetually inquiring after its
condition. At last he perceived that
death was approaching ; and, animated
with the hopes of his religion, he sum-
moned his family and his nobles aroimd
his bed. He saw them bathed in tears,
and addressed them in a low but firm
tone : " Do not," said he, " weep, but
pray for me. I hope God will pardon
my sins, though they are very numerous.
I have, however, the consolation of re-
flecting that I, at all times, restrained the
powerful from oppressing the weak.
Labor all of you for the happiness of the
people ; for at the day of judgment a
rigid account will be demanded of those
who have enjoyed authority." He then
declared his grandson, Pir Mehemed Je-
han Ghir, his sole heir, and successor in
the empire; enjoining the persons present
to obey him, and if necessary, to sacri-
fice their lives to maintain his authority.
After this he ordered all the emirs, and
great lords of his court, to come into his
presence, and made them swear to see
his will executed.

Having, in the most affectionate man-
net, recommended brotherly love and con-
cord to the princes his children, he order-
ed one of the doctors to read the Koran
at his bed's-head, and often to repeat the
unity of God. In the evening he made
many and unequivocal professions of his
faith, and expired while he was emphat-
ically repeating a favorite article of his
creed, " Verily, there is no other god than
God." He was seventy-one years of
age, of which he had reigned thirty-six.
A. D. 1405.

Timur Bek was the first who brought
the crown into his family. At the age
of twenty-five he had astonished every
one with his exploits, his valor, and am-
bition. To perfect the great talents
which he had received from nature, he
spent nine years in travelling, during
which his great understanding and ele-
vated genius appeared in councils and
assemblies, while his intrepidity and
prowess, whether in personal combats or

TURKEY.

635

in pitched battles, drew upon him the ad-
miration of all mankind.

He made himself master of the three
empires of Jagatay Khan, Tushi Khan,
and Hulaku Khan ; so that his power,
wealth, and magnificence, were almost
beyond conception. Nmnerous monu-
ments of his grandeur are still remaining
in the cities, towns, castles, and walls,
which he built ; in the rivers and canals
which he dug ; and in the bridges, gar-
dens, palaces, hospitals, mosques, and
monasteries, which he erected in differ-
ent parts of Asia.

In his person Timur was corpulent
and tall. He had a broad forehead, an
agreeable countenance, and a fair com-
plexion. He wore a large beard, was
very strong, and of robust limbs ; he had
broad shoulders, his fingers were thick,
and he had long legs. His constitution
was amazingly vigorous ; but he was
maimed in one hand, and lame of the
right side. His eyes appeared full of
fire; his voice was loud and piercing;
he feared nothing ; and at his death,
though upwards of seventy, his under-
standing was sound and perfect, his body
vigorous and robust, his mind constant,
and unshaken as a rock.

He did not like raillery, and could not

endure a lie. There was no joking or
trifling before him, for he loved the naked
truth, even although it was to his own
disadvantage. He neither grieved if he
miscarried in any attempt, nor appeared
overjoyed on any great success. The
device which he had chosen for his seal
was, " I am sincere and plain." He took
great delight in reading history, and was
exceedingly well versed in the state of
different countries, provinces, and cities.
He was penetrating, subtle, close and
dissembling; just from inclination, and
liberal from habit and disposition ; but
on the other hand, ambition had in a
great measure extinguished his humanity ;
war had familiarized him to blood ; and
his religious zeal had inspired him with
a cruel, implacable, and pernicious fanat-
icism.

Timur left behind him fifty-three de-
scendants, thirty-six males, and seven-
teen females. The Mogul empire be-
came dismembered, and from its wreck
arose a number of kingdoms and small
principalities governed by princes de-
scended from this conqueror, reigning
under the title of sultans, khans, emirs,
and shahs. Samarcand the seat of the
empire of Timur, after his death, relapsed
into its former barbarism.

TURftEY.

The obscurity in which the Turkish
annals are involved, have prevented his-
torians from tracing, with any degree of
accuracy, the origin of those warlike
tribes, who, under the name of Ottomans,
have subjected to their dominion, and
covered with ignorance and despotism,
some of the fairest and most fertile por-
tions of Asia and Europe. The Turkish
writers claim their descent from Turc,
the eldest of the eight sons of Japhet,
who is represented as the great progeni-
tor of the Tartar tribes, or Huns, who
dwelt in tents, and occupied, with their
flocks and herds, the extensive plains on
the north of China, India, and Persia,
between the Caspian and the sea of Ja-

pan ; and parts of which have received
the name of Turkistan. Little, however,
is known of the history of this country
until the middle of the sixth century,
when one of these tribes, denominated
Turks, who inhabited the Altai mountains,
and were chiefly engaged in the manu-
facture of iron, renounced their allegiance
to the Geougen Tartars, to whom they
had been long subject. After repeated
victories, under Bertezena, their first
leader, the name and dominion of the
Geougen were extinguished; and the
subject tribes, marching under the stand-
ard of the Turks, were led to distant and
important conquests. On the banks of
the Til they overthrew the khan of the

636

TURKEY.

Ogors or Varchonites, with 300,000 of
his subjects. They subdued the Neph-
thalites, or White Huns, a polished and
warlike people who then inhabited Great
Bucharia, and in the invasion of China
their forbearance was purchased with
splendid gifts. In the course of fifty
years they had established a powerful
empire, extending from the wall of China
to the sea of Azoff, and were connected
in peace and in war with the Chinese,
Persians, and Romans. They contin-
ued, like their fathers, to wander from
place to place without any fixed habita-
tions ; and their favorite exercises were
hunting and war. Attached to their na-
tive seats, the royal encampment was
seldom far removed from mount Altai;
and when the Roman ambasssdors were
first presented to Disabul, their khan,
" the tent of the monarch," according to
Mr. Gibbon, " was surrounded with silk
hangings, embroidered in various figures,
and the royal seat, the cups, and the va-
ses, were of gold. Another pavilion was
supported by columns of gilt wood, a bed
of pure and massy gold was raised on
four peacocks of the same metal, and be-
fore the entrance of the tent, dishes, ba-
sins, and statues of solid silver and ad-
mirable art, were ostentatiously piled in
wagons, the monuments of valor rather
than of industry."

The Romans frequently experienced
the benefit of the Turkish alliance, by
their powerful diversion, on the side of
the Oxus, against their common enemy
the Persians. But this extensive em-
pire, after a duration of 211 years, fell
by its own weight. The princes of the
blood, who were appointed to the govern-
ment of its distant provinces, soon forgot
their gratitude and their allegiance, and
the vanquished tribes were encouraged
and supported by the policy of China in
resuming their independence.

After the dissolution of this empire,
many of the Turkish chiefs obtained
other thrones, and more wealthy domin-
ions. The family of Samanee usurped
the sovereign authority in Persia, which
they held for 125 years, and were suc-
ceeded by that of Ghizni, where Sultan
Mahmoud was one of the greatest mon-
archs that ever sat upon the throne of

Persia. After the short period of forty
years, they, in their turn, were supplanted
by the shepherd kings of the tribe of Sel-
jookee, who extended their dominion from
China over Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt.
The unity of this mighty empire was
dissolved by the death of Malik Shah,
and while Persia continued subject to the
elder branch, the younger dynasties of
the house of Seljookee established the
kingdoms of Kerman, Syria, and Roum,
or Anatolia.

The kingdom of Roum, in which the
others eventually merged, extended from
the Euphrates to Constantinople, and
from the Black Sea to the confines of Sy-
ria, with Nice for its capital ; and Soly-
man, its first sultan, had his conquests
confirmed to him by a treaty of peace
with the emperor Alexius Comnenus.
But his successor was driven from his
capital by the arms of the crusaders, and
the battle of Dorylseum stript him of all
his territories upon the sea-coast from
Trebisond to the Syrian gates. After
the loss of Nice, the royal residence was
removed to Iconium, an obscure inland
town, above three hundred miles from
Constantinople. Here the successors of
Solyman continued to reign for nearly a
century and a half, engaged in almost in-
cessant hostilities with the Greek empe-
rors, until Anatolia was overwhelmed in
the general wreck by the ravages of Jen-
ghis Khan and his successors. The sul-
tan of Iconium, after a feeble resistance,"
fled for refuge to his former enemies the
Greeks of Constantinople, and the frag-
ments of the Seljookian monarchy were
seized by the emirs or governors of the
cities and provinces, who continued to
exercise an independent dominion until
their territories became gradually and
imperceptibly incorporated with the Ot-
toman empire.

One of these emirs was Olhman, from
whom the Ottomans derive their name.
His grandfather Solyman, who, with other
Turkman chiefs, had attached himself to
the fortunes of the sultan of Carizm^,
after the dispersion of the Carizmean army
by the Moguls, directed his course to-
wards the west, and perished while at-
tempting to cross, on horseback, the wa-
ters of the Euphrates. Orthogrul, the

TURKEY.

637

eldest of his sons, led his forces into
Anatolia, and having obtained a grant of
territory from Aladdin, the sultan of Ico-
nium, he established a camp of 400 tents
at Surgut, on the banks of the Sangar.
Placed on the verge of the Byzantine
empire, he made constant incursions into
its territory ; and being appointed gener-
alissimo of the army of Iconium, he per-
severed for half a century in preserving
and extending his conquests in that
quarter.

Othman fixed the seat of his govern-
ment at Byrsa, the chief town in Bythi-
nia, and assumed the title of sultan. —
From this time the Turks were known
as the Ottoman race and sovereignty.
In the reign of Orchan, 1 334, the Turks
crossed the Hellespont, took Gallipoli,
and laid the foundation of the Turkish
power in Europe. The order of Turkish
soldiers, called Janizaries, was formed
by Orchan. Bajazet I, a successor of
Orchan, purposed to besiege Constan-
tinople in form, but was suddenly forced
to defend himself from TLnur or Tamer-
lane, who had now become a great con-
queror in the east, [see Tartary.) The
battle of Angoria, between Timur and
Bajazet, is famous in history. Nearly
one million of men were engaged in this
battle, and 300,000 slain. Bajazet was
defeated and taken prisoner, and accord-
ing to some writers, was shut up in an
iron cage, in which he destroyed him-
self. Under Amurat II, the Turks re-
sumed the project of taking Constantino-
ple, but did not suceeed.

Mahomet II, his successor, commenced
his reign with the murder of his two in-
fant brothers ; and the first object of his
ambition was the capture of Constantino-
ple. That city, with its suburbs, com-
prised the dominions of Constantine
Paloeologus, its reigning emperor. Its
inhabitants were distracted by religious
divisions. Some were anxious for their
union with the Romish church, while
others declared that they would rather
see the turban of Mahomet in the church
of St. Sophia than the pope's cap ; and
when Constantine sent ambassadors to
Rome to demand succors, and complete
the union of the two churches, the pope,
suspecting his sincerity, refused all as-

sistance. The eastern empire was thus
abandoned to its fate, and Christendom
beheld its fall with indifference.

The site of the city of Constantinople
forms an equilateral triangle, having on
the south the sea of Marmora, and on
the north-east the gulf of Keras, which
forms the port or harbor. On the land
side it was defended by a double wall,
and a ditch 100 feet deep and 200 wide ;
and the harbor was secured by a strong
chain drawn across from the Fair-gate
to Galata, and protected by eight large
ships. Had this city been garrisoned
according to its capability, it might have
defied every attempt for its subjugation ;
but out of 100,000 inhabitants, scarcely
5,000 could be found willing to man the
ramparts in defence of all that was dear
to them. These, with a re-enforcement
of 2,000 Latins, under John Justinian, a
noble Genoese and a skilful warrior,
formed its sole defence against 250,000
Moslems, instigated by religious fanati-
cism and the hopes of plunder. But the
heroic valor of Constantine was worthy
the best days of Rome, and although al-
most hopeless of success, he resolved to
die in the cause of religion and honor.
Anxious, however, to save the lives of
his people, and desirous of peace upon
any conditions short of the surrender of
his capital, he proposed to pay whatever
tribute the Moslem might impose. But
Mahomet could too well appreciate the
situation of Constantinople as the centre
of a mighty empire, and his ambition
would be satisfied with nothing less. He
offered the Morea as an equivalent to the
emperor, and to the people a free tolera-
tion or a safe departure. Constantine
rejected the degrading compromise, and
answered with firm resignation and heroic
resolution, " My trust is in God alone ;
if it should please him to mollify your
heart, I shall rejoice in the happy change ;
if he delivers the city into your hands,
I submit without a murmur to his holy
will. But until the judge of the earth
shall pronounce between us, it is my duty
to live and die in the defence of my
people."

The Turkish army extended from the
Propontis to the harbor, and all the ge-
nius and valor of Mahomet were employ-

638

TURKEY.

Death of Constantine at Constantinople

ed in the attack ; but they were met by
the little garrison with equal skill and
bravery, and who made such an obstinate
resistance that all his efforts on the land
side were unavailing. In order, there-
fore, to make a double attack, and as the
barrier to the harbor was impenetrable,
he formed the wonderful project of trans-
porting by land his lighter vessels and
military stores from the Bosphorus to
the higher part of the harbor. A road
was opened behind Galata, through brush-
wood and over hills ; and seventy gal-
lies, drawn forward by the power of men
and pullies, were launched into the shal-
low waters of the harbor, where the hea-
vy vessels of the Greeks could ofter no
molestation. Being thus provided with
the means of attack against a more vul-
nerable part of the city, and having open-
ed several breaches in the wall by his
enormous cannon, Mahomet prepared his
army for a general assault. He inspired
his troops by setting before them the joys
of paradise if they fell, and the certainty
of plunder if they survived. " The city
and its buildings I claim for my own ;
but I resign to your valor the captives
and the spoil ; and the intrepid soldier
who first ascends the wall, will I reward

with the govcTnment of the fairest and
most wealthy province of my empire."
The decisive attack commenced at day-
break, on the 29th of May, 1543. Ma-
homet, with an iron mace in his hand,
encouraged his soldiers to enter the
breach, which was bravely defended
against fearful odds by the emperor and
.lustinian. The latter being wounded, re-
tired from the fight, and Constantine fell
in the breach, covered with heaps of
slain. His death spread consternation
among the Greeks, who fled towards the
city, pursued by the victorious Turks,
and Constantinople was irretrievably lost
to the Christians. The sultan, attended
by his pachas and guards, passed in tri-
umph through the gate of St. Romanus.
The inhabitants were devoted to slavery
or ransom, and their treasures became
the lawful spoil of the conquerors. All
the public buildings were preserved, and
the principal churches stripped of their
images and ornaments, were transformed
into mosques by worship and purifica-
tions.

From the period of the taking of Con-
stantinople, in the middle of the fifteenth
century, the Turks were a great and con-
quering people. In the sixteenth cen-

TURKEY.

639

tury, Selim I, after subduing Syria and
Mesopotamia, undertook the conquest of
Epypt, then governed by the Mamelukes,
a race of Circassians, who had seized the
country in 1250, and put an end to the
government of the Arabian princes, the
posterity of Saladin. The conquest of
Egypt by SeUm made Uttle change in the
form of its government. It professes to OM'n
the sovereignty of the Turks, biit is in real-
ity governed still by the Mameluke Beys.

Solyman the (Magnificent,) son of Se-
lim, was, like his predecessors, a great
conqueror. The island of Rhodes, pos-
sessed by the knights of St John, was a
darling object of his ambition. These
knights had expelled the Saracens from
the island in 1310. Solyman attacked
Rhodes with 140,000 men and 400 ships.
The Rhodian knights, aided by the Eng-
lish, Italians, and Spaniards, made a no-
ble defence ; but, after a siege of many
months, were forced to capitulate, and
evacuate the island, in 1522, which has
been the property of the Turks ever since.
The commercial laws of the ancient Rho-
dians were adopted by the Romans, and are
at this day the foundation of the maritime
jurisprudence of all the nations of Europe.

Solyman subdued the greatest part of
Hungary, Moldavia, and Wallachia, and
took from the Persians, Georgia and Bag-
dad. His son Selim II, took Cyprus
from the Venetians in 1571. They ap-
plied to the pope for aid, who, together
with Philip II of Spain, entered into a
triple alliance against the Ottoman pow-
er. An armament of 250 ships of war,
commanded by Philip's natural brother,
Don John of Austria, was opposed to
250 Turkish gallies in the gulf of Lepan-
to, near Corinth ; and the Turks were
defeated, with the loss of 150 ships, and
15,000 men, 1571. This great victory
was soon after followed by the taking of
Tunis by the same commander.

But these successes were of little con-
sequence. The Ottoman power continu-
ed extremely formidable. Under Amu-
ruth II, the Turks made encroachments
on Hungary, and subdued a part of Per-
sia. Mahomet III, though a barbarian
in his private character, supported the
dignity of the empire, and extended its
dominions. The Ottoman power declined

from his time, and yielded to that of the
Persians under Schah-Abbas the Great,
who wrested from the Turks a large part
of their late acquired dominions.

Under Mustapha III, Russia and Tur-
key engaged in a furious and bloody vvar,
which lasted from 1769 to 1774. By
means of a fleet which sailed to the Ar-
chipelago, the Russians seized a part of
the Morea, whose inhabitants soon rose
in a general revolt, and declared in favor
of Russia. The Sultan, however, quelled
the insurrection, 8,nd inflicted cruel pun-
ishments on many of the Greeks. This
war was generally disastrous to the Turks.
The war was renewed by Achmet IV, in
1787, and was concluded by Selim III,
after important concessions had been
made to Russia. The Russian command-
ers KoutousofF, and Suwarrow, distin-
guished themselves in this war.

It was during the reign of Selim that
Bonaparte invaded Egypt, {see Egypt,)
and afterwards Syria. He was signally
defeated at St. Jean d'Acre, in 1799, after
making eleven desperate attempts to car-
ry the place by assault. The Turks at this
fortress under the command of Djezzar Pa-
cha were assisted by a British force under
Sir Sidney Smith. The Turkish soldiers
contended with Sir Sidney for the honor of
defending the breach in the walls made
by the artillery of the French. The en-
ergetic old pacha coming behind the
British officers at the breach, actually
pulled them down, observing, that if any
thing should happen to them all would
be lost. At the last desperate attempt of
the French, the plan of Djezzar was not
to defend the breach, but to admit a cer-
tain number of the enemy, and then close
Avith them according to the Turkish mode
of warfare. A French column, therefore,
mounted the breach unmolested, and de-
scended from the rampart into the pacha's
garden, where, in a few minutes, the
bravest and most advanced of them lay
headless corpses ; the sabre in one hand
and a dagger in the other, being more
than a match for the French bayonet, the
rest precipitately retreated. The French
after a siege of about two months made a
disastrous retreat into Egypt, having lost
about 4,300 men.

During the period of the Greek revo-

640

TURKEY

^^9

^Sii^l

^^m^^^^ii

^^^m

Sir Sidney Smith at the siege of Acre-

liition, which commenced in 1821, {see
Greece,) a contest of a most sangui-
nary nature was maintained at Con-
stantinople, between the sultan and his
rebellious janissaries. Halet Efl'endi,
an enlightened minister, and the favorite
of the sultan, had fallen a sacrifice to the
jealous interference of these troops ; and
the frequent murders and frightful disor-
ders which they committed rendered
them so dangerous to the peace and hap-
piness of the capital, that Mahmoud threat-
ened to abandon Constantinople unless
a stop was put to such atrocious proceed-
ings. This threat produced a temporary
quiet ; but their rebellious movements
were again renewed, and several of their
officers, suspected of plotting against the
life of the sultan, were arrested and put
to death. Their outrages and domina-
tion, however, became at last so intolera-
ble, that Mahmoud prepared to reduce
them to subordination by forcing upon
them a new system of discipline ; and al-
though every attempt to promote this
measure had hitherto proved abortive and
fatal to its supporters, yet he retained so
strong an impression of its importance,
that he resolved upon their submission or

extirpation. At a general council of the
principal ministers and officers of the
Porte, it was determined to commence
this measure by a draught of 150 men
from each orta of the janissaries, who
were to be drilled by Egyptian officers,
and to be incorporated with the new
troops. As these detachments entered
upon the new evolutions, under an im-
pression that they were merely the revi-
val of an old exercise used in the time of
Solyman, no dissatisfaction was evinced
for some time, and preparations were
making for a general review, when a
standard bearer happened to call out,
" This is very like Russian mancEuvring."
The effect was instantaneous. These
haughty troops no sooner perceived that
they had been led to practice the hated
exercise of the Nizam djedit, than their
resentment was excited to the utmost.
They immediately marched to the palace
of the Porte, which having pillaged, they
dispersed themselves throughout the city,
and committed the most frightful exces-
ses. The grand vizier and Janissary
Aga escaped their fury only by a timely
flight to the country palace of Bashiktash,
where the sultan was then residing.

TURKEY.

641

Mahmoud was no sooner informed of
the revolt, than he hastened to the se-
raglio, and, with a prompt and energetic
decision, took immediate steps for crush-
ing with a strong arm those dangerous and
turbulent subjects. At a meeting of the
Divan it was resolved to display the
Sandschak Sherif; and orders were des-
patched to Hussein Pacha and the Top-
gee Bashi, or commander of artillery, to
advance with their forces to the capital.
The zealous Ottomans hastened to rally
round the sacred banner, which was
borne to sultan Achmet's mosque ; and
there, surrounded by the ulema and his
court, the sultan pronounced an anathema
against all who refused to acknowledge
the symbol of the prophet. The janissa-
ries, to the number of upwards of 20,000,
had, as usual on such occasions, assem-
bled in the Atmeidan ; and the offer of
pardon, upon condition of their submis-
sion, was received with scorn, and an-
swered with the murder of the messen-
gers, and a demand of the heads of the
grand vizier and other distinguished offi-
cers. The mufti having declared them
beyond the pale of the law, and issued
\iisfetva to that effect, Hussein Pacha
was ordered immediately to advance and
extirpate the rebels. Presuming upon
their former power and privileges, and on
the influence which they had hitherto ex-
ercised in the government, the janissa-
ries awaited with confidence a compli-
ance with their demands, when they were
awakened to the dreadful reality of their
situation by a discharge of grape-shot
among their dense and crowded masses.
After a feeble resistance, they retired to
their barracks, and offered submission ;
but Mahmoud, convinced that the safety
of the throne and empire depended upon
their utter extinction, was inexorable.
He ordered the barracks to be fired and
no quarter given. The buildings were
battered to pieces by cannon, and the
wretched inmates who attempted to es-
cape were thrown back hito the smoking
ruins. Above 4,000 miserable victims
perished by the shot or in the flames. Du-
ring the two following days a tribunal sat
in the Atmeidan for the trial of the insur-

concerned in the revolt, was strangled on
the spot ; and others less culpable were
banished to Asia. The numbers that suf-
fered on this occasion could never be
distinctly ascertained, but 20,000 at least
were removed by death or exile.

A firman of the Porte abolished for ever
the name and institution of the janissa-
ries ; and thus was successfully achieved
this great military revolution ; and those
turbulent troops, who, for upwards of
four centuries, had exercised a control in
the government alike incompatible with
the dignity of the sovereign and the safe-
ty of the state, who had deposed and put
to death so many sultans, and who had
so often filled the empire with troubles
and commotions, were swept from the
capital, and crushed under the vigorous
hand of the inexorable Mahmoud.

The threatening attitude of Russia,
compelled the Porte to take measures to
oppose the movements of that power to
obtain possession of his territory. Mah-
moud seeing that a rupture could not
be avoided without degrading submissions,
prepared for the struggle. With his best
troops occupied in Greece and Servia ;
his navy destroyed, and the janissaries
annihilated, his principal dependence
rested upon the raw levies of Asia, who
could not be expected to cope with reg-
ular troops of Russia in the field ; he
therefore resolved upon strictly defensive
operations, to strengthen his fortresses
on the Danube, to concentrate his army
at Shumla, and to defend the barriers of
the Balkan.

The Russian armies under Count
Wittgenstein passed the Pruth, in May,
1828, and occupied the principalities
without opposition. The Emperor Nich-
olas with an army passed the Danube on
the 7th of June. After various opera-
tions during the summer, the severity of
the weather put an end to hostile move-
ments on both sides.

Russia had little to boastofin the issue
of this campaign. After all her mighty
preparations, her troops were stopped by
the Balkans, the first spot where they
met with a Turkish army. Her only
conquests of importance, where any resis-

gents. Every janissary taken in arms, tance to her arms was offered, were Brai-
or who was suspected of having been ' low and Varna, and this last vi^as obtain-
81

642

TURKEY,

ed by treachery; and she acknowledged
the loss of 20,000 men slain, or so badly
■wounded, as to be incapable of again
serving. The capture of Varna, however,
and more especially the destruction of
the Turkish fleet at Navarin, which the
Russians could not have accomplished in
open and honorable warfare, gave them
a decided advantage in the following
campaign. By the former she obtained
a point of advance, which gave her the
command of the road into the plains of
Roumelia ; and by the latter she obtained
the command of the Black sea, which
enabled her to harass the Turkish coasts,
and to convey re-enforcements and sup-
plies to her invading armies.

General Diebitsch commenced his
operations on the Danube, by the invest-
ment of Silistria, on the 17th of May,
1829, after defeating a corps of Turks
and taking two redoubts. He also secur-
ed his communications by a line of posts
with Bazardjik and Varna. About the
same time, the grand vizier, Redchid
Pacha, left Schumla, with the intention
of attacking the fortified town of Pravadi.
At Eski Arnaullar he fell in with a Rus-
sian detachment of 4,000 men, who de-
fended themselves bravely for Ave hours
against four times their number, till fresh
troops came to their assistance, when
the Turks were compelled to retire. Be-
ing joined by a strong re-enforcement,
Redchid returned to the charge, and en-
deavored to turn the left flank of the
Russians. Here he was opposed by
general Roth, when after some hard
flghling, he abandoned the enterprise
with the loss of 2,000 men, and return-
ed to Schumla. In the beginning of June,
however, the grand vizier succeeded in
making a regular investment of Pravadi
with 40,000 troops. General Roth, find-
ing himself unable to make head against
such a force, solicited re. enforcements
from the commander-in-chief. Count
Diebitsch, who was then prosecuting the
siege of Silistria, left that operation in
charge of his second in command, and
proceeded in person at the head of the
re-enforcements, with a determination to
force the Turks to a general battle. With
this view, he cut off their communica-
tion with Schumla, by occupying the de-

files and passes in their rear, by which
they drew their ammunition and supplies
from that fortress ; and the grand vizier
was not aware of his approach till he
beheld the Russian columns advancing
to the attack. A most sanguinary combat
ensued, Avhich continued for four hours,
when the fire from the exhausted troops
wholly ceased on both sides. Redchid
Pacha then prepared to fall back upon
Marash ; but Diebitsch was resolved up-
on his complete defeat ; and having
made some new arrangement of his forces,
returned to the charge before the Turks
had commenced their retreat. The ac-
cidental blowing up of their amunition
wagons so intimidated the Ottomans, and
disordered their ranks, that, after dis-
charging their artillery, they gave way
on all sides, abandoning their camp,
with 40 pieces of cannon, and all their
ammunition and baggage. Sixteen more
cannon and many prisoners were taken
in the pursuit, and so thorough was the
rout, that, with the exception of some
cavalry who fell back upon Aidos, the
Turkish army was entirely dispersed,
and the grand vizier reached Schumla
by a circuitous road, attended only by a
small escort of cavalry. This complete
defeat, which decided the fate of the
campaign, must be attributed entirely to
the skilful and judicious movements, and
the admirable plan of attack of count
Diebitsch, who, by surprising the grand
vizier, while he thought himself in per-
fect security, and by cutting ofl" his com-
munication with Schumla, accomplished
such a thorough dispersion of the Turk-
ish forces, as prevented them ever rally-
ing again for the purpose of opposing his
advance ; and of 40,000 combatants not
above one-third reassembled after the en-
gagement. Count Diebitsch, immediately
after the battle, sent a pacific communi-
cation to Schumla by M. Fonton, a coun-
sellor of state, who returned with the
answer, that the grand vizier had receiv-
ed his despatches and proposals, and had
sent them to Constantinople for the de-
cision of the sultan.

While count Diebitsch was trium-
phantly advancing towards the Balkan,
Silistria capitulated after practicable
breaches were made in the ramparts, and

UNITED STATES.

643

the Russians were ready to storm. Two
pachas, 8,000 soldiers, 220 pieces of
cannon, and 80 standards fell into the
hands of the victors ; and the besieging
corps hastened to join the army under
count Diebitsch, who had now resolved
to cross the Balkan. Leaving a sufficient
force for the observation of Schumla,
he proceeded with his army in three
divisions, the right column commanded by
general Iludiger, the left by general
Roth, and the centre by count Pahlen,
with whom was the commander-in-chief.
The Turkish forces, which they encoun-
tered on their route, were so panic-struck
at the appearance of the Russians sur-
mounting those heights which they had
always considered as the impregnable
bulwarks of their empire, that they be-
came irresolute, and gave way on the
first fire, their officers generally setting
them the example. Except some smart
skirmishes, therefore, at Kamabat and
Selimno, count Diebitsch continued his
uninterrupted and victorious march by
Aidos, Bourgas, and Kirk-Kilissa to
Adrianople. This city, from its situation,
its fortifications, and its numerous garri-
sons, might have maintained a protracted
resistance ; but the Turks were prepared
for submission, and despatched a propo-
sal to the Russian commander for an im-
mediate capitulation. The arms and ar-
tillery, with the magazines of provisions
and ammunition, were delivered up to
the enemy ; and the Turkish pachas,
with their troops, were allowed to return
to their homes, provided they did not
take the road to Constantinople.

Count Diebitsch entered Adrianople
on the 20tli of August, and fixed his
head quarters in the palace of the sultans.

which had been previously prepared for
the reception of Mahmoud ; and the con-
quest of this city, according to the Rus-
sian bulletin, " was more like a popular
festival than the occupation of a capital
city by an armed hostile force. The
Turkish as well as christian inhabitants
continue their usual occupations. The
shops and coftee-houses are open, and the
local authorities and tribunals have not
been interrupted in their proceedings."

The intelligence of the occupation of
Adrianople, and the advance of the Rus-
sian army on the road to the capital, pro-
duced an instantaneous change in the
councils of the porte. Mahmoud, who
probably trusting to the interference of
the other European powers in his behalf,
had hitherto contemplated the progress
of the enemy with a firm determination
to resist to the last, and had even refused
to answer the propositions of count
Diebitsch after the battle of Pravadi,
was now brought to the alternative of
negotiation, or exposing his capital to be
occupied by a victorious army. The reis
effendi, accordingly, having conferred
with the British and French ambassadors,
and the Prussian general Muffling, re-
specting the means of averting this latter
c alamity, plenipotentiaries were despatch-
ed to the Russian head-quarters, with full
powers to treat respecting the indemni-
ties to be awarded to Russia for the ex-
penses of the war. When count Diebitsch
! inquired what propositions the plenipo-
j tentiaries had to make, they answered
that the sultan left it entirely to the dis-
cretion of the emperor of Russia to make
his own terms, upon which the count
signed the armistice on the 27th of Au-
gust, and hostilities ceased.

UNITED STATES

[As the history of the United States has been
published in quite a variety of forms, easily ac-
cessible, it was thought advisable to give only an
outline sketch, in order to make room for the his-
tory of other countries.]

After the first daring and successful
voyage of Columbus, the attention of the
European governments was directed to-

wards exploring the " new world." In
the year 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian
in the service of Henry VII, of England,
first discovered the island of Newfound-
land, and from thence ranged the coast of
the United States to Florida. The coun
try was peopled by uncivilized nations,

644

UNITED STATES.

who subsisted chiefly by hunting and
fishing. The Europeans who first visited
our shores, treated the natives as wild
beasts of the forest, which have no prop-
erty in the forests through which they
roam ; and therefore planted the standard
of their respective masters on the spot
where they first landed, and in their
names took possession of the country,
which they claimed by right of discovery.
Previous to any settlement in North
America, many titles of this kind were
acquired by the English, Dutch, French
and Spanish navigators. Slight as these
claims were, they were afterwards the
causes of much dispute and contention
between the European governments
These contentions arose from the fact
of the subjects of different princes laying
claim to the same tract of country, be-
cause both had discovered the same river
or promontory ; or because the extent of
the claims of each party was undefined.

The first permanent English settle-
ments in the United States were at
Jamestown, in Virginia, in 1607, and at
Plymouth, in Massachusetts, in 1620.
While the European settlements were
few and scattered in this vast and uncul-
tivated country, and the trade of it con-
fined to the bartering of a few trinkets,
&c, for furs, the interfering of dilTerent
claims produced no important controversy
among the Europeans. But in proportion
as the settlements were extended, and in
proportion as the trade with the natives
became valuable, the jealousies of the
nations who had made discoveries and
settlements on the coast were alarmed,
and each power took measures to secure
and extend its possessions, at the expense
of its rivals.

From the earliest settlement of the
colonies to the treaty of Paris, in 1763,
they were often harassed by frequent
wars with the Indians, French, Spaniards
and Dutch. During the Indian wars, the
savages were often instigated by the
French and Dutch to fall on the EngUsh
settlements, in order to exterminate the
colonists, or drive them from the country.
These wars were by far the most dis-
tressing ; the first settlers lived in con-
tinual fear and anxiety, for fear their In-
dian foes would fall upon them in some

unguarded moment, and oftentimes they
had to struggle to prevent their entire
extermination. After the colonies had
subdued the Indians in their immediate
vicinity, they were assailed by the French
and Indians. The French possessed
Canada, and had made a number of set-
tlements in Florida, and claimed the
country on both sides of the Mississippi.
To secure and extend their claims they
established a line of forts back to the
English settlements, from Canada to
Florida. They used much art and per-
suasion to gain over the Indians to their
interest, in which they were generally
successful. Encroachments were ac-
cordingly made on the English posses-
sions, and mutual injuries succeeded,
which soon broke out into open war.

In order to put a stop to the depreda-
tions of the French and Indians, it was
contemplated to conquer Canada. In
1690, the commissioners of the colonies
projected an expedition against Quebec.
The land forces ordered for this invasion
consisted of 850 men, raised from the
colonies of New England and New- York,
and commanded by General Winthrop. At
the same time a fleet of armed ships and
transports, with 1,800 men, under sir
William Phipps, was ordered to sail up
the St. Lawrence, and co-operate with
the land forces in the reduction of Que-
bec. But owing to the delay of the fleet,
and the want of boats and provisions
among the land forces, the expedition
was unsuccessful. The next expedition
against Canada took place in 1709, in
queen Anne's reign. The colonies of
New England and New-York, raised
about 2,500 men, who were placed under
the command of General Nicholson, who
proceeded to Wood creek, south of lake
George. Here they waited to hear of
the arrival of the fleet which was to co-
operate with them. The fleet did not
arrive, and the army at Wood creek were
attacked with a malignant disease, which
occasioned a great mortality, which com-
pelled them to withdraw, and the expe-
dition was abandoned. In 1711, another
attempt, under Gen. Nicholson with the
land forces, and a fleet under admiral
Walker, was made for the conquest of
Canada. But this failed by the loss of

UNITED STATES.

645

eight or nine transports, with about 1 ,000
men, by shipwreck. The peace of Utrecht,
signed March 3d, 1713, put an end to
hostiUties, and continued till 1739.

In 1744, Great Britain declared war
against France, and the next year Louis-
burg, a strong fortress on cape Breton,
was taken from the French. The French
government soon fitted out a large fleet,
with a large boby of land forces, for the
purpose of recovering Louisburg, and at-
tacking the English colonies. But this
expedition, by means of storms, sickness
among the troops, &c, failed of accom-
plishing any thing, and the colonies were
relieved from consternation and dismay.
This war closed by a treaty of peace,
signed at Aix la Chapelle, in 1748.

In 1755, hostilities again commenced
between Great Britain and France, and
in 1756 four expeditions were undertaken
against the French. One was conducted
by Col. Monckton and Gen. Winslow,
against Nova Scotia. This expedition
was attended with success. The country
was subdued, and the inhabitants, about
2,000 in number, were transported to
New England, and dispersed and incor-
porated with their conquerors. General
Johnson was ordered with abody of troops
to take possession of Crown Point, but
he did not succeed. Gen. Shirley com-
manded an expedition against the fort at
Niagara, but lost the season by delay.
Gen. Braddock was sent against Fort du
Quesne, but in penetrating through the
wilderness fell into an ambuscade of
French and Indians, where he was killed,
and his troops suffered an entire defeat.

In 1758, great efforts were made to
subdue the French in America. Three
armies were employed — one commanded
by Gen. Amherst, to take possession of
cape Breton — one under Gen. Abercrom-
bie, destined against Crown Point — and
a third under Gen. Forbes, to drive the
French from the Ohio. Gen. Amherst
was successful in taking Louisburg, after
a warm siege. The inhabitants of cape
Breton were sent to France, and the for-
tifications of Louisburg reduced to a heap
of ruins.

General Abercrombie, who was sent
against Crown Point and Ticonderoga,
attacked the French at the latter place,

and was defeated with a terrible slaugh-
ter of his troops. Gen. Forbes was suc-
cessful in taking possession of Fort du
Quesne, which the French thought proper
to abandon. The next year the efforts
of the British and Americans to reduce
the French were more successful. Gen.
Prideaux and sir William Johnson began
the operations of the campaign, by taking
possession of the French fort near Niag-
ara. Gen. Amherst took possession of
the forts at Crown Point and Ticondero-
ga, which the French had abandoned.

But the decisive blow which proved
the destruction of the French power in
America, was the taking of Quebec by
Gen. Wolfe. The loss of Quebec was
soon followed by the capture of Montreal
by Gen. Amherst, and Canada became a
province of the British Empire. " Thus
after a century of wars, massacres, and
destruction, committed by the French
and savages, the colonies were secured
from ferocious invaders, and Canada,
with a valuable trade in furs, came under
the British dominion."

The conquest of Canada and the ex-
pulsion of the French from the Ohio, put
an end to all important military operations
in the American colonies. In Europe,
however, the war continued to rage ; and
in the West Indies, the British, aided by
the Americans, took Havanna from the
Spaniards. But in 1762, " a definitive
treaty of peace was signed at Paris, by
which the French king ceded Nova Sco-
tia, Cape Breton and Canada to the Bri-
tish king ; and the middle of the Missis-
sippi, from its source to the river Ibber-
ville, and the middle of that river to the
sea, was made the boundary between the
British and French dominions in Ameri-
ca. Spain ceded to Great Britain, Flo-
rida, and all her possessions to the east
of the Mississippi. Such was the state
of the European possessions in America,
at the commencement of the Revolution."

Before the Revolution there were three
kinds of government established in the
British American colonies. "The first
was a chartered government, by which
the powers of legislation were vested in
a governor, council and assembly, chosen
by the people. Of this kind were the
governments of Connecticut and Rhode

646

UNITED STATES.

Island. The second was a proprietary
government, in which the proprietor of
the province was governor ; although he
generally resided abroad, and adminis-
tered the government by a deputy of his
own appointment ; the assembly only be-
ing chosen by the people. Such were
the governments of Pennsylvania and
Maryland; and originally of New-Jersey
and Carolina. The third kind was that
of royal government, where the governor
and council were appointed by the crown,
and the assembly by the people. Of
this kind were the governments of New-
Hampshire, Massachusetts, New-York,
New- Jersey, after the year 1702,Virginia,
the Carolinas, after the resignation of the
proprietors in 1728, and Georgia. This
variety of governments created different
degrees of dependence on the crown.
To render laws valid, it was constitution-
ally required that they should be ratified
by the king ; but this formality was often
dispensed with, especially in the charter
governments.

" At the beginning of the last war with
France, commissioners from many of the
colonies had assembled at Albany, and
proposed that a great council should be
formed b}^ deputies from the several colo-
nies, which, with a general governor to
be appointed by the crown, should be
empowered to take measures for the
common safety, and to raise money for
the execution of their designs. This
proposal was not relished by the British
ministry ; but in place of this plan it was
proposed, that the governors of the colo-
nies with the assistance of one or two of
their council, should assemble and con-
cert measures for their general defence ;
erect forts, levy troops, and draw on the
treasury of England for monies that should
be wanted ; but the treasury to be re-im-
bursed by a tax on the colonies, to be laid
by the English parliament. To this plan
which would imply an avowal of the
right of parliament to tax the colonies, the
provincial assemblies objected with un-
shaken firmness. It seems, therefore,
that the British parliament, before the
war, had it in contemplation to exercise
the right they claimed of taxing the colo-
nies at pleasure, without permitting them
to be represented. Indeed, it is obvious,

that they laid hold of the alarming situa-
tionof the colonies, about 1754, and 1755,
to force them into an acknowledgment of
the right, or to the adoption of measures
that might afterwards be drawn into pre-
cedent. The colonies, however, with
an uncommon foresight and firmness, de-
feated all their attempts. The war was
carried on by requisitions on the colonies
for supplies of men and money, or by
voluntary contributions.

" But no sooner was peace concluded,
than the English parliament resumed the
plan of taxing the colonies; and to justify
their attempts, said, that the money to be
raised was to be appropriated to defray
the expense of defending them in the
late war."

The first attempt of the British govern-
ment to raise a revenue in America, ap-
peared in the memorable Stamp Act ; but
such was the opposition of the colonies
to this act, that it was shortly after re-
pealed. The parliament, however, per-
sisted in their right to raise a revenue
from the colonies, and accordingly passed
an act, laying a certain duty on glass,
tea, paper, and painter's colors — articles
which were much wanted, and not man-
ufactured in America. This Act was so
obnoxious to the Americans, that the
parliament thought proper in 1770, to take
off these duties, except three pence a
pound on tea. But this duty, however
trifling, kept alive the jealousies of the
colonies, and their opposition continued
and increased. It was not the incon-
venience of paying the duty which raised
their opposition, but it was the pmiciple,
which once admitted, would have sub-
jected the colonies to unlimited parlia-
mentary taxation, without the privilege
of being represented.

After a series of oppressive acts
on the part of the British government,
and of opposition on the part of the
colonies. Gen. Gage was sent over with
an armed force to Boston, in 1774, to
overawe and reduce the rebellious colo-
nies to submission. But these measures
did not intimidate the Americans. The
people generally concurred in a proposi-
tion for holding a congress by deputation
from the several colonies, in order to
concert measures for the preservation of

tJNITED STATES.

647

Death of General Warren at Bunker Hill.

their rights. Deputies were accordingly
appointed, and the frst Congress met at
Philadelphia, in October, 1774. The
proceedings of the American Congress
had a tendency to confirm the people in
a spirited and unanimous determination
to resist the oppressive acts of the moth-
er country, and to defend their just and
constitutional rights. On the other hand,
the British Parliament declared that a
rebellion actually existed, and besought
his Brittanic Majesty to take the most
effectual measures to enforce due obedi-
ence to the laws and authority of his
government ; and assured him that they
were determined to support him in main-
tainingthejustrightsof the crown. " From
this moment an appeal to arms became
unavoidable, and both parties prepared
for the conflict."

The first scene of this sanguinary con-
test opened at Lexington, on the morn-
ing of the 19th of April, 1775. Here
was spilt the first blood in a war of seven
years duration, a war which severed
these United States from the British Em-
pire, and ended in the establishment of
the independence of a nation of freemen.

1775. The first year of the Revolu-
tion. The principal operations of the war

during this year took place in the nor-
ihern States. As the province of Mas-
sachusetts had been foremost in opposi-
tion, the British government sent their
forces to Boston, the capital, and held it
in possession during the year. In order
to annoy the British forces, the Ameri-
cans on the night of the 16th of June,
threw up a breast work on Bunker's Hill,
an elevation in Charlestown, which com-
manded the inner harbor of Boston. In
order to drive the Americans from this
position, a body of between 3 and 4,000
British troops landed, and were suffered
to advance to within ten or twelve rods
of the American works, when a deadly
fire was opened upon them which com-
pelled them to retreat. Advancing the sec-
ond time they were suffered to approach
still nearer, when another discharge strew-
ed the field with the dead and wounded,
and the remainder fled in dismay to their
boats. At this moment Gen. Clinton,
who had been watching the progress of
the battle from Boston, crossed over with
a re-enforcement of 1000 men, and with
great difficulty led up the troops to a third
charge, with fixed bayonets. The Amer-
icans having no bayonets, and their pow-
der being exhausted, were forced to aban-

648

UNITED STATES.

don their works. The loss of the Brit-
ish was nearly 1 ,500 in killed and woun-
ded ; the loss of the Americans was
about 400, but among the number was
Gen. Warren, a brave soldier and firm
patriot. Soon after the battle of Bunker
- Hill, Gen. Washington, who was appoint-

ed commander-in-chief of the American
forces, arrived at Cambridge, and took
the command of the army in July. The
army investing Boston amounted to about
15,000 men. They were mostly desti-
tute of good arms, ammunition, clothing,
and experienced officers. Washington's
first and most difficult task was to organ-
ize and discipline the troops. Owing to
his uncommon exertions and influence,
he succeeded in bringing high-minded
freemen to know their respective places,
and to have the mechanism as well as
the movements of a regular army.

In the autumn of this year, a body of
troops under the command of Gen. Mont-
gomery, besieged and took the garrison
at St. John's, which commanded the en-
trance into Canada. Gen. Montgome-
ry pursued his success, and took Mon-
treal. At Quebec being joined by Gen-
eral Arnold, who had marched a body of
men through the wilderness to his
sistance, Montgomery made an assault
on Quebec, on the last day of the year.
In this attack he was killed, his troops
defeated, and the American army was
finally compelled to evacuate Canada.

During this year nearly all the old
governments of the colonies were dis-
solved ; and the royal governors, and the
crown officers adhering to British meas-
ures, were obliged to leave the country,
or suspend their functions. From that
time temporary conventions were held,
for the purpose of administering the
laws, and making regulations to meet
the public exigencies. In some of the
colonies, however, the British adherents
(who were called lories) were numerous
and powerful ; which weakened the op-
position to the British arms.

1776. This year was opened by the
burning of the large and flourishing town
of Norfolk in Virginia, by order of Lord
Dunmore, the royal governor of that
province.

The British King entered into treaties

with some of the German States for about
17,000 men who were to be sent to
America this year, to assist in subduing
the colonies. These troops were gener-
ally called Hessians, from the circum-
stance of many of them being raised in
Hesse Cassel in Germany. Gen. Wash-
ington who still continued before Boston,
in the opening of the spring planted his
batteries so judiciously before that town,
that the British General Howe, on the
17th of March abandoned the place, and
Gen. Washington marched into the place
in triumph.

During the summer a squadron of
ships commanded by Sir Peter Parker,
and a body of troops under Generals
Clinton and Cornwallis, attempted to
take Charleston the capital of South Car-
olina. The fort on Sullivan's Island
near Charleston was attacked with great
fury by the ships of the squadron, but the
British were repulsed with great loss and
the expedition was abandoned.

On the 4th July, Congress published
the Declaration of Independence. Soon
after the declaration. Gen. Howe with a
powerful force arrived near New- York ;
and landed the troops on Staten Island.
General Washington at this time was in
New-York with about 13,000 men who
were encamped either in the city, or the
neighboring fortifications. The opera-
tions of the British began by attacking
the Americans on Long Island. The
Americans were defeated with severe
loss, and General Washington probably
saved the remainder of his troops by or-
dering them to retreat in the night after
the battle.

In September, New- York was aban-
doned by the Americans, and taken by
the British, and in November, fort Wash-
ington on York Island was taken, and
more than 2,000 men made prisoners ;
about the same time Gen. Clinton took
possession of Rhode Island.

The American army being greatly di-
minished by the loss of men taken pris-
oners, and the departure of large bodies
of others whose term of enlistment had
expired, General Washington was obli-
ged with the remnant of his army which
had been reduced from 25,000, to scarcely
3,000, to retreat towards Philadelphia,

UNITED STATES.

649

pursued by their victorious enemies.
This was the most gloomy period of the
Revohition. Washington saw the ne-
cessity of striking some successful blow,
to re-animate the expiring hopes of his
countrymen. The battles of Trentonand
Princeton revived the hopes of America,
and confounded their enemies. Congress
also made great exertions to rouse the spir-
its of the people, and sent agents to solicit
the friendship and aid of foreign powers.

1777. The plan of the British Minis-
try during this year was to separate the
Northern from the Southern Slates, by
sending an army under Gen. Burgoyne
from Canada, to penetrate into the Nor-
thern States and endeavor to effect a
communication with the British at New-
York. If this plan had been successful,
it would probably have had a fatal effect
on the American cause. But the defeat
of Burgoyne at Bennington and Saratoga,
and the surrender of his army at the lat-
ter place, produced important results in
favor of the Americans. At the South
the British were more successful. Gen.
Howe embarked his forces at New-York,
sailed up the Chesapeake, landed at the
head of Elk river, and began his march
to Philadelphia. Gen. Washington en-
deavored to stop his progress and a battle
was fought near Brandywine Creek, but
the Americans were overpowered by su-
perior numbers and discipline, and Gen.
Howe took possession of Philadelphia.
The American Congress now retired to
Yorktown in Virginia.

1778. The beginning of this year was
distinguished by a Treaty of Alliance
with France, whereby the Americans ob-
tained a powerful ally. When the Brit-
ish Ministry were informed that this treaty
was in agitation, they despatched commis-
sioners to America to attempt a reconcilia-
tion. But the Americans had now gone
too far to accept their offers. The British
evacuated Phila., in June, and marched
for New- York ; on their march they were
annoyed by the Americans, and at Mon-
mouth an action took place, in which had
General Lee obeyed his orders, a signal
victory would have been obtained.

In July, Count D'Estaing arrived at
Newport, R. I. with a French fleet for
the assistance of the Americans. In
83

August, Gen. Sullivan with a large body
of troops attempted to take possession of
Rhode Island, but did not succeed. In
December, Savannah, the then capital of
Georgia, was taken by the British under
the command of Col. Campbell. About
this time an insurrection of the Royalists
in North Carolina, was crushed by the
spirited exertions of the Militia. Dur-
ing this year a more regular discipline
was introduced into the American army
by Baron Steuben, a German officer.

1799. The campaign of 1799 was dis-
tinguished for nothing decisive on the
part of the Americans or British. " The
British seemed to have aimed at little
more than to distress, plunder, and con-
sume— it having been, early in the year,
adopted as a principle upon which to pro-
ceed, to render the colonies of as little
avail as possible to their new connec-
tions." In accordance with these views,
an expedition was sent from New-York
to Virginia for the purpose of distressing
the Americans. They landed at Ports-
mouth, and destroyed the shipping and
valuable stores in that vicinity. After
enriching themselves with various kinds
of booty and burning several places, they
returned to New- York. Soon after this
expedition, a similar one, under the com-
mand of governor Tryon was sent against
Connecticut. New-Haven and East-Ha-
ven were plundered ; Fairfield, Norwalk,
and Green's Farms were wantonly burn-
ed. About this time Stoney Point was
taken by General Wayne. In October,
General Lincoln, (who commanded the
Southern American army,) and count
d'Estaing made an assault on Savannah,
but they were repulsed with considerable
loss. During the summer. General Sul-
livan was sent against the Six Nations,
and laid waste their country ; these In-
dians had been induced by the British to
take up arms against the Americans. —
Forty villages were consumed, and
100,000 bushels of corn were destroyed.

1780. On the opening of the campaign
of this year, the British troops left Rhode-
Island, and Sir Henry Clinton finding it
more easy to make an impression on the
Southern States, which were less popu-
lous than the Northern, determined to
make them the seat of war. Clinton

650

UNITED STATES.

with lord Cornwallis undertook an expe-
dition against Charleston, South Caroli-
na, where General Lincoln commanded.
This pkce after a close siege surrendered
to the British commander ; and General
Lincoln, and the whole garrison were
made prisoners on the 12th of May.

General Gates was now appointed to
the command of the Southern American
army. In August, lord Cornwallis (who was
left in the command of the British forces
at the South,) attacked General Gates and
entirely routed his army. He afterwards
marched through the Southern States, and
supposed them entirely subdued. During
the summer, the British troops made fre-
quent incursions into New-Jersey, ravag-
ing and plundering the country. This
year was also disthigiiished for the infa-
mous treason of General Arnold, which
stamped his name with lasting infamy.

1781. The beginning of this year was
distinguished by a mutiny in the Ameri-
can army ; this was occasioned by their
severe sufferings and privations, and the
depreciation of the Coiitinental Money
with which they were paid. But the
punishment of the ringleaders and the
exhortation of the officers, prevailed to
bring them back to their duty.

After the defeat of General Gates in
Carolina, General Greene was appointed
to the command of the American troops
in that quarter. From this period the
aspect of the war was more favorable.
On the 17th of January, at the Cowpens,
General Morgan the intrepid commander
of riflemen, signally defeated Colonel
Tarleton, the active commander of the
British legion. After a variety of move-
ments, the main armies met at Guilford,
in Carolina, on the 15th of March. —
General Greene and lord Cornwallis ex-
erted themselves at the head of their re-
spective armies ; and although the Amer-
icans were obliged to retire from the field
of battle, yet the British army suffered a
severe loss, and could not pursue the vic-
tory. After the battle of Guilford, Gen-
eral Greene moved towards South Caro-
lina, to drive the British from their posts
in that State, and by a brilliant action at
Eutaw Springs, forced lord Cornwallis to
withdraw his forces and fortify himself
in Yorktown in Virginia.

In the spring of this year, Arnold the
traitor, with a number of British troops
sailed to Virginia and plundered the coun-
try, and at the time Cornwallis was at
Yorktown, made an incursion into Con-
necticut, burnt New-London, took fort
Griswold by storm, and put the garrison
to the sword.

About the last of August, count de
Grasse with a large French fleet arrived
in the Chesapeake, and blocked up the
British troops at Yorktown. General
Washington, previous to this, had moved
the main body of his army to the south-
ward, and when he heard of the arrival
of the French fleet, made rapid marches
to the head of Elk river, where embark-
ing, his army soon arrived at Yorktown.
A vigorous siege now commenced, and
was carried on with such eflect by the
combined forces of America and France,
that Cornwallis was forced to surrender.
This important event took place on the
19th of October, 1781, and decided the
revolutionary war.

On the 30th of November, 1782, the
provisional articles of peace were signed
at Paris ; by which Great Britain ac-
knowledged the Independence and sov-
ereignty of the United States of Ameri-
ca ; and these articles were afterwards
ratified by a definitive treaty.

" Thus ended a long and arduous con-
flict, in which Great Britain expended
near a hundred millions of money, with
a hundred thousand liv^es, and won no-
thing. America endured every cruelty and
distrust ; lost many lives and much trea-
sure ; but delivered herself from a foreign
dominion, and gained a rank among the
nations of the earth."

After peace was restored to the coun-
try, the next and most difficult object was
to organize and establish a general gov-
ernment. Articles of confederation and
perpetual union had been framed in Con-
gress, and submitted to the consideration
of the States in 1778, and in 1781 were
agreed to by all the State legislatures.

The articles, however, were framed
during the rage of war, when principles
of common safety supplied the place of
a coercive power in the government. —
To have offered to the people, at that
time, a regular system of government,

UNITED STATES,

651

armed with the necessary power to re-
gulate the conflicting interests of thirteen
States, might have raised a jealousy be-
tween them or the people at large, that
would have weakened the operations of
war, and perhaps have rendered a union
impracticable. Hence the numerous de-
fects of the confederation. On the con-
clusion of peace the defects began to be
felt. Each State assumed the right of
disputing the propriety of the resolutions
of Congress, and the interests of an in-
dividual State were often placed in op-
position to the common interest of the
union. In additon to this a jealousy of
the powers of Congress began to be ex-
cited in the minds of many of the people.

Without a union that was able to form
and execute a general system of com-
mercial regulations, some of the States
attempted to impose restraints upon the
foreign trade that should indemnify them
for the losses they had sustained. These
measures, however, produced nothing but
mischief. The States did not act in
concert, and the restraints laid on the
trade of one state operated to throw the
business into the hands of its neighbor.
Thus divided, the States began to feel
their weakness. Most of the Legisla-
tures had neglected to comply with the
requisitions of Congress for supplying
the Federal Treasury ; the resolves of
Congress were disregarded ; the propo-
sition for a general impost to be laid and
collected by Congress was negatived by
Rhode Island and New-York.

In pursuance of the request of Virgi-
nia, most of the States appointed dele-
gates, who assembled at Annapolis in
1786, to consult what measures should
be taken in order to unite the States in
some general and efficient government.
But as the powers of these delegates
were limited, they adjourned, and re-
commended a general Convention to
meet at Philadelphia the next year.
Accordingly in May, 1787, delegates
from all the States except Rhode-Island,
assembled at Philadelphia and appointed
Gen. Washington their president. "After
four months deliberation, in which the
clashing interests of the several States
appeared in all their force," the conven-
tion agreed to a frame of government

which was finally agreed to by all the
States, and on the 30th of April, 1789
Gen. Washington was inaugurated the
first President of the United States. From
this auspicious moment the American
Republic has steadily advanced in a tide
of prosperity and growing power.

Washington's Adininistration. — This
period continued for eight years. Wash-
ington, the leader of the armies of the
United States, who conducted them
through the perilous and successful strug-
gle for independence, now received the
unanimous suffrages of his countrymen to
administer their national government.
" His administration, partaking of his
character, was mild and firm at home;
noble and prudent abroad." The princi-
pal events which took place during this
period were, the Indimi ivar on our west-
ern frontiers — the Whiskey Insurrection,
in Pennsylvania — Jay's treaty with Great
Britain, and the establishment of a Na-
tional Bank and Mint.

" During this period, the arts and man-
ufactures attracted the attention of gov-
ernment. Mr. Hamilton, Secretary of
the Treasury, made a report to Congress
on the subject, in which he set forth their
importance to the country, and urged the
poUcy of aiding them. Since that time
the revenue laws have been framed, with
a view to the encouragement of manufac-
tures, and their promotion has been con-
sidered as a part of the policy of the
United States." The United States at
the close of this period, contained about
5,000,000 of inhabhants.

/. Adams'' Administration. — In 1796,
Mr. Adams was elected President, and
continued in the office four years. The
principal events during this time, were —
the difficulties with the French Govern-
ment— the death of Washington and the
transfer of the seat of the national gov-
ernment to Washington. The greater
part of Mr. Adam's administration was
the subject of much popular clamor, ow-
ing to several imprudent laws which were
passed during his presidency. Such were
the " Alien" and " Sedition Laws" the
act for raising a standing army, and the
act for imposing a direct tax, and inter-
nal duties. These causes with some
others, caused so much opposition to Mr.

652

UNITED STATES.

Adams, that it prevented his re-election
to the presidency.

Jefferson^ s Administration. — Mr. Jeffer-
son's administration commenced in 1801,
and continued for eight years. The most
prominent events during this period were
the purchase of Louisiana — the War with
Tripoli — Burros conspiracy, the outrage
upon the Chesapeake, and the laying of an
Embargo.

The bitterness of party spirit during
this time raged with some violence, and
it interrupted in some degree that general
harmony which it is always important to
the welfare of our union to cultivate.
Trade and commerce progressed with
great rapidity. The European nations
being at war with each other, and the
United States remaining neutral, our ves-
sels carried to Europe the produce of our
own country, and the produce of other
countries. This is commonly called the
carrying trade, and was very profitable to
our citizens. After the year 1807, the
commercial restraints laid by France by
her Berlin and Milan decrees, and by
Great Britain by her Orders in Council,
began to curtail our trade, and the Embar-
go laid by our Government at the close of
the year interrupted it still more. The
Arts and Manufactures still progressed,
and the population of the United States
at the close of Mr. Jefferson's adminis-
tration amounted to about 7,000,000.

Madison^s Administration. — On the 4th
of March, 1809, Mr. Madison was induc-
ted into the office of President, and con-
tinued in office eight years. This period
was distinguished for the Second war with
Great Britain. When Mr. Madison en-
tered upon his office, the state of the
country was in some respects gloomy
and critical. France and England were
at war, and they issued against each other
the most violent commercial edicts, in vio-
lation of the laws of nations and injurious
to those nations who wished to remain
neutral. After a series of injurious and
insulting acts on the part of the govern-
ment of Great Britain and its Agents, the
government of the United States declared
war against that power, June 18th, 1812,
which continued about three years.

The seat of war on the land, was prin-
cipally on the frontiers of Canada, of

which province it was the object of the
Americans to take possession. The war
at that point continued with various suc-
ceas on the part of the Americans and
British. The Americans, however, were
able to effect but little towards accom-
plishing the designs of their government.

The situation of the contending par-
ties at the close of the war was nearly
the same as it was at the commencement ;
on the ocean however it was different.
The splendid success of the American
navy in various engagements, raised it to
a high elevation, and taught her proud ri-
val a lesson which will not be forgotten.
During Mr. Madison's Presidency in 1 8 1 6,
a National Bank was established with a
capital of 35 millions of dollars.

Monroe's Administration. — Mr. Monroe
commenced his administration in 1817,
under many favorable circumstances, —
the country was fast recovering from the
depression of commerce and a three years'
war. The political feuds which had
since the revolution occasioned so much
animosity, were now gradually subsiding,
and there appeared in the administration
a disposition to remove old party preju-
dices, and to promote union among the
people. A spirit of improvement was
spreading throughout the country : roads
and canals were constructed in various
parts of the union. The principal events
which took place in Mr. Monroe's ad-
ministration, were — the war with the
Seminole Indians — the passage of an act
by Congress granting a pension to the in-
digent officers and soldiers of the revolu-
tion— the cession of Florida to the United
States by the Spanish government, and
the visit of General Lafayette to the Uni-
ted States.

J. Q. Adams' Administration. Mr.

Adams was elected President in 1825,
and continued in office four years. The
principal events during this period were—
the Treaty with Colombia — the Panama
mission, and the death of the two vener-
ble patriarchs of the revolution, John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson, on the fif-
tieth anniversary of Independence. Du-
ring this period the people of the United
States were divided into two parties in re-
ference to the Presidential election ; one
party desirous of retaining Mr. Adams

VENICE.

653

during another term of office, the other
upholding Gen. Andrew Jackson as a
suitable candidate for the office of Presi-
dent. Party spirit now raged with vio-
lence, each party upholding their favorite
candidate and traducing the other. Upon
counting the votes, it appeared that a
large majority were in favor of Andrew
Jackson ; and on the 4th of March, 1829,
he was inducted into the office of Presi-
dent of the United States, according to
the form prescribed by the Constitution.
Jackson's Administration. — The ad-
ministration of Gen. Jackson commenced
at a period when the affairs of the nation
were unusually prosperous. During the
session of 1831-2 a bill for the recharter
of the United States Bank, was brought
forward, which, after a warm and protract-
ed debate, was passed by a small majority.
The bill, however, was vetoed by the
President, and as there was not two
thirds of Congress in favor of its pas-
sage it was lost. In 1832, Congress

passed a new tariff bill. This caused
so much excitement and opposition in
South Carolina, that an ordinance was
published by a convention, nullifying, or
forbidding the operation of the tariff laws
of the general government in that state.
This act called forth a proclamation from
the President, in which he expressed his
determination to enforce the laws of Con-
gress. The tariff laws have since been
modified. In 1835, some apprehension
was felt of war with p'rance, on account
of certain proposed measures to be used
towards that power, to compel the pay-
ment of an acknowledged claim of
25,000,000 of francs. Fortunately, all
differences were settled, and arrange-
ments made for payment. During the
winter of 1835, a war was commenced
with the Seminole Indians, which still
(1839) continues. In 1832, President
Jackson was re-elected to the presidency,
and was succeeded in 1837 by Martin
Van Buren.

VENICE.

Venice is built upon a number of
small islands, in the Adriatic sea, or gulf
of Venice, standing in forty-five degrees
forty minutes north latitude. Its situa-
tion is strong, beautiful, and romantic.
Nothing can be more wonderful than to
see one of the finest cities of the earth
rising out of the ocean, and appearing to
float on the waves. Its magnificent
palaces and lofty towers, washed by the
flood, form a noble and delightful spec-
tacle. One would almost think them
either the splendid work of some magi-
cian's wand, or one of fancy's light aerial
scenes. Its inhabitants amount to two
hundred thousand, and its territories were
of considerable extent. The history of
the Venetians is one of interest, exhibit-
ing a great variety of changes and inci-
dents during the many wars in which
they were engaged with the neighboring
powers. A part only of the incidents in
their history can be given.

Relative to the first establishment of

Venetian government, A. D. 421, Cassi-
odorus relates, that one would have taken
this multitude of people for a numerous
seminary of philosophers, cultivating the
duties of religion and of virtue, and en-
joying a perfect tranquillity. They con-
tended not in luxury, ostentation, and ex-
pense ; but in moderation, chastity, and
virtue. Riches, honors, and ambition,
had no charms for the Venetians ; rich
and poor lived upon a familiar equality ;
Property was common to all, and entirely
devoted to the occasions of the republic.
Merit was the only distinction, and that
alone was esteemed true nobility which
was acquired by virtue. Under such
happy auspices did this republic receive
her first laws, ordinances, and regulations.
At this period, the government seems to
have been consular.

It was afterwards changed to the tri-
bunitian form, in which it continued for
nearly three hundred years. Under the
tribunes, Venice first made war. It is

654

VENICE.

related, that, during this period, the in-
habitants of Trieste, landing suddenly at
Venice, carried oft' a number of the citi-
zens. Pietro Candiano was appointed
to revenge this unprovoked aflront. His
diligence was so great, that on the same
day two ships of war were equipped, and
under sail to seek the enemy, with whom
he came up in the evening. He gave
- immediate orders for the attack, defeated
the enemy, retook his countrymen, and
carried the Tergestines prisoners into
Venice. This is one of the finest in-
stances we have of the spirit, resolution,
and prowess of this republic. By such
exploits, Venice first acquired esteem
and consequence among the neighboring
states.

Upon the abuse of power by the tri-
bunes, A. D. 697, the ducal government
was established. Paulatio was the first
doge. He made the nation happy, pow-
erful, and wealthy. As he was the first,
so he was one of the best princes Venice
ever saw.

During the dogeship of Mauritio, Venice
was attacked by Pepin, the son of Charle-
magne ; but his success was not great,
and the impression he made on the fron-
tiers, which the duke bravely defended,
was inconsiderable. The Venetians now
declared themselves a free and inde-
pendent people, acknowledging neither
the eastern nor the western empire.

During the government of Pietro Tri-
bune, the seventeenth doge, the Hunns,
having defeated Berengarius, entered
Italy. Induced by the wealth of the
Venetian republic, they resolved to sack
and pillage the city, in 903. March-
ing through the maritime provinces, they
burned Villa Nuova, Jesuola, and Chiog-
gio, and prepared to attack the Rialto,
which they imagined must yield to their
prodigious numbers. Pietro Tribuno
omitted nothing which became a gi-eat
general ; he placed strong guards round
the city, fortified the places most expos-
ed, equipped a fleet with incredible de-
spatch, and harassed the enemy by per-
petual sallies. His activity, presence
of mind, and skill, were astonishing. He
animated the troops by his example ; was
the foremost in every attack ; in a word,
was the life and soul of the state. The

Hunns, preparing to make a general as-
sault, Pietro, after a short and animating
speech, ordered the soldiers to be em-
barked, and immediately bore down upon
the enemy near Albiola. The battle be-
gan with fury, and continued with obsti-
nacy for several days ; the fleets sepa-
rated at night, the combatants returning
next day to the charge with fresh vigor ;
the Venetians every where opposed cour-
age to numbers, and the doge performed
prodigies of valor. At last, Tribuno,
fearing that the spirit of his men might
sink under the multitude of the enemy,
collected all his force, resolving to die or
make an impression upon their line. He
was so bravely seconded by his troops,
that the barbarians were broken and de-
feated, and a general carnage ensued.
The sea was covered with dead bodies,
and the Venetians fought, says Blondus,
upon heaps of the slain barbarians, as
upon dry land ; the siege was raised, the
Hunns were driven from Italy, and the
reputation of Venice for arms became
famous over the world.

Ziani, the thirty-ninth doge, was no
sooner elected, than the republic was
involved in a war with Frederic Barba-
rossa, from whose persecution the pope
Alexander had retired to Venice. The
Venetians despatched ambassadors to the
emperor, who answered them in a rage,
" Go, and tell your prince and people,
that Frederic, the Roman emperor, de-
mands his enemy, who is protected by
them. If they send him not instantly,
bound hand and foot, he will overturn
every law, human and divine, to accom-
plish his revenge ; he will bring his
army before their city, and fix his victo-
rious standards in their market-place,
which shall float in the blood of its citi-
zens." The ambassadors returning with
this terrible menace, it was agreed to
equip a fleet with all expedition, and pre-
pare for repelling the emperor's medita-
ted vengeance. While the Venetians
were thus employed, Otho, the emperor's
son, entered the gulf with a strong
squadron of seventy-five gallies, and Avas
making sail to the city. The doge re-
solved to oppose him with the few ships
which were fit to put to sea; in 1173
the fleets met off" the coast of Istria, and

VENICE.

655

a dreadful battle ensued, the event of
which was, that the doge took, sunk, and
destroyed forty-eight of the enemy's
ships, and returned in triumph to Venice.
From this time was continued the cere-
mony of marrying the sea ; the pope
going out to meet the victorious doge,
presented him with a ring, saying, " Take,
Ziani, this ring, and give it to the sea, as
a testimony of your dominion. Let your
successors annually perform the same
ceremony, that posterity may know your
valor has purchased their prerogative,
and subjected this element even as a
husband subjecteth his wife."

After Bartolomeo Gradonico, Andrea
Dandolo next succeeded to the ducal
chair ; and war commenced with Genoa.
The command of the Venetian fleet was
given to Marco Rusino, who joining the
Aragonian fleet, of forty sail, went in
quest of the Genoese admiral, Grimaldi.
The two fleets met on the Sardinian
coast. Rusino ordered his ships to grap-
ple with the enemy, and then chained
them to each other in such a manner, that
there was a necessity either to conquer
or die. Thus a kind of land battle was
fought upon the sea, in which there was
no room for disputing the victory, the
whole Genoese fleet having been either
taken or destroyed, Grimaldi's ship alone
escaping. When the news of this defeat
arrived at Genoa, in 1347, the whole
city was in the utmost consternation. In
their despair, the Genoese sent ambassa-
dors to the duke of Milan, requesting
his protection and acceptance of the
sovereignty of their dominions ; an offer
which he did not decline.

Soon after the promotion of Marino
Faliero, the fifty-fifth doge, the Venetians
were in their turn defeated. Their com-
mander, Pisani, with five thousand of his
men, were made prisoners, and above
twenty of their gallies were sunk. The
republic sustained an irreparable loss,
and the city would probably have been
undone, had the victorious Doria known
as well how to pursue as to gain a vic-
tory. The Venetians were equally sur-
prised and overjoyed when the news ar-
rived that he was returned to Genoa, at
a time they every hour expected him be-
fore their gates. A truce was imme-

diately concluded; m 1353 the doge
himself conspired against her freedom.
Seized with a violent desire of absolute
authority, he began his design by popu-
lar acts, and gave entertainments to the
lower orders of people. When he per-
ceived that the populace listened to him
with attention, he began to drop hints of
his determination to deliver them from
the t5n:anny of the senate, and for that
purpose, to assume a greater latitude of
power, after which it should be left to
their choice to continue him or not, as
they found him deserving. His proposal
was to murder the chief persons of the
assembly, senate, and seigniory, who had
raised him to the dignity he possessed.
The first of April was appointed for the
execution of this infamous plot ; but, on
that very day, Beltrand, a conspirator,
went to the house of Nicholas Leon, and
made an ample discovery. Leon was
so confounded with horror, that, for some
time, he Avas unable to reply ; at last,
ordering Beltrand to be confined, he de-
spatched messengers to the chief sena-
tors, the seigniory, and oflficers of the
city, to come instantly to his house.
The doge and the conspirators were
quickly seized and put to death, and a
pension settled upon the discoverer.

In 1477, while Giovanni Moncenigo
was doge, the Turks besieged Croia.
The assault was furious, and the defence
valiant ; Antonio Legiero, the proveditor,
who commanded in chief, omitted nothing
which was the duty of an experienced
and good officer. The Turks shot such
quantities of arrows in the different as-
saults, that the garrison for months used
no other fuel. The moats round the town
were filled with heaps of slain, which
produced a stench intolerable to the be-
siegers, and was one cause of Mahomet's
relinquishing the enterprize, after several
attempts to cleanse it, in which he was
boldly attacked, and forced to retire.
Meanwhile, Mahomet had detached thirty
thousand men to enter Italy, by the fords
of Livornia, which being guarded, they
proposed to enter Germany, and accord-
ingly proceeded, horse and foot, over
Alpine mountains almost impracticable,
drawing up or letting down a body of
twelve thousand horse, over the rocks,

656

VENICE.

by means of engines. Determined to
pursue their march, though opposed by
the natives, they began climbing the moun-
tains, by means of hooks and grapples,
the sight of which so terrified the natives,
that they abandoned their posts, and fled.
Peace was soon after concluded u^ith the
Turks ; and war denounced against the
pope, and the duke of Ferrara.

During this war, the Venetian admiral
took Gallipoli, in Avhich enterprize he
lost his life in 1484. He was animating
the troops in the scaladc, praising the
valiant, and upbraiding the backward,
when ho dropt ; his secretary threw a
cloak on his body, and gave out that
Marcello was slightly hurt, and gone to
be dressed ; the assault was persevered
in, and the town was in consequence
taken.

About 1508, war was declared by
France against the Venetians ; the pro-
gress of the confederates was rapid, and
the republic was plunged into the deepest
distress. At this period, a circumstance,
attested by all historians, reflects great
honor on the Venetians. They refused
the assistance off'ered them by the grand
seignior; and, though reduced to the ut-
most extremity, resolved to suff'er every
distress, rather than give their ancient
enemies, the infidels, a footing in Italy.
Such a noble spirit was alone wanting ;
the siege of Padua was quickly raised,
and the Venetians recotered Vicenza.
At last, however, Padua, distracted by
differences among the leading citizens,
was surrendered to the emperor, but,
soon after, recovered. The Venetian
general, Gritti, having conveyed some
choice troops into wagons covered with
straw, under pretence that they were a
convoy of provisions, seized upon a gate
of the city, and pursuing his advantage,
got possession of Padua. The Imperi-
alists made a vigorous defence ; but
Gritti, joined by the greater part of the
inhabitants, totally defeated them, making
near two thousand prisoners. Thus the
republic once more became possessed of
the most valuable city she had upon the
continent. A treaty was, soon after,
entered into between the pope and the
Venetians, and the league was broken,
in J511.

Soon after the promotion, of Pietro
Lando,the seventy-eighth doge, the Turks
attacked and took Castelnuovo, and peace
was concluded with Solyman, in 1541.
But the Venetians were involved in dis-
putes with Ferdinand and the empire ;
the seizure of Maran maybe deemed the
foundation of a future bloody war. Bar-
barossa was, at this time, ravaging the
coast of Italy with a fleet of near two
hundred sail. He took Reggio, but gave
liberty to the prisoners, at the instance
of Polin, the French enA'oy, who accom-
panied him. The terror of the Turkish
arms had spread itself all over Italy, nor
was Rome itself free from apprehensions.
But Polin sent assurances, and dispersed
proclamations round the country, that his
incursions should be confined wholly to
the imperial dominions.

An event of some importance fell out
towards the end of the year 1 545 ; name-
ly, a controversy with the Porte, con-
cerning some districts in Dalmatia, which
both sides claimed. The Sangiacs of
Bosnia and Clissa insisted that a part of
the territory of Zary, containing forty-
nine villages, was really a dependency
upon the fortresses of Nadin and Laurena,
belonging to Solyman. The senate had
recourse to the justice of Solyman ; nor
had they reason to repent of this mea-
sure ; with a moderation and integrity
becoming those who call themselves
Christian princes, this great man ordered
commissioners on both sides to be appoint-
ed, insisting upon their determining the
dispute according to equity, without re-
gard to power. The commissioners met,
and soon adjudged the lands in dispute
to the Venetians, with which award
Solyman was perfectly well satisfied.

Under the government of Marco Fos-
carini, the dey of Algiers made some ex-
traordinary demands upon the republic
of Venice ; among the rest, besides the
payment of an exorbitant sum of money,
he insisted that his corsairs should have
free liberty to cruise in the gulf of Ven-
ice, and to take the ships of any nation
with whom he was not bound by treaty ;
with this extraordinary condition annex-
ed, that if any of his 'cruisers should
happen to be taken, the republic should
repair the loss in ready money. These

VENICE.

657

dishonorable proposals were refused,
with a proper disdain, by the senate ; and
as the dey of Algiers had broken the
peace, they equipped a squadron of men
of war, which they despatched to Al-
giers, in 1767, under the command of
admiral Emo, to bring him to reason.
The dey continued obstinate ; upon which
the admiial, according to his orders, im-
mediately declared war against him, and
sailed out of the harbor to fulfd his in-
structions, which were to block up the
port, and destroy all the Algerine corsairs
he could meet with. These vigorous
resolutions soon brought the dey to tem-
per, and indeed to a submission as mean
as his demands had been insolent ; he
found himself under a necessity of having
recourse to the mediation of the British
consul, to obtain a renewal of the peace
upon the original terms.

In the year 1789, Luigi Manino, the
last doge, succeeded Riniero in the ducal
chair. During his government, nothing
important occurred till the invasion of
Italy by the French. At that time, the
Venetians, in order to check the progress
of the republicans, put Peschiera into
the hands of the Imperialists ; but Bona-
part quickly becoming master of all Italy,
they trembled at the progress of his vic-
torious arms.

Like the other natives of that country,
the Venetians harbored a dislike to the
French, induced by the difference of
their character and manners. But the
political antipathy of the Venetians was
still greater than their national dislike.
The conquest of the French had render-
ed them the arbiters of the fate of all
Italy. The former importance of the
sovereignty of the states of that country
had totally disappeared, and they alone
gave the law. This was peculiarly mor-
tifying to a state that stood upon a foot-
ing of equality with any other in Italy,
and of superiority to most. The Vene-
tians, therefore, waited with anxiety for
a change of fortune in favor of the Aus-
trians, whose neighborhood they had long
experienced to be much less dangerous
than that of the French. In the mean
time, they rendered many good offices to
the former, and clearly manifested a par-
tiality to them, which did not escape the
83

notice of Bonaparte, who gave sufficient
indications that he would remember it in
due time.

At last the Austrian army was forced
to leave the territories of Venice, and
take refuge in the hereditary states. As
soon as the French had penetrated into
these, the Venetians began to look upon
them as entangled in straits, from which
they could not easily extricate them-
selves. A report was also universally
circulated, that the French were on the
point of laying down their arms, and that
nothing was wanting, to render victory
over them complete, but a general co-op-
eration on the part of the Venetian gov-
ernment. An opportunity now offered to
intercept the communication between
Bonaparte and his posts in Italy. For
this purpose, forty thousand of the Vene-
tian peasantry were armed, and embodied
with ten regiments of Sclavonians. They
were posted on all the roads, and the con-
voys to the French army were every
where stopped.

In the mean time, the hatred of the
Venetians burst forth in the most out-
rageous manner. Those pessons who
had behaved kindly to the French, were
treated as enemies of the state, and put
under arrest ; and none but their declar-
ed adversaries entrusted with any au-
thority. In all places of public resort,
the French were insulted and reviled in
the grossest terms. They were expelled
from the city of Venice, and at Padua,
Vicenza,and Verona, the inhabitants were
ordered to take up arms against them.

These transactions were made the
subject of a manifesto issued by Bonaparte
on the third of May, in which he direct-
ed the French resident at Venice to quit
that city, and ordered the agents of the
Venetian republic in Lombardy, and in
its provinces on the main land, to leave
them in twenty-four hours. He com-
manded his officers and troops to treat
those of Venice as enemies, and to pull
down, in every town, the lion of St. Mark,
the arms of the Venetian republic. In
consequence of this manifesto, the French
troops overran and subjugated, in a few
days, all the Venetian dominions. The
Veronese, whose conduct to the French
had been remarkably atrocious, were con

658

EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS.

demned to an exemplary punishment.
Some thousands of the peasants, who
attempted to oppose the French, were
put to the sword. The Sclavoriians, who
had come to their assistance, were rout-
ed, and fled to a fort filled with their
powder and ammunition ; but it was
blown up by the cannon of the French,
and they were all destroyed. Another
engagement took place before the walls
of Verona, and the Venetians fought
with great fury ; but they were defeated
with vast slaughter, and the place com-
pelled to surrender.

The Venetian senate, despairing of be-
ing able to make any effectual resistance,
formally submitted to the French com-
mander, and consented to deliver up
those persons who had been instrumen-
tal in the atrocities of which the French
complained. On the 16th of May, in
1797, the French took possession of the
city of Venice, where a provisional gov-
ernment was established on the republi-
can plan. The press was declared free,
persons and property secure, and religion
left on its former footing. The only
seizures, made in the name of the French

government, were of tne arsenal and its
contents, with the shipping that belonged
to the state.

Thus fell, after a splendid existence
of fourteen centuries, the celebrated re-
public of Venice. No modern state had
risen from such small beginnings to a
situation of equal prosperity. It was
with sincere regret that every nation in
Europe beheld its fall. The celebrity
it had long enjoyed, on a multiplicity of
accounts, interested every one in its pre-
servation. Without inquiring how far
the French could claim a right to doom
it so immercifully to destruction, they
only considered that it had subsisted
with honor to the present period, and had
maintained its reputation imimpaired
amidst a variety of dangers and trials,
that had sometimes, reduced it to the
last extremity. The political world saw
with concern the fatal hour arrive, that
was to deprive it of the place it had so
long and so honorably held among the
nations of Europe. By the treaty of Cam-
po Formio, Venice, with most of its de-
pendencies, was ceded to the emperor
of Germany.

EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS

It was thought advisable to insert the following articles, not exclusively belonging to the history
of any country, in the order which follows.

This singular sect (from which the fa-
miliar term assassin is derived) was form-
ed in the eleventh century, the object of
which was to expel the Mahometan reli-
gion and government by establishing an
empire of their own.

The founder of this society, that for more
than a century and a half filled Asia with
terror and dismay, was the celebrated
Hassan Ben Sahab, who was one of
those characters that appear from time
to time in the world, as if sent to oper-
ate some great change in the destinies of
mankind.

Having strengthened himself by a
large number of followers, Hassan look-
ed about for some strong position as a
centre from which he might gradually

extend his possessions ; and he fixed his
eye upon the hill-fort of Alamoot, in
Persia, situated in the district of Roodbar,
to the north of Kasveen. Alamoot was
gained partly by force and partly by
stratagem : he first sent thither one of
his most trusty missionaries, who con-
verted a great number of the inhabitants,
and with their aid expelled the governor.
In possession of a strong fortress,
Hassan turned his mind to the organiza-
tion of that band of followers whose
daggers were to spread the dread and
the terror of his power throughout Asia.
Experience and reflection had shown
him that the many could never be gov-
erned by the few without the salutary
curb of religion and morality; that a

EMPIRE OF THE ASSASSINS

659

system of impiety, though it might serve
to overturn, was not calculated to main-
tain and support a throne ; and his ob-
ject was now to establish a fixed and
lasting dominion. Though he had been
long satisfied of the nothingness of reli-
gion, he determined to maintain among
his followers the religion of Islam in all
its rigor. The most exact and minute
observances of even its most trivial or-
dinances was to be required from those
who, generally unknown to themselves,
were banded for its destruction ; and the
veil of mystery, whhin which few were
permitted to enter, shrouded the secret
doctrine from the eyes of the major part
of the society. The claims of Ismail
(a Mahometan devotee), the purity of re-
ligion were ostensibly advanced ; but
the rise of Hassan Sahab, and the down-
fall of all religion, were the real objects
of those who directed the machinery.

The Ismailite doctrine had hitherto
been disseminated by missionaries and
companions alone. Heads without hands
were of no avail in the eyes of Hassan ;
it was necessary to have a third class,
which, ignorant of the secret doctrine,
would be the blind and willing instru-
ments of the designs of their superiors.
This class were named the Fedavee or
Devoted, were clothed in white, with
red bonnets or girdles, and armed with
daggers. These were the men who,
reckless of their lives, executed the
bloody mandates of the Sheikhel Jebel,
the title assumed by Hassan. As a
proof of the fanaticism that Hassan con-
trived to instil into his followers, we give
the following instance.

In the year 1126, Kasim-ed-devlet
Absoncor, the brave prince of Mosul,
was, as he entered the mosque, attacked
by eight assassins disguised as dervises ;
he killed three, and the rest, with the
exception of one young man, were mas-
sacred by the people ; but the prince
had received his death wound. When
the news spread that Kasim-ed-devlet
had fallen by the hand of the assassins,
the mother of the young man who had
escaped painted and adorned herself, re-
joicing that her son had been found wor-
thy to offer up his life in support of the
good cause ; but when he came back the

only survivor, she cut off her hair and
blackened her face, through grief that
he had not shared the death of glory.

A display of the means by which the
chief of the assassins succeeded in in-
fusing this spirit of strong faith and de-
votion into his followers, forms an inter-
esting chapter in the history of man.

Of those who fell in executing the or-
ders of their superiors, it was said, that
the gates of paradise were unfolded, and
that they entered into the enjoyment of
the ivory palace, the silken robe, and the
black-eyed houries ; and to increase their
longing after the joys of paradise, and a
disregard of earthly existence, Hassan
made use of the following means : —
There was at Alamoot, and also at Ma-
siat, in Syria, a delicious garden, encom-
passed with lofty walls, adorned with
trees and flowers of every kind — with
murmuring brooks and translucent lakes,
with bowers of roses and treUices of
vines — airy halls and splendid kiosks,
furnished with the carpets of Persia,
and the silks of Byzantium. Beautiful
maidens and blooming boys were the in-
habitants of this delicious spot, which
ever resounded with the melody of birds,
the murmur of streams, and the ravish-
ing tones of voices and instruments ; all
respired contentment and pleasure. —
When the chief had noticed any youth
to be distinguished for strength and reso-
lution, he invited him to a banquet, where
he placed him beside himself, conversed
with him on the happiness reserved for
the faithful, and contrived to administer
an intoxicating draught prepared from the
hyoscyamus. While insensible, he was
conveyed into the garden of delight, and
there awakened by the application of
vinegar. On opening his eyes, all par-
adise met his view ; the black-eyed and
green-robed houries surrounded him, obe-
dient to his wishes ; sweet music filled
his ears ; the richest viands were served
up in the most costly vessels ; and the
choicest wines sparkled in the golden
cups. The fortunate youth believed
himself really in the paradise of the
prophet, and the language of his attend-
ants confirmed the delusion. When he
I had his fill of enjoyment, and nature was
[yielding to exhaustion, the opiate was

660

BUCCANEERS.

again administered, and the sleeper trans-
ported back to the side of the chief, to
whom he communicated what had passed,
■who assured him of the truth and reaUty
of all he had experienced, telling him
such was the bliss reserved for the obe-
dient servants of the Imaum, and enjoin-
ing at the same time the strictest secrecy.
Ever after, the rapturous vision possessed
the imagination of the deluded enthusi-
ast, and he panted for the hour when
death, received in obeying the commands
of his superiors, should dismiss him to
the bowers of paradise.

The power of Hassan soon began to
display itself. By force or by treachery,
the castles or hill-forts of Persia fell one
after another into his hands. A bloody
period ensued ; the doctors of the Ma-
hometan law ex-communicated the adhe-

rents of Hassan, and the sultan, Meiek
Shah, directed his generals to reduce
their fortresses; the daggers of the as-
sassins were displayed against the swords
of the orthodox Mahometans, and the first
victim to Hassan's revenge was the great
and good Nizara-ul-mulk, who fell by the
dagger of a Fedavee. His death was fol-
lowed by that of his master, not without
strong suspicion of poison. "The gov-
ernments were arrayed in open enmity
against the order, and heads fell like an
abundant harvest, beneath the two-fold
sickle of assassination and the sword of
justice."

After a reign of thirty-five years, Has-
san Sahab saw his power extended over
a great portion of the Mahometan world,
which continued under his successors till
they were overthrown by the Tartars.

BUCCANEERS,

After the failure of the mines of His-
paniola, which were never rich, and the
conquest of the two extensive empires of
Mexico and Peru, where the pi'ecious
metals were found in the greatest profu-
sion, that valuable island was neglected
by the Spaniards. The greater part of
its once flourishing cities were deserted
by their inhabitants, and the few planters
that remained sunk into the most enerva-
ting indolence. The necessaries, how-
ever, and even the luxuries of life, were
there found in abundance. All the Euro-
pean animals had multiplied exceedingly,
but especially the horned cattle, which
were become in a manner wild, and wan-
dered about in large droves, without any
regular owner. Allured by these con-
A'eniences, certain French and English
adventurers, since known by the name of
Buccaneers or Freebooters, had taken
possession of the small island of Tortuga,
as early as the year 1632, and found little
difficulty, under such favorable circum-
stances, of establishing themselves on
the northern coast of Hispaniola. They
at first subsisted chiefly by the hunting of
wild cattle. Part of the beef they aie

fresh, part they dried, and the hides they
sold to the masters of such vessels as
came upon the coast, and who furnished
them, in return, with clothes, liquors,
fire-arms, powder, and shot.* But the
wild cattle at length becoming scarce,
the Buccaneers were under the necessity
of turning their industry to other objects.
The sober-minded men applied them-
selves to the cultivation of the ground,
which abundantly requited their toil,
while those of a bold and restless dispo-
sition associated themselves with pirates
and outlaws of all nations, and formed
the most terrible band of ravagers that
ever infested the ocean. To these rava-

* The dress of the Baccaneers consisted of a
shirt dipped in the blood of the animals they had
slain ; a pair of trowsers, dirtier than the shirt ;
a leathern girdle, from which hung a short sabre,
and some Dutch knives ; a hat without any rim,
except a flap before, in order to enable them to
pull it off; shoes made of raw hides, but no
stockings. {Hist. Gen. des Voyages, torn. xv.
liv. vii.) These barbarous men, the outcasts of
civil society, were denominated Buccaneers, be-
cause they dried with smoke, conformable to the
custom of the savages, part of the flesh of the
cattle they had killed, in places denominated
buccans in the language of the natives. Id. ibid.

BUCCANEERS.

661

Attack of the Buccaneers.

gers, however, rendered famous by their
courage and their crimes, France and
England are indebted, in some measure,
for the prosperity of their settlements in
the West Indies.

Nothing could appear less formidable
than the first armaments of the piratical
Buccaneers, who took the name of Bro-
thers of the Coast. Having formed them-
selves, like the hunters of wild cattle,
into small societies, they made their ex-
cursions in an open boat, which generally
contained between twenty and thirty
men, exposed to all the intemperature of
the climate ; to the burning heat of the
day, and the chilling damps of the night.
The natural inconveniencies, connected
with this mode of life, were augmented
by those arising from their licentious
disposition.

A love of freedom, which duly regu-
lated, cannot be too much cherished, ren-
dered the Buccaneers averse against all
those restraints, which civilized men
usually impose on each other for their
common happiness ; and as the authority
which they had conferred on their cap-
tain, was chiefly confined to giving orders
in battle, they lived in the greatest disor-
der. Like savages, having no appre-

hension of want, nor taking any care to
guard against famine by prudent econo-
my, they were frequently exposed to all
the extremities of hunger and thirst. But
deriving, even from their distresses, a
courage superior to every danger, the
sight of a sail transported them to a de-
gree of frenzy. They seldom deliberated
on the mode of attack, but their custom
was to board the ships as soon as possi-
ble. The smallness of their own vessels,
and their dexterity in managing them,
preserved them from the fire of the ene-
my. They presented only to the broad-
side of a ship, their slender prows, filled
with expert marksmen, who fired at the
enemy's port-holes with such exactness,
as to confound the most experienced
gunners. And when they could fix their
grappling tackle, the largest trading ves-
sels were generally obliged to strike.

Although the Buccaneers, when under
the pressure of necessity, attacked the
ships of every nation, those belonging to
the subjects of Spain were more espe-
cially marked out as the objects of their
piracy. They thought that the cruelties,
which the Spaniards had exercised on
the natives of the New World, were a
sufficient apology for any violence that

662

BUCCANEERS,

could be committed against them. Ac-
commodating their conscience to this
belief, which, perhaps, unknown to them-
selves, was rather dictated by the rich-
ness of the Spanish vessels than by any
real sense of religion or equity, they never
embarked in an expedition without pub-
licly praying to heaven for its success ;
nor did they ever return loaded with booty,
without solemnly returning thanks to God
for their good fortune.

This booty was originally carried to
the island of Tortuga, the common ren-
dezvous of the Buccaneers, and then
their only place of safety. But afterward
the French went to some of the ports of
Hispaniola, where they had established
themselves in defiance of the Spaniards,
and the English to those of Jamaica,
where they could dispose of their prizes
to more advantage, and lay out their mon-
ey more agreeably, either in business or
pleasure.

Before the distribution of the spoil,
each adventurer held up his hand, and
protested he had secreted nothing of
what he had taken ; and if any one was
convicted of perjury, a case that seldom
occurred, he was punished in a manner
truly exemplary, and worthy the imitation
of better men. He was expelled the
community, and left, as soon as an op-
portunity ofljored,upon some desert island,
as a wretch unworthy to live in society,
even with the destroyers of their species !

After providing for the sick, the wound-
ed, the maimed, and settling their several
shares, the Buccaneers indulged them-
selves in all kinds of licentiousness.
Their debauches, which they carried to
the greatest excess, were limited only by
the want that such prodigality occasioned.
If they were asked, what satisfaction
they could find in dissipating so rapidly,
what they had earned with so much jeop-
ardy, they made this very ingenious reply:
" Exposed as we are to a variety of per-
ils, our life is totally different from that
of other men. Why should we, who are
alive to-day, and run the hazard of being
dead to-morrow, think of hoarding ? stu-
dious only of enjoying the present hour,
we never think of that which is to come."
This has ever been the language of men
in such circumstances ; the desire of dis-

sipating life, not solicitude for the pre-
servation of existence, seems to increase
in proportion to the danger of losing it.

The ships that sailed from Europe to
America seldom tempted the avidity of
the first Buccaneers, as the merchandise
they carried could not readily have been
sold in the West Indies in those early
times. But they eagerly watched the
Spanish vessels on their return to Europe,
when certain they were partly laden with
treasure. They commonly followed the
galleons and flota, employed in transport-
ing the produce of the mines of Mexico
and Peru, as far as the channel of Baha-
ma ; and if, by any accident, a ship was
separated from the fleet, they instantly
beset her, and she seldom escaped them.
They even ventured to attack several
ships at once; and the Spaniards, who
considered them as demons, and trembled
at their approach, commonly surrendered,
if they came to close quarters.

A remarkable instance of this timidity
on the one side, and temerity on the other,
occurs in the history of Peter Legrand, a
native of Dieppe, in Normandy ; who,
with a small vessel, carrying no more
than twenty-eight men, and four guns,
had the boldness to attack the vice-admi-
ral of the galleons. Resolved to conquer
or die, and having exacted an oath to the
same purpose from his crew, he ordered
the carpenter to bore a hole in the side
of his own vessel, that all hope of escape
might be cut ofi". This was no sooner
done than he boarded the Spanish ship,
with a sword in one hand and a pistol in
the other ; and bearing down all resis-
tance, entered the great cabin, attended
by a few of the most desperate of his as-
sociates. He there found the admiral
surrounded by his officers; presented a
pistol to his breast, and ordered him to
surrender. Meanwhile the rest of the
Buccaneers took possession of the gun-
room, and seized the arms. Struck with
terror and amazement, the Spaniards de-
manded quarter. Like examples are nu-
merous in the history of the Buccaneers.

The Spaniards, almost reduced to de-
spair by finding themselves a continual
prey to those ravagers, diminished the
number of their ships, and the colonies
gave up their connexions with each other

BUCCANEERS.

663

These humiliating precautions, however,
served but to increase the boldness of
the Buccaneers. They had hitherto in-
vaded the Spanish settlements only to
procure provisions ; but no sooner did
they find their captures decrease, than
they determined to procure by land, that
wealth which the sea denied them. They
accordingly formed themselves into large
bodies, and plundered many of the richest
and strongest towns in the New World.
Maracaybo, Campeachy, Vera Cruz,
Porto Bello, and Carthagena, on this
side of the continent, severely felt the
effects of their fury ; and Quayaquil,
Panama, and many other places on the
coasts of the South Sea, were not more
fortunate in their resistance, or treated
with greater lenity. In a word, the Buc-
caneers, the most extraordinary set of
men that ever appeared upon the face of
the globe, but whose duration was tran-
sitory, subjected to their arms, without a
regular system of government, without
laws, without any permanent subordina-
tion, and even without revenue, cities and
castles which have baffled the utmost
efforts of national force ; and if conquest,
not plunder, had been their object, they
might have made themselves masters of
all Spanish America.

Among the Buccaneers who first ac-
quired distinction in this new mode of
plundering, was Montbars, a gentleman
of Languedoc. Having by chance, in
his infancy, met with a circumstantial,
and perhaps exaggerated account of the
cruelties practised by the Spaniards in
the conquest of the New World, he con-
ceived a strong antipathy against a nation
that had committed so many enormities.
His heated imagination, which he loved
to indulge, continually represented to him
innumerable multitudes of innocent peo-
ple, murdered by a brood of savage mon-
sters nursed in the mountains of Castile.
The unhappy victims, whose names were
ever present to his memory, seemed to
call upon him for vengeance ; he longed
to imbrue his hands in Spanish blood, and
to retaliate the cruelties of the Spaniards
on the same shores where they had been
perpetrated. He accordingly embarked
on board a French ship bound to the
West Indies, about the middle of the

' last century, and joined the Buccaneers,
I whose natural ferocity he inflamed.
I Humanity in him became the source of
' the most unfeeling barbarity. The Span-
iards suffered so much from his fury, that
' he acquired the name o{ the Exterminator.
Michael de Basco and Francis Lolo-
nois were also greatly renowned for their
exploits, both by sea and land. Their
most important, though not their most
fortunate enterprise, was that of the Gulf
of Venezuela, with eight vessels, and six
hundred and sixty associates. This gulf
runs a considerable way up into the coun-
try, and communicates with the lake of
Maracaybo, by a narrow strait. That
strait is defended by a castle called la
Barra, which the Buccaneers took, and
nailed up the cannon, in 1667. They
then passed the bar, and advanced to the
city of Maracaybo, built on the western
coast of the lake, at the distance of about
ten leagues from its mouth. But,to their
inexpressible disappointment, they found
it utterly deserted and unfurnished ; the
inhabitants, apprised of their danger, hav-
ing removed to the other side of the lake
with their most valuable eflects.

If the Buccaneers had not spent a
fortnight in riot and debauchery, they
would have found at Gibraltar, a town
near the extremity of the lake, every
thing which the people of Maracaybo had
carried off, in order to elude their rapaci-
ty. On the contrary, by their imprudent
delay, they met with fortifications newly
erected, which they had the glory of re-
ducing at the expense of much blood, and
the mortification of finding another empty
town. Exasperated at this second dis-
appointment, the Buccaneers set fire to
Gibraltar ; and Maracaybo would have
shared the same fate, had it not been
ransomed. Beside the bribe they re-
ceived for their lenity, they took with
them the bells, images, and all ihe orna-
mental furniture of the churches ; intend-
ing, as they said, to build a chapel in the
I island of Torluga, and to consecrate that
part of their spoils to sacred uses. Like
other plunderers of more exalted charac-
: ter, they had no idea of the absurdity of
: offering to Heaven the fruits of robbery
j and murder, procured in direct violation
of its laws.

664

BUCCANEERS.

But of all the Buccaneers, French or
English, none was so uniformly success-
ful, or executed so many great and daring
enterprises, as Henry Morgan, a native
of the principality of Wales. While de
Basco, Lolonois, and their companions,
were squandering at Tortuga the spoils
they had acquired in the gulf of Vene-
zuela, Morgan, in 1668, sailed from Ja-
maica to attack Porto Bello ; and his
measures were so well concerted, that
soon after his landing, he surprised the
centinels, and made himself master of the
town, before the Spaniards could put
themselves in a posture of defence.

In hopes of reducing with the same
facility the citadel, or chief castle, into
which the citizens had conveyed their
most valuable property, and all the plate
belonging to the churches, Morgan be-
thought himself of an expedient that dis-
covers his knowledge of national charac-
ters as well as of human nature in gene-
ral. He compelled the priests, nuns, and
other women, whom he had made prison-
ers, to plant the scaling ladders against
the walls of the fortress, from a persua-
sion that the gallantry and superstition of
the Spaniards would not suffer them to
fire on the objects of their love and vene-
ration. But he found himself deceived
in this flattering conjecture. The Span-
ish governor, who was a resolute soldier,
used his utmost efforts to destroy every
one that approached the works. Morgan
and his English associates, however,
carried the place by storm, in spite of all
opposition; and found in it, besides a
vast quantity of rich merchandise, bullion
and specie equivalent to one hundred
thousand pounds sterling.

With this booty Morgan and his crew
returned to Jamaica, where he immedi-
ately planned a new enterprise. Under-
standing that de Basco and Lolonois had
been disappointed in the promised plun-
der of Maracaybo, by their imprudent
delay, he resolved, from emulation no
less than avidity, to surprise that place.
With this view, he collected fifteen A'es-
sels, carrying nine hundred and sixty
men. In 1669, these ravagers entered
the gulf of Venezuela unobserved, silen-
ced the fort that defends the passage to
the lake of Maracaybo, and found the

town, as formerly, totally deserted. But
they were so fortunate as to discover the
chief citizens, and the greater part of
their wealth, in the neighboring woods.
Not satisfied, however, with this booty,
Morgan proceeded to Gibraltar, which
he found in the same desolate condition ;
and while he was attempting, by the
most horrid cruelties, to extort from such
of the inhabitants as had been seized, a
discovery of their hidden treasures, he
was informed of the arrival of three Span-
ish men-of-war at the entrance of the lake.

At this intelligence, which was con-
firmed by a boat despatched to reconnoitre
the enemy, the heart of the bravest Buc-
caneer sunk within him. But although
Morgan considered his condition as des-
perate, his presence of mind did not for-
sake him. Concealing his apprehensions,
he sent a letter to Don Alonzo del Cam-
po, the Spanish admiral, boldly demand-
ing a ransom for the city of Maracaybo.
The admiral's answer was resolute, and
excluded all hope of working upon his
fears. "I am come," said he, "to dis-
pute your passage out of the lake ; and I
have the means of doing it. Neverthe-
less, if you will submit to surrender, with
humility, all the booty and prisoners you
have taken, I will suffer you to pass, and
permit you to return to your own country,
without trouble or molestation. But if
you reject this offer, or hesitate to comply,
I will order boats from Caracas, in which
I will embark my troops ; and, sailing to
Maracaybo, will put every man of you to
the sword. This is my final determina-
tion. Be prudent therefore, and do not
abuse my bounty by an ungrateful return.
I have with me," added he, " very good
troops, who desire nothing more ardently
than to revenge on you and your people,
all the cruelties and depredations which
you have committed upon the Spanish
nation in America."

The moment Morgan received this let-
ter, he called together his followers ; and,
after acquainting them with its contents,
desired them to deliberate, whether they
would give up all their plunder in order
to secure their Hberty, or fight for it ? — •
They unanimously answered, that they
would rather lose the last drop of their
blood, than resign a booty which had

BUCCANEERS.

665

been purchased with so much peril.
Morgan, however, sensible of his dan-
gerous situation, endeavored to compro-
mise the matter, but in vain. The Span-
ish admiral continued to insist on his first
conditions. When Morgan was made
acquainted with this inflexibility, he
coolly replied : " If Don Alonzo will not
allow me to pass, I will find means to
pass without his permission." He ac-
cordingly made a division of the spoil,
that each man might have his own pro-
perly to defend; and having filled a ves-
sel, which he had taken from the enemy,
with preparations of gunpowder and other
combustible materials, he gallantly pro-
ceeded to the mouth of the lake ; burnt
two of the Spanish ships, took one ; and
by making a feint of disembarking men,
in order to attack the fort by land, he
diverted the attention of the garrison to
that side, while he passed the bar with
his whole fleet, on the other, without re-
ceiving any damage.

The success of Morgan, like that of
all ambitious leaders, served only to stim-
ulate him to yet greater undertakings.
In 1 670, having disposed of his booty at
Port Royal in Jamaica, he again put to sea
with a larger fleet, and a more numerous
body of adventurers ; and after reducing
the island of St. Catharine, where he
procured a supply of naval and military
stores, he steered for the river Chagre,
the only channel that could conduct him
to Panama, the grand object of his arma-
ment. At the mouth of this river, stood
a strong castle, built upon a rock, and de-
fended by a good garrison, which threat-
ened to baflle all the eflTorts of the Buc-
caneers ; when an arrow, shot from the
bow of an Indian, lodged in the eye of
one of those resolute men. "With won-
derful firmness and presence of mind, he
pulled the arrow from the wound ; and
wrapping one of its ends in tow, put it
into his musket, which was already load-
ed, and discharged it into the fort, where
the roofs of the houses were of straw,
and the sides of wood, conformable to the
custom of building in that country. The
burning arrow fell on the roof of one of
the houses, which immediately took fire ;
a circumstance that threw the Spanirads
into the utmost consternation, as they
84

were afraid, every moment, of perishing
by the rapid approach of the flames, or
the blowing up of the powder-magazine.
After the death of the governor, who
bravely perished with his sword in his
hand, at the head of a few determined
men, the place surrendered to the as-
sailants.

This chief obstacle being removed,
Morgan and his associates, leaving the
larger vessels under a guard, sailed up
the Chagre in boats to Cruces, and thence
proceeded by land to Panama. On the
Savana, a spacious plain before the city,
the Spaniards made several attemps to
repulse the ferocious invaders, but with-
out effect: the Buccaneers gained a de-
cided superiority in every encounter.
Foreseeing the overthrow of their milita-
ry protectors, the unarmed inhabitants
sought refuge in the woods ; so that
Morgan took quiet possession of Panama,
and deliberately pillaged it for some days.

But Morgan met at Panama with what
he valued no less than his rich booty. A
fair captive inflamed his savage heart
with love ; and, finding all his solicita-
tions ineffectual, as neither his person
nor character was calculated to inspire
the object of his passion with favorable
sentiments towards him, he resolved to
second his assiduities with a seasonable
mixture of force. " Stop, ruffian !" cried
she, as she wildly sprung from his arras ;
"stop! thinkest thou that thou canst
ravish from me mine honor, as thou hast
wrested from me my fortune and my
liberty? No! be assured, that my soul
shall sooner be separated from this body :"
and she drew a poniard from her bosom,
which she would have plunged into his
heart, if he had not avoided the blow.*

Enraged at such a return to his fond-

*The Spanish ladies, however, as we learn
from the freebooter Raveneau tie Luffan, were
not all possessed of the same inflexible virtue.
The Buccaneers had been represented to them
as devils, as cannibals, and beings who were des-
titute even of the human form. They accord-
ingly trembled at the very name of those plun-
derers. But, on a nearer approach, they found
them to be men, and some of them handsome
fellows. And in this, as in all cases, where they
have been abused by false representations of our
sex, the women flew into the opposite extreme,
as soon as they were undeceived ; -and clasped in
their amorous arms the murderers of their hus-

666

CELTS.

ness, Morgan threw this virtuous beauty
into a loathsome dungeon, and endeavor-
ed to break her spirit by severities. But
his followers becoming clamorous, at
being kept so long in a state of inactivity
by a caprice which they could not com-
prehend, he was obliged to listen to their
importunities, and give up his amorous
pursuit. As a prelude to their return,
the booty was divided ; and Morgan's
own share, in the pillage of this expedi-
tion, is said to have amounted to one
hundred thousand pounds sterling. He
carried all his vvealth to Jamaica, and
never afterwards engaged in any pirati-
cal enterprise.

The defection of Morgan, and several
other principal leaders, who sought and
found an asylum in the bosom of that
civil society, whose laws they had so

atrociously violated, together with the
total separation of the English and
French Buccaneers, in consequence of
the war between the two nations, which
followed the Revolution in 1 688, broke the
force of those powerful plunderers. In
1690, the king of Spain being then in alli-
ance with England, she repressed the pira-
cies of her subjects in the West Indies.
The French Buccaneers continued their
depredations, and with no small success,
till the peace of Ryswick in 1697; when
all differences between France and Spain
having been adjusted, a stop was every
where put to hostilities, and not only the
association, but the very name of this
extraordinary set of men soon became
extinct. They were insensibly lost
among the other European inhabitants of
the West Indies.

CELTS.

The Celts were an ancient people in-
habiting, according to the earliest histori-
cal notices, the western parts of Europe.

It appears now to be generally admitted,
that they were a peculiar people, distin-
guished by many remarkable particulars
from the Scythians or Goths, with whom
they have been often confounded. The
distinction, however, between the nations
alhided to, has not been admitted without
a full and elaborate discussion of the sub-
ject. The points supposed to be estab-
lished by Mr. Pinkerton and other learned
critics, are the following : 1 . At a period,
probably as early as the year 1400 A. C.
the Scythians had pushed themselves
from the vicinity of the river Araxis
westwards and northwards, over a
considerable part of Europe. 2. The
Scythians were afterwards mentioned
in history under the names of Getae,
Gothi, and Germini ; but whether distin-
guished by these names, or by the more

bands and brothers. Charmed with the ardor
of a band of adventurers, whose every passion
was in excess, they did not part, without tears
of agony, from the warm embrace of their pirati-
cal paramours, to return into the cool paths of
common life. Voy. des FliJMst. chap, iv, v.

comprehensive appellation of Scythae, the
people thus distinguished were one and
the same. 3. With regard to the Celts,
the earliest notices would lead us to place
them abouttheyearSOOA.C.inthe neigh-
borhood of the Pyrenees, whence they
were driven by the Germans or the Goths
on the east, and the Aquitani, probably an
Iberian race, on the south, into that part
of Gaul where they were found in the lime
of Ca;sar. 4. That the inhabitants of
the Highlands of Scotland, and the
Welsh, together with some of the Irish
tribes, are the remains now existing of
the ancient Celts. 5. That when the
Greek and Roman authors used the words
Celtae and Galli, they often refer exclu-
sively to the Belgic Gauls. 6. That
though this is frequently the case, the
distinction is sometimes accurately made
between the Belgic Gauls and the Celtic;
as in the introduction to the first book of
Caesar's Commentaries, where the Belgae
are represented as inhabiting one part of
Gaul, the Aquitani another, and the
Celtae a third.

We may consider the distinction be-
tween the Celts and the Goths as estab

CELTS.

667

lished, 1st, By the difference of their
person ; 2d, By the difference of their
religious belief, and sacred observances;
3d, By the difference of their political
institutions; and, lastly, By the differ-
ence of their language. In pointing out
these differences, almost every thing in-
teresting in the history of the Celts may
be conveniently brought into view.

The Celts were distinguished from the
Scythians, Goths, or Germani, by their
external appearance. They had not the
light hair and blue eyes, which were re-
garded in ancient times as an indication
of a German origin ; nor had they the
lofty stature and large limbs, which are
still considered as characteristic of the
German tribes. It was to their extraordi-
nary appearance and ferocious aspect, as
well as to their barbarous valor, that the
Gauls (of Scythian or Gothic extraction)
were indebted for their victories over the
Romans ; and, before the strength and
discipline of Rome could match the
prowess of these fierce invaders, it was
necessary to familiarize the legions with
the tremendous looks and savage howl-
ing of the Gaulish warriors. On the
other hand, the Celts were a people of
an inferior stature, swarthy in their com-
plexion, with dark eyes, and hair short,
coarse and black. In their external ap-
pearance they seem to have resembled
the Finns and Laplanders of modern
times. History records but little of their
victories and conquests ; and Mr. Pin-
kerton, in frantic declamation, pronounces
them to be radical savages, incapable of
instruction or progress in society.

But if the Celts were distinguished
from the Goths by their external appear-
ance, they were distinguished from them
in a still greater degree, by their religious
belief and their sacred observances.
Among the Celts there existed a hierar-
chy, regularly constituted and estab-
lished : a class of men exercising the
functions of the priesthood, and extend-
ing their authority over every department
of civil life ; clearly marked out, and
separated from the rest of the community,
and enjoying many and exclusive privi-
leges. Our readers will perceive, that
we allude to the Druids. It is univer-
sally acknowledged, that Druidism was

peculiar to the Celts, and that nothing
resembling that extraordinary system was
to be found among the Gothic or Teutonic
tribes. This difference is striking and
fundamental. And the fact, that the
Germans had no Druids, is mentioned by
Caesar as a circumstance completely dis-
criminative of the Celtic and Gothic
nations. It has been affirmed, that the
Druids were not unacquainted with the
great and primary truth of the unity of
the divine nature. But if this was the
case, and if the notion alluded to formed
a part of their secret creed, or what
the Greeks would have called their
isoteric doctrine, we have sufficient au-
thority for maintaining, that they counte-
nanced, at the same time, the belief and
the worship of many gods, as Jupiter,
Mars, Apollo, Mercury, and Minerva, or
beings of heavenly origin and power,
whose attributes and office corresponded
with those of the principal divinities of
Rome. They held likewise the doctrine
of Metempsychosis, or the transmigra-
tion of souls. Of a general receptacle
of spirits, enjoying various degrees of
happiness, or doomed to various measures
of suffering, they appear to have had no
idea. Their notion seems to have been,
that the soul of man is destined to occupy
various bodies in succession ; and that
the alternate transference and residence
of the thinking part were to be continued
for an indefinite length of time, beyond
which the inquiry was not pushed. In
addition to all this, it must be stated, that
the Druids were philosophers. They
had raised their understandings above the
first wants and enjoyments of our species.
They had attempted to pierce into the re-
cesses of nature. Their investigations re-
lated to the constitution of the physical
world, the motion of the heavenly bodies,
the size and figure of the earth, and the
power and purposes of the immortal
gods. Schools of philosophy were es-
tablished among them. What they knew,
they taught the youth committed to their
care. These were generally the sons of
nobles, and persons of distinction. Some
of the pupils spent no fewer than twenty
years under the tuition of the Druidical
college. It was a principal part of their
education, to treasure up in the memory

668

CELTS.

a very great number of verses, in which
the mysteries of science and of religion
were unfolded ; for these ancient mas-
ters of Celtic wisdom, though acquainted
with alphabetical characters, made no
use of them in the schools over which
they presided. Into the schools alluded
to, the vulgar were not permitted to enter.
It seems to be an acknowledged princi-
ple of the Druidical system, to keep the
people in perpetual ignorance ; and we
shall immediately see, that it was a part
of their system, to keep them in a debasing
and pitiable state of political subjection.

In their political institutions likewise,
a considerable difference appears to have
existed between the Gothic and Celtic
tribes. Among these tribes, the state of
the people, regarded as distinct from that
of the privileged orders, seems to have
varied in a most extraordinary degree. In
the one great class of human beings, the
people were free, and valued themselves
upon their liberty ; in the other, they
were doomed to obey, and satisfied with
subjection. Among the Goths and Ger-
mans, every man was a soldier, consult-
ed on occasions of the highest political
importance, and listened to with that at-
tention to which a free man is entitled.
Among the Celts, every man who could
not establish his claim to be ranked with
the Druids or the knights, was a slave ;
his comfort or misery, his life or his
death, depended almost exclusively upon
the will of his master.

Among the Gothic nations, the com-
mencement of what has been called the
feudal system, may easily be traced.
The chief men were possessed of autho-
rity and influence ; but their authority was
exercised within considerable limits, and
their influence subjected to considerable
restraint. In matters of inferior concern,
the decision of the chief was final, but
all affairs of high interest were discussed
and determined by the people at large.
It is to the power of the chiefs thus re-
strained, and to the mode of civil govern-
ment connected with it, that Mr. Pinker-
ton has given the name of the feudal
system in its purity. And according to
the opinion of that learned gentleman,
this feudal system in its purity is care-
fully to be distinguiahed from the latter

feudal system, or that system in its cor-
rupted state. Among the Celts, on the
other hand, while the chiefs commanded
the armies, and were in other respects
not destitute of power, the supreme judi-
cial and even legislative authority ap-
pears to have been engrossed, almost
entirely by the other privileged order, that
of the Druids. The Druids judged in all
controversies, whether public or private,
whether of a civil or of a religious nature.
They ordained and inflicted punishments.
If any one refused to abide by their de-
cision, he was instantly excluded from
the sacred observances ; he became the
subject of a most severe excommunica-
tion; he was held as accursed; he was
avoided as a person on whom the mark
of the divine displeasure had been set ; he
lost all claim to justice, and all title to
protection. In one respect, however,
the two cases, that of the Goths and the
Celts, considered in a political point of
view, may justly be said to agree. In
both the power of the chief was limited;
but among the Gothic tribes, the check
proceeded from the people, the voice of
freemen was raised aloud against oppres-
sion ; while among the Celts the power
of the chief seems to have been nearly
absorbed in that of the Druids, and the
voice of the people, if heard at all, was
noticed, only as a symptom of rebellious
insolence, and marked only to be punished.
The last point of difference between
the Celts and the Goths, is their language.
It is not to be denied, however, that in
ascertaining this point of difference, con-
siderable obstacles present themselves.
It is not easy to procure correct speci-
mens of any ancient language, and even
when correct specimens have been ob-
tained, it is not easy to determine
whether the language be pure. With
the exception of tribes debarred by phy-
sical circumstances, there is, perhaps,
no instance upon record, of a people
living for a very great length of time in
utter seclusion from the rest of the world,
retaining their original language, in all
its purity, and their manners in all their
characteristic features. Intercourse must
always take place, in a greater or less
degree, among contiguous tribes. Their
very hostilities lead to intercourse ; and

CRUSADES.

669

wherever intercourse is supposed, charac-
teristic features, either of language or of
manners, will gradually pass away. Be-
sides, if there be any truth in the opin-
ion of Sir William Jones, that the Celts
and Goths, though differing exceedingly
from one another at the periods to which
the Greek and Roman historians refer,
were nevertheless, originally, or with re-
gard to their present stock, the same
people, we must expect to find the same
elementary words in the speech of both

nations. However diversified in its gen-
eral appearance, the substratum of their
language will be the same ; traces of the
native tongue will be discoverable in
both ; just as in the various languages of
Europe which have been derived from
the Latin, sufficient indications of a com-
mon origin may still be perceived. In
their state of comparative advancement,
however, the language of the Celts ap-
pears to differ very obviously from that
of the Goths.

CRUSADES

■ Croisade, or Crusade, may be applied
to any war undertaken on pretence of de-
fending the cause of religion, but has been
chiefly used for the expeditions of the
Christians against the infidels for the
conquest of Palestine. |

These expeditions lommenced A. D.
1096. The foundation of them was a
superstitious veneration for those places
where our Saviour performed his mira-
cles, and accomplished the work of man's
redemption. Jerusalem had been taken
and Palestine conquered by Omar. This
proved a considerable interruption to the
pilgrims, who flocked from all quarters to
perform their devotions at the holy sepul-
chre. They had, however, still been al-
lowed this liberty, on paying a small tri-
bute to the Saracen caliphs, who were
not much inclined to molest them. But,
in 1064, this city changed its masters.
The Turks took it from the Saracens ;
and being much more fierce and barba-
rous, the pilgrims now found they could
no longer perform their devotions with the
same safety. An opinion was about this
time also prevalent in Europe, which made
these pilgrimages much more frequent
than formerly : it was imagined, that the
1000 years mentioned in Rev. xx. were
fulfilled ; that Christ was soon to make
his appearance in Palestine to judge the
world ; and consequently that journeys to
that country were in the highest degree
meritorious, and even absolutely neces-
sary. The multitudes of pilgrims who

now flocked to Palestine meeting with a
very rough reception from the Turks,
filled all Europe with complaints against
those infidels, who profaned the holy city,
and derided the sacred mysteries of Chris-
tianity even in the place where they were
fulfilled. Pope Gregory VII had formed
a design of uniting all the princes of Chris-
tendom against the Mahometans ; but his
exorbitant encroachments upon the civil
power of princes had created him so
many enemies, and rendered his schemes
so suspicious, that he was not able to
make great progress in his undertaking.
The work was reserved for a meaner in-
strument. Peter, commonly called the
hermit, a native of Amiens in Picardy,
had made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem ;
and being deeply affected with the dan-
gers to which that act of piety now exposed
the pilgrims, as well as with the oppres-
sion under which the eastern Christians
now labored, formed the bold, and, in all
appearance, impracticable design of lead-
ing into Asia, from the farthest extremi-
ties of the West, armies sufficient to sub-
due those potent and warlike nations that
now held the holy land in slavery. He
proposed his scheme to pope Martin II,
who, prudently resolved not to interpose
his authority till he saw a probability of
success, summoned at Placentia a coun-
cil of 4,000 ecclesiastics and 30,000 secu-
lars. As no hall could be found large
enough to contain such a multitude, the
assembly was held in a plain. Here the

670

CRUSADES.

Peter the hermit addressins; the Cnisaders.

pope himself as well as Peter, harangued
the people, representing the dismal situa-
tion of their brethren in the East, and the
indignity offered to the Christian name in
allowing the holy city to remain in the
hands of the infidels. These speeches
were so agreeable to those who heard
them, that the whole multitude suddenly
and violently declared for the war, and
solemnly devoted themselves to perform
this service, which they believed to be
meritorious in the sight of God. But
though Italy seemed to have embraced
the design with ardor, Martin thought it
necessary, in order to obtain perfect suc-
cess, to engage the greater and more war-
like nations in the same enterprise. Hav-
ing, therefore, exhorted Peter to visit the
chief cities and sovereigns of Christen-
dom, he summoned another council at
Clermont in Auvergne. The fame of this
great and pious design being now uni-
versally diffused, procured the attendance
of the greatest prelates, nobles, and prin-
ces ; and when the pope and the hermit
renewed their pathetic exhortations, the
whole assembly, as if impelled by imme-
diate inspiration, exclaimed with one
voice, " It is the will of God !" These
words were deemed so much the effect

of a divine impulse, that they were em-
ployed as the signal of rendezvous and
battle in all future exploits of these ad-
venturers. Men of all ranks now flew to
arms with the utmost ardor, and a cross
was affixed to their right shoulder by all
who enlisted in this holy enterprise. At
this time Europe was sunk in the most
profound ignorance and superstition. The
ecclesiastics had gained the greatest as-
cendant over the human mind ; and the
people who committed the most horrid
crimes and disorders, knew of no other
expiation than the observances imposed
on them by their spiritual pastors. But
amidst the abject superstition which now
prevailed, the military spirit had also uni
versally diffused itself; and, though not
supported by art or discipline, was be-
come the general passion of the nations
governed by the feudal law. All the
great lords possessed the right of peace and
war. They were engaged in continual
hostilities with one another : the open
country was become a scene of outrage
and disorder ; the chies, still mean and
poor, were neither guarded by walls nor
protected by privileges. Every man was
obliged to depend for safety on his own
force, or his private alUances ; and valor

CRUSADES.

671

was the only excellence which was held
in esteem, or gave one man the pre-emi-
nence above another. When all the par-
ticular superstitions, therefore, were here
united in one great object, the ardor for
private hostilities took the same direction ;
" and all Europe," as the princess Anne
Comnena expresses it, " torn from its
foundations, seemed ready to precipitate
itself in one united body upon Asia."

All ranks of men now deeming the
crusades the only road to heaven, were
impatient to open the way with their
swords to the holy city. Nobles, arti-
sans, peasants, even priests, enrolled
their names ; and to decline this service
was branded with the reproach of impie-
ty or cowardice. The nobles were moved
by the romantic spirit of the age, to hope
for opulent establishments in the East,
the chief seat of arts and commerce at
that time. In pursuit of these chimerical
projects, they sold at low prices their an-
cient castles and inheritances, which had
now lost all value in their eyes. The
infirm and aged contributed to the expe-
dition by presents and money, and many
of them attended it in person ; being de-
termined, if possible, to breathe their last
in sight of that city where their Saviour
died for them. Even women, concealing
their sex under the disguise of armor, at-
tended the camp ; and often forgot their
duty still more, by prostituting themselves
to the army. The greatest criminals were
forward in a service which they consid-
ered as an expiation for all crimes ; and
the most enormous disorders were during
the course of these expeditions commit-
ted by men inured to wickedness, en-
couraged by example, and impelled by
necessity. The adventurers were at last
so numerous, that their sagacious leaders
became apprehensive lest the greatness
of the armament would be the cause of
its own disappointment. For this reason
they permitted an undisciplined multi-
tude, computed at 300,000 men, to go be-
fore them under the command of Peter
the hermit, and Gautier or Walter, sur-
named the moneyless, from his being a
soldier of fortune. These took the road
towards Constantinople through Hungary
and Bulgaria ; and trusting that heaven,
by supejuatural assistance would supply

all their necessities, they made no provi-
sion for subsistence in their march. They
soon found themselves obliged to obtain
byplunder what they vainly expected from
miracles ; and the enraged inhabitants of
the countries through which they passed
attacked the disorderly multitude, and
slaughtered them without resistance.
The more disciplined armies followed
after ; and, passing the straits of Constan-
tinople, were mustered in the plains of
Asia, and amounted in the whole to
700,000 men. The princes engaged in
this first crusade were, Hugo, count of
Vermandois, brother to Philip I, king of
France ; Robert, duke of Normandy ; Ro-
bert, earl of Flanders ; Raimond, earl of
Toulouse and St. Giles ; the celebrated
Godfrey of Bouillon, duke of Lorrain,
with his brothers Baldwin and Eustace ;
Stephen, earl of Chartres and Blois ; Hu-
go, count of St. Paul ; with many other
lords. The general rendezvous was at
Constantinople. In this expedition, God-
frey besieged and took the city of Nice.
Jerusalem was taken by the confederated
army, and Godfrey chosen king. The
Christians gained the famous battle of
Ascalon against the Sultan of Egypt,
which put an end to the first crusade, but
not to the spirit of crusading. The rage
continued for near two centuries. The
second crusade, in 1144, was headed by
the emperor Conrad III, and Lewis VII,
king of France. The emperor's army
was either destroyed by the enemy, or
perished through the treachery of Manu-
el, the Greek emperor ; and the second
army, through the unfaithfulness of the
Christians of Syria, was forced to break
up the siege of Damascus. The third
ciusade, in 1188, immediately followed
the taking of Jerusalem by Saladin, the
Sultan of Egypt. The princes engaged
in this expedition were, the emperor
Frederic Barbarossa ; Frederic, duke of
Suabia, his second son ; Leopold duke of
Austria ; Berthold, duke of Moravia ;
Herman, marquis of Baden ; the counts
of Nassau, Thuringia, Missen, and Hol-
land ; and above sixty other princes of
the empire ; with the bishops of Besan-
con, Cambray, Munster, Osnaburgh, Mis-
sen, Passau, Visburgh, and several others.
In this expedition the emperor Frederic

672

CRUSADES,

defeated the Sultan of Iconium : his son
Frederic, joined by Guy Lusignon, king
of Jerusalem, in vain endeavored to take
Acre Ptolemais. During these transac-
tions, Philip Augustus, king of France,
and Richard I, king of England, joined
the crusade : by which means the Chris-
tian army consisted of 300,000 fighting
men ; but great disputes happening be-
tween the kings of France and England,
the former quitted the holy land, and Ri-
chard concluded a peace with Saladin.
The fourth crusade was undertaken in
1195, by the emperor Henry VI, after
Saladin's death. In this expedition the
Christians gained several battles against
the infidels, took a great many towns, and
were in the way of -success, when the
death of the emperor obliged them to
quit the holy land, and return into Ger-
many. The fifth crusade was publish-
ed by Pope Innocent III, in 1198. Those
engaged in it made fruitless efforts for
the recovery of the holy land : for though
John de Neule, who commanded the fleet
equipped in Flanders, arrived at Ptole-
mais a little after Simon of Montfort, Re-
nard of Dampierre, and others, yet the
plague destroying many of them, and the
rest either returning, or engaging in the
petty quarrels of the Christian princes,
there was nothing done ; so that the Sul-
tan of Aleppo easily defeated their troops
in 1204. The sixth crusade began in
1228 ; in which the Christians took the
town of Damietta, but were forced to sur-
render it again. In 1229, the emperor
Frederic made peace with the Sultan for
ten years. About 1240, Richard, earl of
Cornwall, brother to Henry III, Idng of
England, arrived at Palestine, at the
head of the English crusade ; but finding
it most advantageous to conclude a peace,
he re-embarked, and steered towards
Italy. In 1244, the Karasmians being
driven out of Turkey by the Tartars,
broke into Palestine, and gave the Chris-
tians a general defeat near Gaza. The
seventh crusade was headed, in 1249,
by St. Lewis, who took the town of
Damietta; but a sickness happening in
the Christian army, the king endeavored
a retreat ; in which being pursued by the
infidels, most of his army were miserably
butchered, and himself and the nobility

taken prisoners. A truce was agreed
upon for ten years, and the king and lords
set at liberty. The eighth crusade, in
1279, was headed by the same prince,
who made himself master of the port and
castle of Carthage in Africa ; but dying
a short time after, he left his army in a
very ill condition. Soon after, the king
of Sicily coming up with a good fleet,
and joining Philip the bold, son and suc-
cessor of Lewis, the king of Tunis, after
several engagements with the Christians
in which he was always worsted, desired
peace, which was granted upon condi-
tions advantageous to the Christians ; af-
ter which both princes embarked to their
own kingdoms. Prince Edward, of Eng-
land, who arrived at Tunis at the time
of this treaty, sailed towards Ptolemais,
where he landed a small body of 300
English and French, and hindered Ben-
docher from laying siege to Ptolemais ;
but being obliged to return to take pos-
session of the crown of England, this
crusade ended without contributing any
thing to the recovery of the holy land.
In 1291, the town of Acre or Ptolemais
was taken and plundered by the Sultan of
Egypt, and the Christians quite driven
out of Syria. There has been no cru-
sade since that period, though several
popes have attempted to stir up the Chris-
tians to such an undertaking ; particular-
ly Nicholas IV, in 1292, and Clement V,
in 1311.

Though these crusades were effects
of the most absurd superstition, they
tended greatly to promote the good of
Europe. Multitudes, indeed, were de-
stroyed. M. Voltaire computes the peo-
ple who perished in the difl^erent expe-
ditions at upwards of two millions. Many
there were, however, who returned ; and
these having conversed so long with peo-
ple who lived in a much more magnifi-
cent way than themselves, began to en-
tertain some taste for a refined and pol-
ished way of life. Thus the barbarism
in which Europe had been so long im-
mersed began to wear off" soon after. The
princes also who remained at home,
found means to avail themselves of the
frenzy of the people. By the absence of
such numbers of restless and martial ad-
venturers, peace was established in their

FRANKS.

673

dominions. They also took the opportu-
nity of annexing to their crowns many
considerable fiefs, either by purchase, or
the extinction of the heirs ; and thus the
mischiefs which must always attend feu-
dal governments were considerably les-
sened. With regard to the bad success
of the crusaders, it was scarcely possi-
ble that any other thing could happen to
them. The emperors of Constantinople,
instead of assisting, did all in their power
to disconcert their schemes : they were
jealous, and not without reason, of such
an inundation of barbarians. Yet, had
they considered their true interest, they
would rather have assisted them, or at
least stood neuter, than enter into alli-
ances with the Turks. They followed
the latter method, however, and were of-
ten of very great disservice to the west-
ern adventurers, which at last occasioned
the loss of their city. But the worst ene-
mies the crusaders had were their own
internal feuds and dissensions. They
neither could agree while marching to-
gether in armies with a view to conquest,
nor could they unite their conquests under
one government after they had made
them. They set up three small states,
one at Jerusalem, another at Antioch, and
another at Edessa. These states, instead
of assisting, made war upon each other,
and on the Greek emperors ; and thus
became an easy prey to the common ene-
my. The horrid cruelties they committed,
too, must have inspired the Turks with
the most invincible hatred against them,
and made them resist with the greatest
obstinacy. They were such as could have
been committed only by barbarians in-

flamed with the most bigoted enthusiasm.
When Jerusalem was taken, not only the
nimierous garrisons were put to the sword,
but the inhabitants were massacred with-
out mercy and without distinction. No
age nor sex was spared, not even suck-
ing children. According to Voltaire,
some Christians, who had been suffered
by the Turks to live in that city, led the
conquerors into the most private caves,
where women had concealed themselves
with their children, and not one of them
was suffered to escape. What eminently
shows the enthusiasm, by which these
conquerors were animated, is, their beha-
vior after this terrible slaughter. They
marched over heaps of dead bodies to-
wards the holy sepulchre ; and while their
hands were polluted with the blood of so
many innocent persons, sung anthems to
the common Saviour of Mankind ! Nay, so
far did their pious enthusiasm overcome
their fury, that these ferocious conquerors
now burst into tears. If the absurdity and
wickedness of their conduct can be ex-
ceeded by any thing, it must be by what
follows; In 1204, the frenzy of crusa-
ding seized the children, who are ever
ready to imitate what they see their pa-
rents engaged in. Their childish folly
was encouraged by the monks and-
schoolmasters ; and thousands of those
innocents were conducted from the houses
of their parents on the superstitious inter
pretation of these words : " Out of the
mouths of babes and sucklings hast thou
perfected praise." Their base conduc-
tors sold a part ol them to the Turks,
and the rest perished miserably. — Bucks'
Theol. Dictionary.

FRANKS

Various opinions have been entertain-
ed by historians concerning this people ;
but, as a repetition of these would be
equally unimportant to our work, and un-
interesting to the reader, we shall only
observe that Bucherius, whose conjec-
tures seem the most probable, describes
them as a motley multitude of several
ancient nations, dwelling beyond the
85

Rhine, who, having entered into a con-
federacy against the Romans, for th-e
common safety, assumed the name
of Franks ; which signified, in their
language, as it still does in ours,/ri?g. It
is also certain, that many ancient nations
are comprised, in ancient history, under
this general denomination.

Considered in this point of view, the

674

FRANKS.

Franks inhabited, at a very early period,
a tract of country which comprehends
the present provinces of Westphalia,
Hesse, and some adjacent states; and,
in process of time, they extended them-
selves along the Rhine as far as the efflux
of that river and the ocean.

With regard to their manners and
character, Vopiscus has described them
as a people addicted to treachery, and
unmindful of the most solemn engage-
ments ; and Salvianus, blending their
virtues and vices, observes that they
were extremely hospitable to strangers,
but much addicted to lying. They seem
to have been always troublesome neigh-
bors ; for it was a common observation
of Egonhardus, chancellor to Charles
the Great, that he would choose a Frank
for a friend, but not for a neighbor.

The first transaction of this people
noticed in history is their irruption into
Gaul, in the time of Aurelian, who killed
seven hundred of their troops, sold three
hundred, whom he had taken captives,
into slavery, and compelled the rest to
retire, with the loss of all their booty.

In the fourth year of Valerian's reign
they received another signal defeat from
Gallienus, but soon after returned with
such a powerful body of auxiliaries, that
the Romans deemed it expedient to lay
aside hostilities, and court their alliance.
Accordingly, a body of Franks were per-
suaded to serve, in the Roman army,
against the Goths ; and one of their
chieftains was entrusted with the defence
of the frontier of the empire.

About eight years after this event, the
Franks committed many depredations in
Gaul, and even penetrated into Spain,
which they held in subjection for the
space of twelve years. Some of them
are said to have crossed over into Africa,
with a design to enrich themselves with
the spoils of that wealthy country ; but
the issue of that undertaking is passed
over in silence.

On the demise of the emperor Aure-
lian, the Franks, in conjunction with the
Vandals and Burgundians, broke into
Gaul, and, having reduced seventy of the
principal cities in the space of two years,
congratulated themselves on their im-
portant acquisition ; but, on the approach

of Probus, they were compelled to with-
draw all their forces, and were soon after
reduced to the necessity of suing for
peace on disadvantageous terms.

Notwithstanding this repulse, the
Franks renewed their predatory incur-
sions into various parts of the Roman
territories, and committed such daring
outrages, that Dioclesian was compelled
to send a powerful armament against
them ; and Maximian deemed it advisa-
ble to chastise their insolence by carry-
ing the war into their own country.
This expedient was crowned with suc-
cess ; for the Franks were so violently
alarmed at this unexpected invasion, that
the greatest part of them threw down
their arms, and two of their princes, Atec
and Genobald, submissively entreated the
emperor to confirm them in their respec-
tive kingdoms. A few years after this
transaction the Franks made an irruption
into Batavia, and that part of Flanders
which is watered by the river Escaut ;
but, Constantius Chlorus, having led a
numerous army to the relief of those
countries, they were obliged to surrender
at discretion, and many of their families
were transplanted into Gaul, where they
were compelled to till the lands which
they themselves had wasted ; to serve,
when required, under the Roman ban-
ners ; and to pay the customary tributes,
as subjects of the empire.

During the reign of Constantino, the
Franks made several incursions into
Gaul ; but all their exertions were ren-
dered abortive by the vigilance of the
emperor, and many of their chieftains
were punished with exemplary rigor.

About the year 355, the Franks, hav-
ing formed an .alliance with the Saxons
and Alemans, pillaged upwards of forty
cities on the banks of ihe Rhine ; deso-
lated the adjacent provinces ; and carried
off an incredible number of captives :
but, on the approach of Julian, who had
been recently invested with the govern-
ment of Gaul, they were overthrown
with great slaughter.

The next considerable irruption of this
warlike race occurred about three years
after the death of Gratian, when they
are said to have overrun all Belgic Gaul,
pillaged the inhabitants without mercy,

GAULS.

675

and burnt a great number of villages.
Hereupon Quintinus attacked their troops
with extraordinary fury, and compelled
them to retire with the utmost precipita-
tion ; but having imprudently followed
them into the interior of their own coun-
try, his troops were exposed to inexpres-
sible hardships, and most of them cut to
pieces.

Pharasmond, the son of Marcomir, is
supposed to have reigned over the Franks
from the year 417 to 428. He appears
to have been one of the most powerful
princes among them ; but we are not ex-
pressly told whether he had any author-
ity over the rest. The same year in
which he died, Aetius is said to have
defeated the Franks in Gaul with great
slaughter, and to have chased them entire-
ly out of that province.

Clodio, the son and successor of Pha-
rasmond, has been characterized by
Gregory of Tours as an illustrious and
patriotic prince. However, ancient his-
torians have recorded but little respect-
ing his reign, except that he extended
his conquests as far as the Somme ; de-
stroyed the city of Treves ; and made
himself master of Cologne, while the
principal inhabitants were feasting and
revelling without the least apprehension
of danger.

Upon the death of Clodio, which
happened in the twentieth year of his

reign, Merovaeus assumed the sovereignty,
and made some successful incursions into
the present provinces of Mentz and
Rheims. This prince is said, by Rorico,
to have been regarded by his subjects
with a truly fdial affection ; and, in a
genealogical table of French kings pre-
fixed to a manuscript life of Charles the
Great, in the library at Brussels, he is
represented as the head of the first race.
Merovaeus was succeeded by his son
Childeric, who, in the very commence-
ment of his reign, abandoned himself to
all manner of licentiousness, and loaded
his subjects with such exorbitant taxes,
that they soon drove him from the throne,
but afterwards recalled him. It appears,
however, that he inherited the martial
disposition of his ancestors, and was ex-
tremely desirous of aggrandizing his
country ; for he extended his conquests
as far as the Loire ; reduced the cities
of Paris and Angers, and made himself
master of Orleans, after having defeated
Odoacer, who came with a body of Sax-
ons to its relief. He died at Tornacum,
now Tournay, where his remains were
discovered, in 1653, with many gold
coins of the Roman emperors, the royal
signet, and several other curious articles.
Childeric was succeeded by his son
Clovis, or Clodovseus, about the year
482. For the particulars of his reign,
{see France.)

GAULS

The Gauls, according to ancient his-
torians, appear to have been either the
immediate descendants of the Celtes, or
the same people under a more modern
name, which was probably given them
by their neighbors ; whilst they retained
the original one of Gomerai, or descend-
ants of Gomer. The name, therefore,
of Gaul or Gallia is not only foreign, but
of a more recent date, as are likewise
the other appellatives by which the Ro-
man authors distinguish one part of their
country from another ; as Cisalpina or
Citerior, Transalpina or Ulterior, and
Subalpina : for the inhabitants were for-

merly better known by the name of Cel-
tes, and the country, upon the whole, by
that of Celto-Gallia. Julius Caesar, after-
wards, distinguished the whole country
under the names of Belgia, Aquitania,
and Gallia Propria ; and this last was
subdivided into Comata, Brachata, and
Togata.

The religion of the Gauls strictly re-
sembled that of the ancient Celtes (which
has been already described) till the time
of their subjugation to the Romans : but
in the time of Augustus a considerable
change took place ; and, after a few sub-
sequent reigns, they became so enam-

676

GAULS.

cured with the pageantry of polytheism,
that they erected a prodigious number of
statues, altars and temples ; and even paid
divine honors to lakes, rivers, marshes,
and fountains.

The Gauls, although bearing the same
name, and using the same language and
customs, appear to have been subject to
diflerent governments ; some of which
were monarchical, others aristocratical,
and others partaking partly of aristocracy
and partly of democracy.

Their language is universally allovi^ed
to have been the old Celtic or Gomeri-
an, which is still preserved, at least in
a great measure, in many parts of Europe,
particularly in Biscay, Brittany, Cornwall,
Ireland, the Hebrides, Highlands of Scot-
land, and North Wales. They do not
appear to have had, originally, any cha-
racters of their own, but, in process of
time, adopted the Greek letters, for the
purpose of facilitating their commerce,
which seems to have been very consi-
derable, both from the veneration which
they expressed toward Mercury, as the
god of traffic, and from a great number
of ancient inscriptions dedicated, by the
Gaulish merchants, to their deities

With respect to their arts, next to the
military, which, though their especial fa-
vorite, was but indifferently cultivated,
eloquence was that wherein they prided
themselves most, and which seemed
most natural to them. Their youth were
commonly instructed out of those poems
which were composed by the bards and
druids ; heroic verses were either sung
or recited on all public occasions ; and
they represented Mercury, the god of
eloquence, with the symbols of Her-
cules, to show what power that art had
over them above all others.

Their military dicipline cannot now
be accurately described ; but, from the
circumstances of their falling in such
vast multitudes upon the enemy, without
either taking the advantage of ground,
or dividing their armies as occasion re-
quired, it appears to have been very imper-
fect. Their chief talent consisted in pour-
ing in their troops with incredible speed
and fury ; in surmounting all obstacles
that fell in their way ; and in maintain-
ing the combat with an intrepidity almost

peculiar to themselves : but when all
these eftbrts failed, they either despatch-
ed themselves, or else prevailed upon
their friends to kill them. Their only
weapons were bows and arrows, or
swords and lances, with which they per-
formed such astonishing feats as ren-
dered them, for a considerable time, the
objects of terror to all their enemies.
They were utter strangers to the war-
like machines used by other nations in
sieges ; and held the cuirass, helmet, and
other defensive armor, in the utmost
contempt. However, much of their suc-
cess has been justly attributed to their
surprising dexterity in the management
of their cavalry and armed chariots.

The Gauls, like all other northern na-
tions, were nmch addicted to the plea-
sures of the chase ; and a solemn feast
was annually celebrated by their profess-
ed huntsmen, in honor of the goddess
Diana, to whom they presented, among
other offerings, a purse containing a cer-
tain sum for every animal they had taken
in the course of the year. They were
also celebrated for their expertness in
swimming and fowling ; and horse and
chariot races, tilts and tournaments, con-
stituted their other favorite amusements.

Their customary dress consisted of a
light vest and breeches ; they wore their
hair long, had collars about their necks,
and bracelets on their arms. The Druids
were always clothed in white when they
officiated in their religious capacity, and
the freemen appeared, on all public oc-
casions, with their arms.

Of their marriages nothing satisfactory
has been recorded. It appears, however,
that polygamy was unlawful, and that the
men possessed the power of life and
death over their wives. The women
were equally conspicuous with the war-
riors themselves, on account of their
contempt of danger and death ; and al-
ways exerted themselves in a most extra-
ordinary manner to prevent their men
from giving ground to the enemy.

The vices that have been generally
attributed to the Gauls are those of ebri-
ety, indolence, and ferocity ; each of
which they certainly inherited from their
predecessors : but their social virtues
were, by the confession of their enemies,

GAULS.

677

more remarkable ; among which we must
particularize their justice, fidelity, and
hospitable behavior to strangers.

The earliest and most considerable
irruption recorded of this people is that
which they made into Italy, 622 B. C,
under their celebrated general, Bello-
vesus, who, crossing the Rhone and the
Alps, defeated the Hetrurians in the vi-
cinage of the Tasino, and took possession
of that part of the country since distin-
guished by the names of Piedmont and
Lombardy.

The Ccenomani, who dwelt between
the rivers Seine and Loire, made the
second grand expedition under their lead-
er, Elitonis, and formed new settlements
among the Brescians, Cremonese, Man-
tuans, Venetians, and Carniola.

The third was undertaken by the Ana-
nes and Laeves ; the former of whom set-
tled in Piacentia, on one side of the Po ;
and the latter in Novara, on the opposite
bank.

In a fourth, the Boii and Lingones,
having crossed the Pennine Alps, took
up their residence on the south side of the
Po, between Bologna and Ravenna.

The fifth was made, about two hundred
years after that of Bellovesus, by the
Senones, who were invited into Italy by
an Hetrurian noble, and fixed themselves
in Umbria. The incursion of this people,
under Brennus, into Italy, has been noted
in its place.

The next expedition proved peculiarly
unfortunate ; for the Gauls who had pre-
viously settled in Italy invited their coun-
trymen to assist them against the Ro-
mans ; but these arrived in such prodi-
gious numbers, that they became more
dreadful than the Romans ; so that they
made no scruple to turn their arms against
them, and put their whole army to flight.
The Romans were greatly alarmed at the
news of these proceedings, and, to frus-
trate the success of so numerous an
enemy, they perpetrated the horrid super-
stition of burying a Greek and a Gaulish
man and woman alive, in the ox-market :
but they did not rely so implicitly on this
barbarous sacrifice as to neglect their war-
like preparations, when they received in-
telligence that the Gesata;, another brave
Gaulish nation, were invited to the as-

sistance of their Italian countrymen. The
approach of this fierce and warlike peo-
ple spread the utmost terror and con-
fusion through the Roman territories.
However, a formidable army was raised
for the defence of the country, and the
ferocious invaders were overthrown with
a prodigious loss ; forty-thousand being
killed on the field of battle, and ten
thousand taken prisoners.

About the year of the world 3725, the
Gauls, finding themselves overstocked
at home, sent out three large colonies to
seek new habitations. Brennus, the chief
adviser of this expedition, headed one
of the Gaulish armies ; Cerethrius march-
ed with the second into Thrace ; and
Belgius led the third into lUyricum and
Macedonia. Brennus made an incursion
into Pannonia, or Hungary ; but finding
the country inferior to his expectations,
and hearing that Belgius, after acquiring
an immense plunder, was utterly defeated,
he hastened to Illyricum, under pretence
of revenging his colleague. The army
with which he entered that province con-
sisted of one hundred and fifty thousand
foot, and fifteen thousand horse ; but, in
consequence of a revolt among some of
the officers, twenty thousand men march-
ed into Thrace, and, with the assist-
ance of Cerethrius, seized on Byzantium
and the western coasts of Propontis.

In consequence of this defection, Bren-
nus sent for fresh supplies from Gaul,
and enlisted some Illyrians, with whom
he marched toward Delphi, designing to
plunder that opulent city and temple ;
but he suffered a dreadful repulse from
a thunder storm and an earthquake, which
destroyed a considerable number of his
men ; and the Greek forces, pouring in
from all parts, completed his overthrow.
In this exigency Brennus assembled his
chiefs, and, after advising them to slay
all their wounded comrades, and to make
as good a retreat as they could, he put
an end to his own existence. Such of
the soldiers as had escaped the enemy
endeavored to retire, pursuant to their
leader's direction ; but none of them ever
returned to their own country.

Meanwhile the colonies under Leo-
norius marched to the Hellespont, and
made themselves masters of Lysimachia

678

GAULS.

and the Thracian Chersonesus, whence
they crossed over into Asia, and establish-
ed Nicomedes in his paternal kingdom.
For this important service Nicomedes
assigned them that part of Lesser Asia,
■which was afterward called Gallo-Graecia
and Galatia. In process of time, these
settlers, being confined in their territories,
sent several colonies and auxiliary armies
abroad, which greatly annoyed all their
neighbors ; but they were at length sup-
pressed by the pro-consul of Asia, and
compelled to live peacebly within their
own boundaries.

The Romans were so seriously alarm-
ed at the strength and number of the
Gaulish nation, that they deemed it in-
dispensably requisite to humble their
pride, by leading armies into their coun-
try. After several trifling attempts, Q.
Marcius, to whose lot this province had
fallen by the death of his colleague in
Numidia, opened a passage between the
Alps and the Pyrenees ; planted a co-
lony in the country of the Volcae Tecto-
sagi ; and founded the city of Narbo
Marcius, which soon became the capital
of the province. For these important
services he was honored with a triumph
at Rome. His successor, Scaurus, sub-
dued the Garni and Gentisci, two Gaulish
nations of extraordinary bravery, and
made some excellent roads to facilitate
the progress of his Italian troops, for
which he also was remunerated with
triumphal honors.

The Cimbri and Teutones, alarmed at
these repeated incursions, took up arms
against the Romans, and gave them se-
veral overthrows, in one of which the
general, Popilius, was compelled to sub-
mit to the ignominious ceremony of pass-
ing under the yoke. The Cimbri, in
particular, had retaken some parts of
Gaul, and especially the famous city of
Thoulouse, where they consecrated an
immense treasure to the amount of one
hundred thousand pounds weight of gold,
and the same of silver. Hereupon, Cse-
pio marched his army to retake it, and
the inhabitants threw open their gates ;
nevertheless, he gave the city up to be
plundered, and carried off all the sacred
treasures. However, the Gauls were so
exasperated at this outrage, that they

attacked the invaders with irresistible
fury, slaughtered near a hundred and forty
thousand men, and pursued the remainder
so closely, that only ten of the whole
army escaped with their two Generals.
The triumphant barbarians, having thrown
all the silver and gold into the Rhine,
drowned all the horses, and murdered all
the prisoners which they had taken ; held
a general council whether to march im-
mediately into Italy, or to reduce those
provinces which the Romans still pos-
sessed in Gaul ; they agreed, however,
to consult Emilius Scaurus, whom they
had taken captive in a former engage-
ment, and who strove to deter them from
entering the territories of his republic ;
but his bold speech was rewarded with
death by Boiorix, king of the Cimbri.

The Roman senate, dreading a fresh
irruption of these warlike barbarians, re-
called Marius from Numidia ; and, hav-
ing remunerated his late services with a
triumph, appointed him General against
the enemy, and Sylla to serve under him.
They accordingly departed, and gained
such important advantages, that the Gauls
became dispirited, and remained with-
in their own borders, till Orgetorix per-
suaded his coimtrymen, the Helvetii, to
burn their villages, and to go in quest of
new conquests.

At this juncture the whole country of
Gaul fell to the lot of Julius Caesar, and
that illustrious Roman exerted himself
in so extraordinary a manner, that the
Helvetii were defeated with dreadful
slaughter ; the Belgae, the Nervii, and
the Veneti, who had taken up arms for
their common preservation, were suc-
cessively overthrown ; the valiant Ver-
cingetorix was compelled to surrender
at discretion ; and the reduction of Uxel-
lodunum completed the conquest of Gaul,
from the Alps and Pyrenean mountains
to the Rhine : all which extensive tract
was now provinciated and governed by a
praetor sent thither from Rome.

Shortly after this period Gaul was di-
vided into sixteen provinces ; each of
which groaned, more or less, under the
Roman tyranny, according to the disposi-
tion of the emperors or praters who ruled
over them. However, we do not read
of any revolt among the inhabitants till

GOTHS.

679

the reign of Nero, when the brave Julius
Vindex, then Governor of CeUic Gaul,
resolved to deliver his country from sla-
very, and the empire from so sanguinary
a tyrant. This design was no sooner
made public, than the discontented Gauls
flocked to him from all quarters, and
quickly formed an army of a hundred
thousand men ; but they were totally
defeated by Rufus Virginius, and their
unfortunate leader terminated his exist-
ence by an act of suicide. In the reign
of Galba they were heavily oppressed
and loaded with taxes, but durst not make
any resistance. Adrian visited their coun-
try in his progress through the empire ;
built several magnificent edifices ; and
left, wherever he passed, some tokens
of his munificence. Gaul was again

made the theatre of war in . the remark-
able conflict between Posthumius and
Gallienus, the former of whom had been
acknowledged Emperor, for some im-
portant services which he had rendered
to the natives ; but was afterwards mur-
dered by his own soldiers. Shortly after
this occurrence, Aurelian marched against
the rebellious Gauls, (who had invested
Tetricus with the imperial dignity) and
reduced them to obedience. Under Con-
stantine their country was divided into
seventeen provinces, six of which were
styled consular, and the rest under certain
presidents who resided in their respect-
ive capitals. Such was the state and go-
vernment of Gaul previous to the incur-
sions of the Goths, the Franks, the Bur-
gundians, and some other nations.

GOTHS.

These warlike people are said to have
come, originally, from Scandinavia ; but
the time when they first settled in that
district is very uncertain. The Danes,
however, readily acknowledged that their
country was first peopled by the Goths
of Scandinavia ; that to them they owe
their origin ; and that Dan, king of the
Goths, was the founder of their kingdom.
And the peopling of the Chersonesus,
of the islands in the Baltic sea, and the
adjacent places on the continent, are
called, by northern writers, the first mi-
gration of the Goths or Getes.

Their second migration happened sev-
eral ages after, under the conduct of Be-
rig, who seized on the country of the
Ulmerugians, now Pomerania, and even
compelled the neighboring Vandals to
share their possessions with his follow-
ers. From Pomerania a numerous col-
ony was sent into Scythia ; and in pro-
cess of time, they returned into Germa-
ny, under the command of Woden, a he-
ro of great celebrity.'

With respect to the customs, manners,
and character of the Goths, they appear
to have been famed, even in the earliest
ages, for their hospitality and kindness to

strangers. They encouraged the study
of philosophy above all other barbarous
nations : and Horace has bestowed some
warm encomiums on the virtue of their
women. Polygamy, however, was uni-
versally countenanced among them ; and
their martial disposition induced them to
commit many unwarrantable depreda-
tions on the territories of their neighbors.
Apollinaris Sidonius has described them
as wearing high shoes, made of untanned
hides, green cassocks, with red border,
and garments of various colors, scarcely
reaching to the knees ; their principal
weapons consisted of bearded lances,
and missile hatchets. Their govern-
ment was monarchical ; and their reli-
gion similar to that of the other northern
nations whose histories have been already
related.

The Romans appear to have dreaded
the power of this nation at a very early
period ; for, even in the reign of Alex-
ander, which began in 222, considerable
sums were annually paid out of the treas-
ury to prevent them from making irrup-
tions into the empire. And, on the de-
mise of Maximin, they broke into the
province of Mcesia ; destroyed the city

680

GOTHS.

of Istria on the southern mouth of the
Danube ; and retired, unmolested, to their
own couniry.

About the year of the Christian era
245, Ostrogotha led a numerous body of
forces into Moisia, and compelled the in-
habitants to compound with him, in or-
der to avoid the calamities that were usu-
ally attendant on his progress. And
Cnvia, the successor of Ostrogotha, hav-
ing made himself master of Philippolis on
the Hebrus, ravaged the greatest part of
Thrace and Macedon ; defeated the Ro-
mans in a pitched battle ; slew the em-
peror Decius and his son ; and obtained
the promise of an annual pension, on
condition of remaining, for the future,
within his own boundaries.

Seventeen years after this event the
Goths made an unexpected irruption into
Thrace ; reduced the province of Mace-
don ; and attempted to penetrate into
Achaia ; but Marcianus, having attacked
them by surprise, gave them a signal
overthrow ; and compelled them to elude
a general slaughter by flight. About
the same time another tribe of this na-
tion crossed the Hellespont ; plundered
the temple of Diana at Ephesus ; burnt
the poor remains of ancient Troy ; and
returned home loaded with plunder.

On the accession of the emperor Clau-
dius, the Goths, with several other bar-
barous nations, resolved to invade the
empire both by sea and land. Accord-
ingly they embarked with a numerous
body of forces in two thousand vessels,
and, landing in the Lesser Scythia, laid
siege, at the same time, to the city of
Tomi in that province, and to Marciano-
polis in Moesia ; but, finding a vigorous
resistance at both places, they re-em-
barked on the Euxine sea, and sailed to
the straits of the Bosphorus, where their
fleet suffered materially from the rapidity
of the current and stress of weather ;
and their tropps were bravely repulsed by
the inhabitants of Byzantium. Hereupon
they entered the ^gean sea, in order to
refit their vessels near Mount Athos, in
Macedon ; and afterwards laid siege to
the cities of Cassandria and Thessalon-
ica. But, whilst they were busied in
ravaging the country, and forming new
schemes for the aggrandizement of their

own military fame, a pestilential distem-
per swept off" a prodigious nnmber of
their mariners, and most of their land
forces were overthrown by the emperor
Claudius, who, on this occasion, assumed
the surname of Gothicus.

Notwithstanding these disasters, the
Goths made an irruption into Pannonia,
about the year 270, and committed many
alarming outrages ; but Aurelian, who
had just assumed the purple, marched
against them at the head of a powerful
army ; and, by that measure, induced
them to sue for peace. However, they
soon renewed their incursions, and exas-
perated Aurelian so highly, that he not
only drove them beyond the boundaries
of Thrace, but even passed the Danube,
and defeated Cannaband, a Gothic prince,
with dreadful slaughter.

The Goths appear to have made a
settlement, about the year 274, in Dacia
and the Danube ; and to have afterwards
invaded the provinces of Pontus, Cappa-
docia, Galatia, and Bithynia ; but Taci-
tus prevailed on many of them, by a pe-
cuniary compliment, to abandon these
territories ; and the rest were driven en-
tirely out of the empire. In 278, the
Goths concluded a treaty of peace with
the emperor Probus ; and in 289, they
suff'ered so complete an overthrow by
Dioclesian, that one of their tribes was
entirely cut off", and the province of Da-
cia beyond the Danube re-annexed to
the Roman empire. For this victory
Dioclesian assumed the name of Sarma-
ticus, as appears from the inscriptions on
several antique coins.

In the fifteenth year of Constantino's
reign, the Goths, who had for some time,
been engaged in a sanguinary war with
the Vandals and Burgundians, made a
fresh irruption into the Roman territories :
but Constantino, having marched against
them with all possible expedition, defeat-
ed them in several engagements ; took
an incredible number of captives, and
reduced them to such extremities, that
they not only sued for a cessation of hos-
tilities, but also consented to assist the
victor, with a numerous body of troops,
against Licinius.

Upon the accession of Valens to the
imperial dignity, this turbulent race broke

GOTHS.

681

into the boundaries of Thrace, and com-
mitted their usual depredations ; but, on
the receipt of a handsome gratification
from the emperor, they returned peacea-
bly to their own country. However,
they soon repeated their outrages ; and
by espousing the cause of the usurper
Procopius, involved themselves in a
dangerous war with Valens, who having
passed the Danube with a select body of
forces, ravaged the greatest part of their
country with fire and sword ; cut off a
prodigious number of their men in differ-
ent encounters ; and, at length, defeated
their king, Athanaric, at the head of his
army. Hereupon the barbarians sued
for peace : and Valens returned with his
victorious troops to Constantinople.

Shortly after this event the Goths,
being driven from their ancient territories
by the more savage Hunns, fled in such
prodigious numbers, to take shelter among
the Romans, that Valens admitted two
hundred thousand of them into Thrace,
upon their promising to live peaceably
in that province, and to serve, when re-
quired, in the Roman army ; but the offi-
cers who were appointed to supply them
with provisions exercised so unjust a
severity, that the barbarians immediately
rose in arms, and commenced a sangui-
nary war with their oppressors, which
continued with various success till The-
odosius I, granted them certain lands in
Thrace and Moesia ; indulged them with
an exemption from all taxes ; and kindly
undertook to redress all their grievances.
During this reign the unfortunate Athan-
aric took refuge in the imperial palace
at Constantinople, and was treated with
unparalleled generosity by the emperor ;
but he was so violently afflicted with the
loss of his dominions, that he died about
a fortnight after his arrival.

About the year 395, a numerous army
of Goths, being stirred up by Rufinus,
penetrated into the provinces of Panno-
nia, Macedon, and Thessaly, and com-
mitted the most cruel depredations upon
the inhabitants. They afterwards passed
the straits of Thermopylae without oppo-
sition, and proceeded under the conduct
of their celebrated chief Alaric, to the
very gates of Constantinople. Upon the
first report of these daring outrages,
86

Stilicho hastened from Gaul to repel the
Barbarians ; but his intentions were all
frustrated ; for Arcadius having conclu-
ded a peace with the enemy, appointed
Alaric to the command of the troops in
East Illyricum ; and Stilicho, by the
malice and cupidity of his treacherous
accusers, was stripped of all his honors,
declared a pubhc enemy and reduced
to poverty.

The Goths remained tolerably peace-
able for about three years ; but at the ex-
piration of that time they resolved to en-
rich themselves with the spoils of the
empire, and accordingly conferred the
regal title on Alaric, who, notwithstand-
ing his employment under Arcadius,
readily took the field against the Romans,
and, after ravaging the fairest parts of
Italy, made himself master even of
Rome itself, which he abandoned to the
plunder of his rapacious followers. From
Rome the victorious Barbarian passed
through the provinces of Campania, Lu-
cania, Samnium, and Apulia, with a de-
sign to pass over to Sicily, and thence into
Africa, but on his arrival at Rhegium he
was seized with a fit of illness, which
terminated both his conquests and life in
the space of a few days.

Ataulphus, the successor of Alaric,
invaded Gaul in the commencement of
his reign, and afterwards married Placi-
dia, the sister of Honorius, who had
been taken captive in the late expedition
against Rome. After the solemnization
of his nuptials with this princess, Ataul-
phus seemed extremely desirous of con-
cluding a peace with Honorius, and of
turning his arms against the Vandals,
Franks, and other barbarous nations, who
had broken into Gaul ; but these designs
were frustrated by the intrigues of Con-
stantius ; and the king of the Goths, be-
ing compelled to retire into Spain, was
soon afterwards taken off by assassina-
tion. His successor, Sigeric, shared a
similar fate about six days after his elec-
tion to the sovereignty.

Vallia, the next king of the Goths,
having concluded a treaty of peace with
the Romans, waged war with the Alans
and Silingians in Spain, and, after de-
feating them in several battles, obliged
them to flee for protection into Galicia

682

GOTHS.

For this important service, Vallia was al-
lowed to form a settlement in Aquitania,
where he died after a reign of three years.

Theodoric had no sooner obtained the
sovereignty than he broke the alliance
which his predecessor had made with the
Romans, and made himself master of
some important places in Gaul ; but at
the approach of ^tius he abandoned the
enterprise, and was, soon after, obliged
to sue for a renewal of the peace which
he himself had so lately violated. How-
ever, about ten years after this transac-
tion, Theodoric broke again with the
Romans, and, having reduced several
towns, at length laid siege to Narbonne ;
but his designs were all frustrated by the
vigilance of the enemy, and, after some
time, the warlike Goth renewed his alli-
ance with the Romans, in whose defence
he afterwards fought with extraordinary
bravery against the Hunns, and lost his
life at the famous battle of Chalons.

Thorismond, the successor of Theodo-
ric, evinced the utmost impatience to
revenge his father's death, and according-
ly, having engaged Attila, king of the
Hunns, with a formidable army, drove
that invader from Gaul with equal loss
and ignominy. However, the conduct
of Thorismond gave such umbrage to
his subjects that he was soon taken off
by assassination.

Theodoric II, has been described, by
Sidonius, as a prince of superior abilities
and great accomplishments, but a mere
hypocrite with respect to religion. In
the commencement of his reign he form-
ed an alliance with the Romans, and as-
sisted them, with a chosen body of troops,
against the Bagaudae. He, afterwards,
caused Avitus to be proclaimed emperor
at Thoulouse ; recovered several provin-
ces from the turbulent Suevians ; and
reduced several important places in Lusi-
tania. Emboldened by these successes,
he renounced the emperor's friendship,
and soon made himself master of the
greatest part of Spain, together with
some places in Gaul, which had hitherto
belonged to the Romans ; but his ambi-
tious projects were at length terminated
by his brother Euric, who caused him to

be murdered in the thirteenth y^ar of his
reign.

Euric having, by this nefarious action,
established himself in the sovereignty,
resolved to carry on the war with vigor.
Accordingly he committed great depreda-
tions in Lusitania ; made himself master
of Pampelona, Saragossa, Coimbra, and
Tarraco ; and eventually chased the Ro-
mans from Spain, after they had held
that country in subjection for the space
of seven hundred years. He afterwards
led his victorious forces into Gaul, and
compelled the Romans to purchase a
shameful peace by delivering up the pro-
vince of Auvergne. The other places in
Gaul which had submitted to Odoacer
were afterwards yielded to Euric, whose
dominions, by this addition, extended
from the Loire to the Alps ; but whilst
this ambitious prince was projecting new
conquests, his career was suddenly stop-
ped by death, in the nineteenth year of
his reign. He had ascended the throne
by an act of fratricide, and governed his
subjects with unrelenting severity. War
and bloodshed were his chief objects of
delight ; and the success which usually
attended his campaigns rendered him ex-
tremely formidable to all the neighboring
nations.- He was, however, a man of
uncommon penetration, and is said to
have been the first who gave the Goths a
code of written laws.

He left one son, named Alaric, who
succeeded him, and a daughter, who was
married to a barbarian prince named
Sigismer. From the description which
Sidonius has given of that prince, Vale-
sius supposed him to have been a Frank
by birth, and that Euric gave him his
daughter in marriage with a view of con-
ciliating the friendship of the Franks,
who began, about this period, to be very
powerful in Gaul ; but, if this were the
case, Eurics' hopes were extremely ill
grounded, for the Franks unanimously
rose in arms against his descendants, and
put a final period to their dominion in
Gaul.

Upon this overthrow the Goths retired
into Spain, and fixed their royal seat at
Toledo, {see Spain.)

HUNNS.

683

HUNNS,

The posterity of the Albanians, hav-
ing migrated from their native country,
estabhshed themselves in that part of
Asiatic Sarmatia which bordered on the
Palus Maeotis and the Tanais, the ancient
boundary between Europe and Asia.
They appear to have been divided into
several tribes, but were all comprised
under the general name of Ugri,* which
was afterward changed into that of
Hunni.

The Sarmatian or Scythian Hunns
are described, by the best historians, as
a hardy, warlike, and ferocious people,
who subsisted entirely on roots or raw
meat ; lived, constantly exposed to the
air, in the woods, or among the excava-
tions of the mountains ; were accustomed
even to eat and sleep on horseback ; and
professed the utmost contempt for rai-
ment, houses, and other conveniences of
life. They were equally destitute of re-
ligious and civil institutions, and aban-
doned themselves without restraint to the
gratification of their unruly passions.
Hence we find them making frequent in-
cursions into the Roman empire in defi-
ance of the most solemn oaths, and even
occasionally turning their arms against
their own countrymen for a pecuniary
reward. They are said to have mangled
the cheeks of their male infants, in order
to strike terror into the enemy by their
distorted countenances ; and in war they
usually rushed towards the foe with
hideous shouts ; but, if their first attack
were vigorously resisted, their fury soon
abated, and they fled in the utmost con-
fusion.

Their first excursion in quest of new
settlements appears to have been made
about the year of the Christian era 376,
when they passed the Palus Mseotis ;
made a dreadful slaughter among the
Alans, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths ; and
took possession of that vast tract of coun-

* The word Ugre, whence Ugri is derived,
signifies, in the Sclavonic language, aquatic, or
living in the water — a name well adapted to a
nation residing in the marshy places which bor-
dered on the Palus Maeotis and the Tanais.

try which extends from the Tanais to the
Danube.

About the year 383 the Nephthalite or
White Hunns, broke into the Roman ter-
ritories ; overran Mesopotamia ; and even
laid siege to the city of Edessa ; but they
were bravely repulsed by the garrison,
and compelled, after some time, to aban-
don their daring enterprize.

This tribe inhabited a rich tract of
country, at a considerable distance from
the Sarmatian Hunns, with whom they
had no affinity nor intercourse. They
lived according to their own laws ; dealt
equitably with each other ; and seldom
made inroads, unless provoked, into the
territories of their neighbors.

The Sarmatian Hunns, emboldened by
their success against the Alans, Goths,
and other barbarous nations, crossed the
Danube in 391, and committed the most
dreadful outrages in Thrace and Maesia ;
Stilicho overthrew them in a pitched
battle, and surrounded them so complete-
ly in a narrow valley, that they must
either have surrendered at discretion or
perished with himger, had not Claudian
generously offered to conclude a treaty
of peace.

Four years after this event, the Hunns
made an unexpected irruption into the
eastern provinces, and penetrated even
to the walls of Antioch ; marking their
progress with such enormous cruelties
and depredations, that St. Jerome says,
" All the East trembled at the approach
of an enemy, who, equally destitute of
religion and hum'nity, roved without con-
trol wherever they pleased, massacreing
those who had scarce begun to live, and
who smiled, unconscious of danger, at the
very weapons that were lifted to destroy
them." Indeed the barbarians appear to
have spared neither age, sex, nor con-
dition, in this expedition ; but to have
filled all places with slaughter and deso-
lation.

From this period they seem to have
remained quiet till the year 404, when
crossing the Danube in prodigious multi-
tudes, they ravaged the province of

684

HUNNS.

Thrace, penetrated into East lUyricum,
and returned home loaded with phmder.
During the minority of Theodosius II,
llldin. King of the Hunns, entered Thrace,
at the head of a formidable army ; but
the gallant resistance of the Romans, and
the defection of his own officers, com-
pelled him to repass the Danube with
the utmost precipitation. On this occa-
sion the Scyri, a northern nation in alli-
ance with Uldin, received an overthrow,
by which they were almost utterly extir-
pated.

On the demise of Honorius, in 423,
sixty thousand Hunns were led by ^tius
to the assistance of John, who had as-
sumed the imperial purple ; and an obsti-
nate battle was fought with the troops of
Assar ; but ^tius, being informed of the
usurper's death, thought proper to submit
to Theodosius, and accordingly persuad-
ed the barbarians to return home. To-
ward the close of the same year Thrace
was overrun and pillaged by one of the
northern tribes under the command of
Rougas ; but this marauder being killed
by lightning, and many of his men swept
off by a pestilence, the survivors retreated
with precipitation to their own country.

In the year 435 a numerous body of
Hunns joined iEtius against the Burgun-
dians, of whom they slaughtered twenty
thousand. However, they soon expe-
rienced a reverse of fortune in this ex-
pedition ; for the Burgundians, having
watched a favorable opportunity, fell upon
them with resistless fury, cut ten thou-
sand of their men to pieces, and obliged
the rest to save themselves by flight.

Attila, king of the Hunns, having, with
the assistance of his brother Bleda, sub-
jugated most of the norlliern nations, con-
ceived the daring design of seizing the
Roman empire. Accordingly, having
passed the Danube at the head of a pow-
erful army, he made himself master of
several cities and fortresses ; ravaged
the country, wherever he passed, with
fire and sword ; and overwhelmed the
Romans with such consternation, that
Theodosius was reduced to the neces-
sity of concluding a peace upon very dis-
advantageous terms.

About the year 451 Attila entered Gaul
at the head of a numerous army, declar'

ing that he had no design inimical to the
welfare of the Romans, but that he only
wished to traverse Gaul, and pass the
Loire at Orleans, in order to fall upon
the Visigoths in Guienne and Languedoc.
Hereupon the credulous Romans laid
aside their apprehensions, and several
cities opened their gates ; but the artful
invader had no sooner penetrated into
the country than he threw off the mask,
and committed the most horrid depreda-
tions. At Mentz, in particular, he per-
mitted the most infamous cruelties to be
exercised on the inhabitants ; massacred
the priests even before their altars ; and
reduced the greatest part of the city to
ashes. He next took possession of Or-
leans ; but was driven thence with great
slaughter, and, after a bloody engage-
ment in the plains of Chalons, he retired
to the banks of the Rhine. As the other
principal exploits of this warlike barba-
rian have been already noticed in the
history of Rome, it is only requisite to
add, that his reign was at length termi-
nated by the breaking of a blood vessel,
and his funeral obsequies were perform-
ed with great solemnity.

Ellac, the son and successor of Attila,
is described as a person of great bravery
and resolution, well versed in the arts of
war, and, consequently, capable of re-
taining his father's numerous conquests ;
but, whilst his brothers were clamoring
for a division of the sovereignty, the
Gepidae broke out into an open revolt,
and marched a body of forces to the
banks of the Netad, in Pannonia, where
upwards of thirty thousand Hunns were
put to the sword, and Ellac himself was
cut off in the very commencement of his
reign.

The surviving Hunns were so disheart-
ened by this defeat, and the subsequent
revolt of several other nations, that they
immediately retired toward the Euxine
sea and the mouths of the Danube, leav-
ing the Gepidae in possession of all an-
cient Dacia. About eight years after
this occurrence, Dinzio, one of Attila's
sons, made an irruption into the territo-
ries of the Goths, and invested the city
of Basiana, which was situated between
the Save and the Draw ; but his de-
sign was soon frustrated, and himself

HUNNS.

685

compelled to retreat with considerable
loss.

In the year of the Christian era 466,
a numerous army of Hunns passed the
Danube, in the depth of winter, and com-
mitted some dreadful ravages in the pro-
vince of Dacia ; but Anthemius, march-
ing against them with a select body of
troops, they were defeated in a pitched
battle, and compelled to abandon their
enterprize. Dengizic, one of Atilla's
sons, attempted to retrieve this misfortune
by assembling a greater body of forces ;
but his designs were rendered abortive
by the vigilance of Arnagastus, who
guarded the banks of the Danube, and his
head was sent by the victor to Constan-
tinople, where it was carried through the
streets on the point of a spear.

Overwhelmed with confusion by these
repeated overthrows, and dispirited by
the loss of their most valiant chiefs, the
Hunns continued quiet for the space of
sixty years ; but, on the accession of
Justinian, two of their kings, Styrax and
Clones, penetrated the Roman territories,
at the head of two formidable armies.
At this juncture, however, Boarox, queen
of the Sabirite Hunns, led an army of
one hundred thousand men to the assis-
tance of the emperor ; gave the invaders
a signal overthrow ; and sent Styrax
himself in chains to Constantinople.

In the thirteenth year of Justinian's
reign, the Cuturgurian Hunns, crossing
the Danube in prodigious multitudes,
ravaged the greatest part of Thrace,
Greece, lUyricum, and all the provinces
from the Ionian sea to the very suburbs
of Constantinople ; and, having passed
the Hellespont, committed many enor-
mous acts of cruelty in Asia, and return-
ed home with an immense booty, and one
hundred and twenty thousand captives.
To prevent a repetition of these expedi-
tions, Justinian allowed the Cuturgurians
some lands in the province of Thrace,
and agreed to pay them an annual pen-

sion, upon condition that they should
serve, when required, under the Roman
banners ; but as this scheme proved in-
adequate to the preservation of the em-
pire, a quarrel was artfully fomented be-
tween the Cuturgurian and Uturgurian
Hunns, which divided the attention of
the former, and finally terminated in the
destruction of both.

Venantius Fortunatus asserts, that,
about the year 560, a numerous body of
Hunns took their route through Germany,
with a design to cross the Rhine, and
form a settlement in Gaul ; but Sigebert,
king of the Franks, arrested their pro-
gress on the baaks of the Elbe, and
gained a complete victory, many thou-
sands of the barbarians being killed, and
the residue compelled to retire into Pan-
nonia.

From this period no farther notice is
taken of the Hunns till the reign of Charles
the Great, when they were possessed of
Dacia Mcesia, and both the Pannonias.
Two of their princes, Caganus and Ju-
gimus, formed an amicable alliance with
Charles in the year 776. But their sub-
sequent treachery, in sending succors to
Tassilo, duke of Bavaria, and a dispute
which arose respecting their boundaries,
gave such umbrage to their illustrious
ally, that he not only renounced their
friendship, but ravaged their country with
fire and sword, for the space of eight
years, till he had almost extirpated their
name and nation. Some authors, indeed,
are of opinion that the whole race was
entirely destroyed ; and that the country
was afterwards peopled by the surround-
ing nations, to whom the present Hunga-
rians owe their origin. However, it is
certain that the Hunns were finally sub-
dued, by Charles the Great, about the
year 794, and that Henry, duke of Friuli,
took their royal palace, and stripped it
of immense treasures — a considerable
part of which was sent, by the emperor's
order, to Rome.

686

JEWS.

Jews, a name derived from the patri-
arch Judah, and given to the descendants
of Abraham by his eldest son Isaac. We
shall here present the reader with as
comprehensive a view of this singular
people as we can.

1. Jews^ history of the. — The Al-
mighty promised Abraham that he would
render his seed extremely numerous :
this promise began to be fulfilled in Ja-
cob's twelve sons. In about two hundred
and fifteen years they increased in
Egypt from seventeen to between two
and three millions, men, women, and
children. While Joseph lived, they were
kindly used by the Egyptian monarchs ;
but soon after, from a suspicion that they
would become too strong for the natives,
they were condemned to slavery ; but
the more they were oppressed, the more
they grew. The midwifes, and others,
were therefore ordered to murder every
male infant at the time of its birth ; but
they, shifting the horrible task, every
body was then ordered to destroy the
male children wherever they found them.
After they had been thus oppressed for
about one hundred years, and on the very
day that finished the four hundred and
thirtieth year from God's first promise of
a seed to Abraham, and about four hun-
dred years after the birth of Isaac, God,
by terrible plagues on the Egyptians,
obliged them to liberate the Hebrews un-
der the direction of Moses and Aaron.
Pharoah pursued them with a mighty
army ; but the Lord opened a passage
for them through the Red Sea ; and the
Egyptians in attempting to follow them,
were drowned. After this, we find them
in a dry and barren desert, without any
provision for their journey ; but God sup-
plied them with water from a rock, and
inanna and quails from heaven. A little
after, they routed the Amalekites, who
fell on their rear. In the wilderness,
God delivered them the law, and con-
firmed the authority of Moses. Three
thousand of them were cut off for wor-
shipping the golden calf; and for loath-
ing the manna, they were punished with

a month's eating of flesh, till a plague
brake out among them ; and for their rash
belief of the ten wicked spies, and their
contempt of the prromised land, God had
entirely destroyed them, had not Moses's
prayers prevented. They were condemn-
ed, however, to wander in the desert till
the end of forty years, till that whole
generation, except Caleb and Joshua,
should be cut off by death. Here they
were often punished for their rebellion,
idolatry, whoredom, &c. God's marvel-
lous favors, however, were still continu-
ed in conducting and supplying them
with meat ; and the streams issuing from
the rock Meribah, followed their camp
about thirty-nine years, and their clothes
never waxed old. On their entrance into
Canaan, God ordered them to cut off eve-
ry idolatrous Canaanite ; but they spared
vast numbers of them, who enticed them
to wickedness, and were sometimes
God's rod to punish them. For many
ages they had enjoyed little prosperity,
and often relapsed into awful idolatry,
worshipping Baalim, Ashtaroth, Micah
and the Danites introduced it not long af-
ter Joshua's death. About this time the
lewdness of the men of Gibeah occasion-
ed a war of the eleven tribes against their
brethren of Benjamin ; they were twice
routed by the Benjamites, and forty thou-
sand of them were slain. In the third,
however, all the Benjamites were slain,
except six hundred. Vexed for the loss
of a tribe, the other Hebrews provided
wives for these six hundred, at the ex-
pense of slaying most of the inhabitants
of Jabesh Gilead. Their relapses into
idolatry also brought on them repeated
turns of slavery from the heathen among
or around them. See books of Judges
and Samuel. Having been governed by
judges for about three hundred and forty
years, after the death of Joshua they took
a fancy to have a king. Saul was their
first sovereign, under whose reign they
had perpetual struggles with the Ammon-
ites, Moabites, and Philistines. After
about seven years' struggling between
the eleven tribes that clave to Ishbosheth,

JEWS.

687

the son of Saul, and the tribe of Judah,
which erected themselves into a kingdom
under David, David became sole mon-
arch. Under him they subdued their
neighbors, the Philistines, Edomites, and
others ; and took pessession of the whole
dominion which had been promised them,
from the border of Egypt to the banks
of the Euphrates. Under Solomon they
had little war : when he died, ten of the
Hebrew tribes formed a kingdom of Isra-
el, or Ephraim, for themselves, under
Jeroboam, the Son of Nebat, in opposi-
tion to the kingdom of Judah and Benja-
min, ruled by the family of David. The
kingdom of Israel, Ephraim, or the ten
tribes, had never so much as one pious
king : idolatry was always their estab-
lished religion. The kingdom of Judah
had pious and wicked sovereigns by
turns, though they often relapsed into
idolatry, which brought great distress
upon them. See books of Samuel, Kings,
and Chronicles. Not only the kingdom
of Israel, but that of Judah, was brought
to the very brink of ruin after the death
of Jehoshaphat. After various changes,
sometimes for the better, and sometimes
for the worse, the kingdom of Israel was
rumed, two hundred and fifty-four years
after its erection, by So, king of Egypt,
and Halmanaster, king of Assyria, who
invaded it, and destroyed most of the
people. Judah was invaded by Senna-
cherib; butHezekiah's piety, and Isaiah's
prayer, were the means of their preserva-
tion ; but under Manasseh, the Jews
abandoned themselves to horrid impiety ;
for which they were punished by Esar-
haddon, king of Assyria, who invaded
and reduced the kingdom, and carried
Manasseh prisoner to Babylon. Manas-
seh repented, and the Lord brought him
back to his kingdom, where he promoted
the reformation ; but his son Amon de-
faced all. Josiah, however, again promoted
it, and carried it to a higher pitch than in
the reigns of David and Solomon. After
Josiah was slain by Pharaoh Necho, king
of Egypt, the people returned to idolatry,
and God gave them up to servitude to the
Egyptians and the Chaldeans. The fate
of their kings Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Je-
hoiachin, and Zedekiah, was unhappy.
Provoked by Zedekiah's treachery, Ne- 1

buchadnezzar invaded the kingdom, mur
dered vast numbers, and reduced them to
captivity. Thus the kingdom of Judah
was ruined, A. M. 3416, about three hun-
dred and eighty-eight years after its divi-
sion from that of the ten tribes. In the
seventieth year from the begun captivity,
the Jews, according to the edict of Cy-
rus, king of Persia, who had overturned
the empire of Chaldea, returned to their
own country. See Nehemiah, Ezra.
Vast numbers of them, who had agreea-
ble settlements, remained in Babylon.
After their return they rebuilt the temple
and city of Jerusalem, put away their
strange wives, aud renewed their cove-
nants with God.

About 3490, or 3546, they escaped the
ruin designed them by Haman. About
3653, Darius Ochus, king of Persia, ra-
vaged part of Judea, and carried off a
great many prisoners. When Alexan-
der was in Canaan, about 3670, he con-
firmed to them all their privileges ; and,
having built Alexandria, he settled vast
numbers of them there. About fourteen
years after, Ptolemy Lagus, the Greek
king of Egypt, ravaged Judea, and car-
ried one hundred thousand prisoners to
Egypt, but used them kindly, and assign-
ed them many places of trust. About
eight years after, he transported another
multitude of Jews to Egypt and gave them
considerable privileges. About the same
time, Seleucus Nicanor, having built
about thirty new cities in Asia, settled in
them as many Jews as he could; and
Ptolemy Philadelphus of Egypt, about
3720, bought the freedom of all the Jew
slaves in Egypt. Antiochus Epiphanes,
sbout 3834, enraged with them for re-
joicing at the report of his death, and for
the peculiar form of their worship, in his
return from Egypt, forced his way into
Jerusalem, and murdered forty thousand
of them ; and about two years after he
ordered his troops to pillage the cities of
Judea, and murder the men, and sell the
women and children for slaves. Multi-
tudes were killed, and ten thousand
prisoners carried off; the temple was
dedicated to Olympius, an idol of Greece,
and the Jews exposed to the basest treat-
ment. Mattathias, the priest, with his
sons, chiefly Judas, Jonathan, and Simon,

688

JEWS.

who were called Maccabees, bravely-
fought for their religion and liberties.
Judas, who succeeded his father about
3840, gave Nicanor and the king's troops
a terrible defeat, regained the temple, and
dedicated it anew, restored the daily wor-
ship, and repaired Jerusalem, which was
almost in a ruinous heap. After his death,
Jonathan and Simon, his brethren, suc-
cessively succeeded him ; and both wise-
ly and bravely promoted the welfare of
the church and state. Simon was suc-
ceeded by his son Hircanus, who sub-
dued Idumea, and reduced the Samari-
tans. In 3899 he was succeeded by his
son Janneus, who reduced the Philis-
tines, the country of Moab, Ammon, Gi-
lead, and part of Arabia. Under these
three reigns alone the Jewish nation was
independent after the captivity. After
the death of the widow of Janneus, who
governed nine years, the nation was al-
most ruined with civil broils. In 3939,
Aristobulus invited the Romans to assist
him against Hircanus, his elder brother.
The country was quickly reduced, and
Jerusalem took by force ; and Pompey,
and a number of his officers, pushed their
way into the sanctuary, if not into the
Holy of Holies, to view the furniture
thereof. Nine years after, Crassus the
Roman general, pillaged the temple of its
valuables. After Judea had for more
than thirty years been a scene of ravage
and blood, and twenty-four of which had
been oppressed by Herod the Great, He-
rod got himself installed in the kingdom.
About twenty years before our Saviour's
birth, he, with the Jews' consent, began
to build the temple. About this time the
Jews had hopes of the Messiah; and
about A. M. 4000, Christ actually came,
whom Herod (instigated by the fear of
losing his throne) sought to murder. The
Jews, however, a few excepted, rejected
the Messiah, and put him to death. The
sceptre was now wholly departed from
Judah ; and Judea, about twenty-seven
years before, reduced to a province. The
Jews since that time, have been scattered,
contemned, persecuted, and enslaved
among all nations, not mixed with any in
the common manner, but have remained
as a body distinct by themselves.

2. Jews, sentimeiits of. The Jews com-

monly reckon but thirteen articles of
their faith. Maimonides, a famous Jew-
ish rabbi, reduced them to this number
when he drew up their confession about
the end of the eleventh century, and it
was generally received. All the Jews
are obliged to live and die in the profes-
sion of these thirteen articles, which are
as follows : — 1. That God is the creator
of all things ; that he guides and supports
all creatures ; that he has done every
thing ; and that he still acts, and shall
act during the whole eternity. 2. That
God is one ; there is no unity like his.
He alone hath been, is, and shall be
eternally our God. 3. That God is in-
corporeal, and cannot have any material
properties ; and no corporeal essence
can be compared with him. 4. That
God is the beginning and end of all things,
and shall eternally subsist. 5. That God
alone ought to be worshipped, and none
beside him is to be adored. 6. That
whatever has been taught by the prophets
is true. 7. That Moses is the head and
father of all contemporary doctors, of
those who lived before or shall live after
him. 8. That the law was given by
Moses. 9. That the law shall never be
altered, and that God will give no other.
10. That God knows all the thoughts and
actions of men. 1 1 . That God will re-
gard the works of all those who have
performed what he commands, and pun-
ish those who have transgressed his
laws. 12. That the Messiah is to come,
though he tarry a long time. 13. That
there shall be a resurrection of the dead
when God shall think fit.

The modern Jews adhere still as close-
ly to the Mosaic dispensation, as their
dispersed and despised condition will per-
mit them. Their service consists chiefly
in reading the law in their synagogues,
together with a variety of prayers. They
use no sacrifices since the destruction of
the temple. They repeat blessings and
particular praises to God, not only in
their prayers, but on all accidental occa-
sions, and in almost all their actions.
They go to prayers three times a day in
their synagogues. Their sermons are not
made in Hebrew, which few of them now
perfectly understand, but in the language
of the country where they reside. They

JEWS.

are forbidden all vain swearing, and pro-
nouncing any of the names of God with-
out necessity. They abstain from meats
prohibited by the Levitical law ; for which
reason, whatever they eat must be dress-
ed by Jews, and after a manner peculiar
to themselves. As soon as a child can
speak, they teach him to read and trans-
late the Bible into the language of the
country where they live. In general they
observe the same ceremonies which were
practised by their ancestors in the cele-
bration of the passover. They acknow-
ledge a two-fold law of God, a written
and an unwritten one ; the former is con-
tained in the Pentateuch, or five books of
Moses ; the latter, they pretend, was de-
livered by God to Moses, and handed
down from him by oral tradition, and now
to be received as of equal authority with
the former. They assert the perpetuity
of their law, together with its perfection.
They deny the accomplishment of the
prophecies in the person of Christ ; al-
leging that the Messiah is not yet come,
and that he will make his appearance
with the greatest worldly pomp and gran-
deur, subduing all nations before him, and
subjecting them to the house of Judah.
Since the prophets have predicted his
mean condition and sufferings, they con-
fidently talk of two Messiahs ; one Ben-
Ephraim, whom they grant to be a per-
son of mean and afflicted condition in
this world ; and the other Ben-David,
who shall be a victorious and powerful
prince.

iThe Jews pray for the souls of the
dlad, because they suppose there is a
paradise for the souls of good men where
they enjoy glory in the presence of God.
They believe that the souls of the wick-
ed are tormented in hell with fire and
other punishments ;'that some are con-
demned to be punished in this manner
for ever, while others continue only for
a limited time, and this they call purgato-
ry, which is not different from hell in

respect of the place, but of the duration, f humanity to read the account without be

sees, and are as much attached to tradi-
tion as their ancestors were ; and assert
that whoever rejects the oral law de-
serves death. Hence they entertain an
implacable hatred to the Caraites, who
adhere to the text of Moses, rejecting the
rabbinistical interpretation.-.See Caraites.
There are still some of the Sadducees in
Africa, and in several other places ; but
they are few in number ; at least there
are but very few who declare openly for
these opinions.

There are to this day some remains of
the ancient sect of the Samaritans, who
are zealous for the law of Moses, but are
despised by the Jews, because they re-
ceive only the Pentateuch, and observe
different ceremonies from theirs. They
declare they are no Sadducees, but ac-
knowledge the spirituality and immortali-
ty of the soul. There are numbers of
this sect at Gaza, Damascus, Grand Cai-
ro, and in some other places of the east ;
but especially at Sichem, now called Na-
plouse, which is risen out of the ruins of
the ancient Samaria, where they sacri-
ficed not many years ago, having a place
for this purpose on Mount Genzim.

David Levi, a learned Jew, who in
1796, published " Dissertations on the
Prophecies of the Old Testament," ob-
serves in that work, that deism and infi-
delity have made such large strides in the
world, that they have at length reached
even to the Jewish nation ; many of
whom are at this time so greatly infected
with scepticism, by reading Bolingbroke,
Hume, Voltaire, &c, that they scarcely
believe in a revelation ; much less have
they hope in their future restoration.

3. Jews, calamities of. — All history
cannot furnish us with a parallel to the
calamities and miseries of the Jews ; ra-
pine and murder, famine and pestilence
within ; fire and sword, and all the ter-
rors of war without. Our Saviour wept
at the foresight of these calamities ; and
it almost impossible for persons of any

They suppose no Jew, unless guilty of
heresy, or certain crimes specified by
the rabbins, shall continue in purgatory
above a twelvemonth , and that there are
but few who suffer eternal punishment.
Almost all the modern Jews are Phari-
87

ing affected. The predictions concern-
ing them were remarkable, and the ca-
lamities that came upon them were the
greatest the world ever saw. Deut. xxviii,
xxix. Matt. xxiv. Now, what heinous
sin was it that could be the cause of such

690

JEWS.

heavy judgments ? Can any other be as- 1 Soon after the forts of Herodian and
signed than what the Scripture assigns ? - - ••
1 Thess. ii. 15, 16. " They both killed
the Lord Jesus and their own prophets,
and persecuted the apostles : and so fdl-
ed up their sins, and wrath came upon
them to the uttermost." It is hardly pos-
sible to consider the nature and extent
of their sufferings, and not conclude the
Jews' own imprecation to be singularly
fulfilled upon them, Matt, xxvii. 25. " His
blood be on us and our children." At
Cesarea 20,000 of the Jews were killed
by the Syrians in their mutual broils.
At Damascus 10,000 unarmed Jews were
killed : and at Bethshan the Heathen in-
habitants caused their Jewish neighbors
to assist them against their brethren, and
then murdered 13,000 of these inhabit-
ants. At Alexandria the Jews murdered
multitudes of the Heathens, and were
murdered in their turn to about 50,000.

The Romans under Vespasian invaded
the country, and took the cities of Gali-
lee, Chorazen, Bethsaida, Capernaum,
&c, where Christ had been especially
rejected, and murdored numbers of the
inhabitants. At Jerusalem the scene
was most wretched of all. At the pass-
over, when there might be two or three
millions of people in the city, the Romans
surrounded it v/ith troops, trenches, and
walls, that none might escape. The
three different factions witliin murdered
one another. Titus, one of the most mer-
ciful generals that ever breathed, did all
in his power to persuade them to an ad-
vantageous surrender, but they scorned
every proposal. The multitudes of un-
buried carcasses corrupted the air, and
produced a pestilence. The people fed
on one another ; and even ladies, it is
said, broiled their sucking infants, and
ate them. After a siege of six months,
the city was taken. They murdered al-
most every Jew they met with. Titus
was bent to save the temple, but could
not : there were six thousand Jews who
had taken shelter in it, all burnt or mur-i
dered ! The outcries of the Jews, when
they saw it, were most dreadful ; the
whole city, except three towers and a
small part of the wall, was raised to the
ground, and the foundations of the tem-
ple and other places were ploughed up.

Macheron were taken, the garrison of
Massada murdered themselves rather
than surrender. At Jerusalem alone, it
is said, one million one hundred thousand
perished by sword, famine, and pestilence.
In other places we hear of two hundred
and fifty thousand that were cut off, be-
sides vast numbers sent into Egypt to
labor as slaves. About fifty years after,
the Jews murdered about five hundred
thousand of the Roman subjects, for which
they were severely punished by Trajan.
About 130, one Barocaba pretended that
he was the Messiah, and raised a Jewish
army of two hundred thousand, who mur-
dered all the Heathens and Christians
who came in their way ; but he was de-
feated by Adrian's forces. In this war,
it is said, about sixty thousand Jews were
slain, and perished. Adrian built a city
on Mount Calvary, and erected a marble
statue of swine over the gate that led to
Bethlehem. No Jew was allowed to
enter the city, or to look to it at a dis-
tance, under pain of death.

In 360 they began to rebuild their city
and temple ; but a terrible earthquake
and flames of fire issuing from the earth,
killed the workmen, and scattered their
materials. Not till the seventh century
durst they so much as creep over the
rubbish to bewail it, without bribing the
guards. In the third, fourth, and fifth
centuries, there were many of them fu-
riously harassed and murdered. In the
sixth century twenty thousand of them
were slain, and as many taken and sold
for slaves. In 602 they were severely
punished for their horrible massacre of
the Christians at Antioch. In Spain, in
700, they were ordered to be enslaved.
In the eighth and ninth centuries they
were greatly derided and abused ; in some
places they Avere made to wear leathern
girdles, and ride without stirrups on asses
and mules. In France and Spain they
were much insulted. In the tenth, elev-
enth, and twelfth centuries, their miseries
increased ; they were greatly persecuted
in Egypt. Besides what they suffered
in the East by the Turkish and sacred
war, it is shocking to think what multi-
tudes of them the eight crusades mur-
dered in Germany, Hungary, Lesser

JEWS.

691

Asia, and elsewhere. In France multi-
tudes were burnt. In England, in 1020,
they were banished, and at the corona-
tion of Richard I, the mob fell upon them,
and murdered a great many of them.
About one thousand five hundred of them
were burnt in the palace in the city of
York, which they set fire to themselves,
after killing their wives and children.
In the thirteenth and fourteenth centu-
ries their condition was no better. In
Egypt, Canaan, and Syria, the crusaders
still harassed them. Provoked with
their mad running after pretended Mes-
siahs, Calif Nasser scarce left any of
them alive in his dominions of Mesopo-
tamia. In Persia, the Tartars murdered
them in multitudes. In Spain, Ferdinand
persecuted them furiously. About ] 349,
the terrible massacre of them at Toledo
forced many of them to murder them-
selves, or change their religion. About
1253, many were murdered, and others
banished from France, but in 1275 re-
called. In 1320 and 1330, the crusades
of the fanatic shepherds, vvho wasted the
south of France, massacred them ; be-
sides fifteen hundred that were murdered
on another occasion. In 1358 they were
totally banished from France, since which
few of them have entered that country.
In ] 291 king Edward expelled them from
England, to the number of one hundred
and sixty thousand. In the fifteenth,
sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries, their
misery continued. In Persia they have
been terribly used ; from 1663 to 1666,
the murder of them was so universal that
but a i'ew escaped to Turkey. In Por-
tugal and Spain they have been misera-
bly handled. About 1392, six or eight
hundred thousand were banished from
Spain. Some were drowned in their
passage to Africa ; some died by hard
usage ; and many of their carcasses lay
in the fields till the wild beasts devoured
them. In Germany they have endured
many hardships. They have been ban-
ished from Bohemia, Bavaria, Cologne,
Nuremberg, Augsburg, and Vienna ; they
have been terribly massacred in Moravia,
and plundered in Boun and Bamberg.
Except in Portugal and Spain, their pre-
sent condition is generally tolerable. In
Holland, Poland, and at Frankfort and

Hamburgh they have their liberty. They
have repeatedly, but in vain, attempted to
obtain a naturalization in England and
other nations among whom they are
scattered.

4. Jews, preservation of. — " The pre-
servation of the Jews," says Basnage,
" in the midst of the miseries which
they have undergone during 1700 years,
is the greatest prodigy that can be ima-
gined. Religions depend on temporal
prosperity ; they triumph under the pro-
tection of a conqueror ; they languish and
sink with sinking monarchies. Pagan-
ism, which once covered the earth, is
extinct. The Christian church, glorious
in its martyrs, yet was considerably di-
minished by the persecutions to which
it was exposed ; nor was it easy to repair
the breaches in it made by those acts of
violence. But here we behold a church
hated and persecuted for 1700 years, and
yet sustaining itself, and widely extended.
Kings have often employed the severity
of edicts and the hand of executioners
to ruin it. The seditious multitudes, by
murders and massacres, have commit-
ted outrages against it still more violent
and tragical. Princes and people. Pa-
gans, Mahometans, Christians, disagree-
ing, in so many things, have united in
the design of exterminating it, and have
not been able to succeed. The bush of
Moses, surrounded with flames, ever
burns, and is never consumed. The
Jews have been expelled, in diff'erent
times, from every part of the world,
which hath only served to spread them
in all regions. From age to age they
have been exposed to misery and perse-
cution ; yet still they subsist, in spite of
the ignominy and the hatred which hath
pursued them in all places, whilst the
greatest monarchies are fallen, and noth-
ing remains of them besides the name.

" The judgments which God has ex-
ercised upon this people are terrible ; ex-
tending to the men, the religion, and the
very land in which they dwelt. The
ceremonies essential to their religion can
no more be observed : the ritual law,
which cast a splendor on the national
worship, and struck the Pagans so much
that they sent their presents and their
victims to Jerusalem, is absolutely fallen,

692

LOMBARDS

for they have no temple, no altar, no sa-
crifices. Their land itself seems to lie
under a never-ceasing curse. Pagans,
Christians, Mohammedans, in a vpord,
almost all nations have by turns seized
and held Jerusalem. To the Jew only
hath God refused the possession of this
small tract of ground, so supremely ne-
cessary for him, since he ought to wor-
ship on this mountain. A Jewish writer
hath affirmed, that it is long since any
Jew has been settled near Jerusalem :
scarcely can they purchase there six feet
of land for a burying-place.

" In all this there is no exaggeration :
I am only pointing out known facts : and
far from having the least design to raise
an odium against the nation from its
miseries, I conclude that it ought to be
looked upon as one of those prodigies
which we admire without comprehend-
ing : since, in spite of evils so durable,
and a patience so long exercised, it is
preserved by a particular providence.
The Jew ought to be weary of expecting
a Messiah, who so unkindly disappoints
his vain hopes ; and the Christian ought
to have his attention and his regard ex-
cited towards men whom God preserves,
for so great a length of time, under ca-
lamities which would have been the total
ruin of any other people."

5. Jews, number and dispersion of.-^
They are looked upon to be as numerous
at present as they were formerly in the
land of Canaan. Some have rated them
at three millions, and others more than
double that number. Their dispersion is
a remarkable particular in this people.

They swarm all over the east, and are
settled, it is said, in the remotest parts of
China. The Turkish empire abounds
with them. There are more of them at
Constantinople and Salonichi than in any
other place : they are spread through
most of the nations of Europe and Africa,
and many families of them are establish-
ed in the West Indies ; not to mention
whole nations bordering on Prester John's
country, and some discovered in the in-
ner parts of America, if we may give any
credit to their own writers. Their being
always in rebellions (as Addison observes)
while they had the Holy Temple in view,
has excited most nations to banish them.
Besides, the whole people are now a
race of such merchants as are wanderers
by profession ; and at the same time are
in most, if not in all places, incapable of
either lands or offices, that might engage
them to make any part of the world their
home. In addition to this, we may con-
sider what providential reasons may be
assigned for their numbers and disper-
sion. Their firm adherence to their re-
ligion, and being dispersed all over the
earth, has furnished every age and every
nation with the strongest arguments for
the Christian faith ; not only as these
very particulars are foretold of them, but
as they themselves are the depositories
of these and all other prophecies which
tend to their own confusion and the
establishment of Christianity. Their num-
ber furnishes us with a sufficient cloud
of witnesses that attest the truth of the
Bible, and their dispersion spreads these
witnesses through all parts of the world.

LOMBARDS.

The first credible account of this na-
tion was given in 379, by Prosper Aqui-
tanus, bishop of Rhegium. That pre-
late, in a chronicle of his own composi-
tion, asserts that the Lombards, leaving
their original country, Scandinavia, in
quest of new settlements, attacked and
vanquished the Vandals in Scoringa.
They afterward migrated into Mauringa,
and thence into Gothland, where they

first elected a king, and conferred a regal
title on Agilmund, the son of their de-
ceased chieftain Aion.

Lamissio, the successor of Agilmund,
is said to have gained a signal victory
over the Amazons and Bulgarians. Of
his successors, Leta and Ildehoc, noth-
ing satisfactory has been recorded, ex-
cept that in the reign of the latter the
Lombards took possession of Rugiland,

LOMBARDS.

693

which had been recently depopulated by
the sword of Odoacer.

During- the reign of Adoinus, a war
was kindled between the Lombards and
Gepidse, and a general engagement took
place, in which the latter were defeated
with great slaughter. As the victory
gained on this occasion was chiefly ow-
ing to Alboinus, the king's son, the prin-
cipal men among the Lombards earnestly
requested that he might be indulged, as
a reward of his extraordinary gallantry,
in dining at the royal table. Adoinus
replied, he would readily grant this re-
quest, but that the ancient laws of his
nation forbade even the princes of the
blood to receive such a mark of dis-
tinction, till they had publicly appeared
in the armor of some foreign prince
whom they had overthrown in battle.
Hereupon the warlike prince, attended
only by forty resolute men, repaired to
the court of Turistind, king of the Gepi-
dae, to demand the armor of his son, who
had been killed by Alboinus in the above-
mentioned battle. Turisund, instead of
off'ering any violence to the intrepid
claimant, entertained him with the utmost
hospitality, and granted his request, with
which he returned in triumph, and was
permitted to sit at table with his royal
parent. The Lombards under this reign
were masters of the champaign country
bordering on the Danube, and many of
them, by permission of Justinian, fixed
their abode in Pannonia.

On the demise of Adoinus, the valiant
Alboinus succeeded to the sovereignty,
and gained some important advantages
over the Gepidae, whose king he slew
with his own hand, and, according to the
custom of savage warriors, caused his
skull to be converted into a drinking cup.
By this victory Alboinus gained such
reputation, that his subjects were perfect-
ly enraptured with his martial disposition ;
his valor and prowess became the favorite
theme of Gothic bards ; and even Nar-
ses solicited his assistance against the
Ostrogoths in Italy. For their services
on that occasion the Lombards received
d profusion of rich presents ; and con-
tinued faithful allies to the Romans so
long as they remained in Pannonia.

About the year 568 the Lombards, with

a numerous army of auxiliaries, took their
route towards Italy, which they entered
without opposition, and made themselves
masters of several important cities ; the
inhabitants having retired precipitately
to the neighboring islands in the Adriatic.
Alboinus having cantoned his troops in
the adjacent villages, took up his winter
quarters in Friuli, and erected that city
and its territory into a duchy, conferring^the
titleof dukeon hisownnephew Gisulphus.

Early in the ensuing spring Alboinus
took the field ; and successively reduced
the cities of Monte Selce, Vicenza, Ve-
rona, and Trent, in each of which he
placed a strong garrison, under the com-
mand of an officer whom he honored
with the ducal title ; but these dukes
were only governors of their respective
cities, and bore that appellation no longer
than the king thought proper to continue
them in their command.

In their third campaign the Lombards
became masters of Bresica, Bergamo,
Lodi, Como, and the other towns of Li-
guria, quite to the Alps ; the inhabitants
either fleeing at their approach or sur-
rendering without resistance. The citi-
zens of Milan, indeed, made some efl^orts
for the preservation of their liberty, but,
after a short struggle, they submitted : and
Alboinus was proclaimed king of Italy
amidst the acclamations of his followers

From Milan the conqueror marched to
Paira, which, being well garrisoned, and
furnished with an abundance of provis-
ions, sustained a siege for upwards of
three years ; but at the expiration of
that time it surrendered upon honor-
able conditions, and was, shortly after,
chosen by Alboinus for the metropolis of
his new kingdom.

Alboinus being now master of all that
part of Italy which comprehended Vene-
tia, Liguria, Umbria, iEmilia, and Etru-
ria, resolved to establish the government
and security of these provinces before
he attempted to extend his conquests ;
but whilst he was making the necessary
arrangements for this purpose, he was
assassinated by command of his queen
Rosamund,* whom he had incensed

* This princess was the daughter of Cuni-
mund, king of the Gepidse, whom Alboinus had
killed with his own hand in battle.

694

LOMBARDS

beyond forgiveness by commanding her
to drink out of her father's skull, Avhich
was used as a drinking cup in a royal
banquet at Verona.

To reward the execution of her re-
venge, Rosamund bestowed her hand on
the assassin Helmichild ; and promised
to invest him with the sovereignty ; but
the Lombards were so violently exasper-
ated at the loss of their beloved prince,
that both herself and her new consort
were compelled to flee to Ravenna, where
they implored the protection of the ex-
arch Longinus. Here Rosamund formed
the design of attaching Longinns to her
interest by the same means which had
formerly prevailed with Helmichild, and
accordingly presented the latter with a
deleterious potion as he returned from
bathing ; but Helmichild, experiencing
an extraordinary sensation on taking the
first draught, compelled the treacherous
queen to swallow the remainder, by which
means she participated in his untimely
fate.

Meanwhile the Lombards, having per-
formed the funeral obsequies of their de-
ceased sovereign, proceeded to the elec-
tion of a new king, and, after some con-
sultation, fixed their choice on Clephis,
a man of known valor and abilities.
This prince undertook the re-building of
Imola, which had been destroyed byNar-
ses ; reduced Rimini ; and extended his
conquests to the very gates of Rome ;
but the cruelty of his disposition tarnish-
ed the lustre of all his military achiev-
ments, and eventually induced his own
subjects to take him off by assassination.

Upon the demise of Clephis, the Lom-
bards resolved to abolish the monarchi-
cal form of government, and accordingly
lived under their dukes or commanders
of cities for the space of ten years, dur-
ing which time they committed many
depredations in Gaul, and reduced sev-
eral cities of importance in Italy. But
the powerful confederacy which was
formed against them in the time of the
emperor Mauritius, induced them to re-
store the ancient regimen, and to unite
their forces under the authority of an in-
dividual who might undertake the man-
agement of so dangerous a war.

Pursuant to this resolution a general

assembly was called in 585, and the re-
gal title conferred on Autharis, the son
of Clephis. This prince had no sooner
ascended the throne than he assumed the
name of Flavius, and ordered it to be
used, in imitation of the Roman empe-
rors, by all his successors. He then
obliged the dukes, who for ten years, had
ruled with absolute authority over their
respective territories, to contribute a
moiety of their revenues towards the
maintenance of his royal dignity ; and
enacted various salutary laws against
murder, adultery, theft, and other crimes,
which, at that time, were frequently com-
mitted by his subjects.

Nor was Autharis only attentive to the
government and welfare of his people ;
but, on the first intimation that Childeric,
king of the Franks, was marching into
his dominions, in violation of a recent
treaty, he assembled his troops with in-
credible despatch, and animated them so
effectually by his exhortations and exam-
ple, that the invaders were utterly over-
thrown, and pursued to the mountains
with incredible slaughter. A second ex-
pedition was undertaken by the Franks
to retrieve this signal loss, but victory
again declared for Autharis, and their at-
tempts were only productive of confu-
sion and shame. Some time after the
retreat of this enemy, Autharis reduced
the province of Samnium and the city of
Benevento. He is also said to have
projected the reduction of Rome, and the
exarchate of Ravenna ; but previously to
the accomplishment of this design, he
was taken off by poison, after having
worn the crown about six years. Au-
tharis was the first Lombard king who
embraced the Christian religion, and his
example was followed by most of his
subjects ; but, as they were unfortunately
instructed by Arian bishops, they contin-
ued long infested with that heresy, which
occasioned many warm disputations be-
tween them and the orthodox bishops of
the cities subject to their dominion.

Agilulf, duke of Turin, a person of ex-
traordinary merit, was next elevated to
the regal dignity, in 590. At the request
of his queen Theudelinda, he embraced
the Catholic faith, and induced many of
his subjects to abjure their former errors.

LOMBARDS.

695

However, the commencement of his
reign was disturbed by rebellion ; and
he found himself obliged to take up
arms against his own countrymen ; for
the dukes of Bergamo, and the island of
St. Julian, revolted from their allegiance,
and claimed an absolute authority in
their respective districts ; but these dis-
turbances were at length quelled without
much bloodshed ; and a peace was con-
cluded with the exarch of Ravenna, who
had vainly attempted to recover Italy
during the intestine commotions.

Notwithstanding the conclusion of this
treaty, Callincius, the treacherous exarch,
taking advantage of some fresh disturb-
ances that were raised by the dukes of Ve-
rona and Bergamo, fell unexpectedly upon
the city of Parma, in which he found a
considerable treasure, and took the king's
daughter and her husband prisoners. —
Hereupon Agilulf resolved to pursue the
war against the Romans with unremitting
vigor, and engaged Chagan, king of the
Avares, to make a powerful diversion in
Thrace, while he carried on his military
preparations in Italy. This design was im-
mediately followed by the reduction of
many Roman cities, and a vast effusion of
blood both in Thrace and Italy ; but
Chagan was at length compelled to re-
tire by a pestilence which raged in the
army ; and Agilulf hearing that the em-
peror had issued out orders for the resto-
ration of his daughter, son-in-law, and
treasures that had been taken at Pavia,
agreed to grant the Romans a truce for
six months, which was afterward pro-
longed to three years.

The swords of the Lombards had no
sooner returned to their scabbards, and the
inhabitants of Italy congratulated them-
selves on the return of peace, than Cacan-
us, king of the Hunns, made a sudden ir-
ruption into the dukedom of Friuli ; made
himself master of Forum Julii, the me-
tropolis ; ravaged the country with fire
and sword ; and carried all the inhabit-
ants, who escaped death, into captivity.
About the same time Joannes Lemigius,
exarch of Ravenna, was murdered by
the populace of that city on account of
his tyrannical conduct ; and Joannes
Composinus, duke of Naples, resolved
to shake off his allegiance to the empe-

ror ; but, on the arrival of Eleutherius
from Constantinople, these disturbances
were effectually quelled.

On the demise of Agilulf, which hap-
pened in 615, the Lombards bestowed
the regal title on Adaluald ; but, as that
prince was a minor, he suffered the state
to be governed by his mother Theude-
linda, under whom the church began to
flourish, and the Lombards to taste the
sweets of uninterrupted peace. In the
eighth year of his reign, however, Euse-
bius, who was sent from Constantinople
to conclude a permanent peace with the
Lombards, gained the confidence of the
young king, and wrought so artfully upon
his passions, by pretending to unravel a
secret conspiracy, that twelve of the
Lombard nobles were put to death by the
royal command ; an outrage which occa-
sioned the immediate deposition of Ada-
luald and Theudelinda, the former of
whom is supposed to have been taken off
by poison, and the latter soon fell a victim
to unconquerable grief.

Ariovald, duke of Turin, who had es-
poused the daughter of the deposed king,
was next placed on the throne ; and, ex-
clusive of some disturbances which hap-
pened previously to the death of Adaluald,
his reign was marked by public tranquil-
lity both at home and abroad. He is said
to have confined his queen to the castle
of Amellum on the false accusation of
one of his nobles, who had vainly endea-
vored to obtain the gratification of an un-
lawful passion ; but, after some time, the
cause being tried by single combat, ac-
cording to the custom of the northern na-
tions, the accuser was convicted of false-
hood, and the virtuous princess was re-
stored to her former dignity.

Shortly after this incident, Ariovald
died ; and, as he left no successor, Ro-
tharis, duke of Brescia, was elected to
the sovereignty in 636. This person,
exclusive of his theological tenets, was,
in every respect, worthy of that dignity,
and has been equally commended, by the
writers of his own age, for his valor, equi-
ty, and moderation. He undertook, in
imitation of the Romans, the promulgation
of written laws ; augmented his domin-
ions by the reduction of all the cities in
Venetia, which had been hitherto held

696

LOMBARDS.

by the Romans ; and, after a glorious
reign of sixteen years, sunk to the tomb
in full possession of his people's love.

Rodoald, the son and successor of Ro-
tharis, appears to have been a prince of
a pacifie disposition, for none of his trans-
actions have been recorded in history.
He is said to have been infected with the
heresy of Arius, and to have indulged
himself in illicit amours, for one of which
he was assassinated.

Aripert was next proclaimed king of
the Lombards in a general assembly ; but
none of his actions have been transmitted
to posterity, except his rebuilding the
oratory of St. Saviour in Pavia. He is
said to have reigned nine years, and to
have divided the kingdom between his
two sons, Partharit and Gundebert.

This division of the regal authority
soon produced the most fatal consequen-
ces; for Partharit, having roused his
brother's indignation respecting the seat
of royal residence, Gundebert resolved
to seize on the whole kingdom, and ac-
cordingly sent Garibald, duke of Turin,
as his ambassador to Grimoald, duke of
Benevento, inviting him to his assistance,
and promising to give him his sister in
marriage if he succeeded in the undertak-
ing ; but Garibald, instead of executing
his commission with fidelity, exhorted
the duke of Benevento to expel both the
brothers, and seize on the kingdom for
himself. Hereupon Grimoald assembled
a numerous army, and marched towards
Pavia, where he was persuaded, by the
treacherous Garibald, to murder Gunde-
bert in his own palace; to seize on the
royal treasures ; and to cause himself to
be proclaimed king of the Lombards.

Upon the first intelligence of this dis-
aster, Partharit abandoned his capital,
and fled to the court of Chagan, king of
the Avares, while his queen Rodolind,
and his infant son Cunipert, were left at
the mercy of Grimoald, by whom they
were sent prisoners to the city of Bene-
vento, about 662.

Notwithstanding the readiness with
Avhich the LoRibards submitted to their
invaders, Grimoald could not suppose
himself secure, while his competitor re-
sided at the court of Chagan. He, there-
fore, sent an embassy to that prince,

complaining of the protection he had af-
forded Partharit, and threatening imme-
diate war unless the cause of discontent
was immediately removed. The king
of the Avares was extremely reluctant to
abandon his unhappy guest to the malice
of an enemy ; but, after some considera-
tion, motives of policy triumphed over
humanity, and an order was issued out
for Partharit to retire to some other coun-
try. In this distressing exigence, the
royal exile resolved to throw himself up-
on the generosity of his rival, and accor-
dingly despatched one of Ids trusty friends
to obtain leave for him to reside, as a pri-
vate citizen, at Pavia. Grimoald readily
acceded to this proposal, and ordered a
residence to be prepared altogether suit-
able for the quality of his petitioner ; but
the demonstrations of joy which marked
Partharit's entry, and the avidity with
which the nobles flocked to visit him, soon
rekindled the flame of jealousy in Gri-
moald's bosom, and finally compelled him
to issue out private orders for the unfor-
tunate prince's assassination. This act
of barbarity, however, was prevented by
the vigilance of one of the Lombards, and
Partharit was enabled to escape, first to
Hasta, and aftervvards into Gaul.

Clotair ni,kingof the Franks, listened
with compassion to the sorrowful tale of
Partharit, and readily undertook to re-
place him on the throne ; but, though this
project was immediately put in execution,
the expedition was rendered abortive,
and Grimoald still triumphed in his new
possessions. Some time after the defeat
of the Franks, a more redoubtable enemy
appeared in the person of Constans, who,
at the head of a formidable army, landed
at Tarentum, and thence proceeded to
Benevento, marking his progress with
slaughter and desolation ; however, after
some obstinate conflicts, Constans was
obliged to retire with considerable loss ;
and the Lombards improved their recent
victory by the reduction of several places
of importance. Grimoald, after these
successes, devoted his time chiefly to the
emendation of the laws ; the regulations
of government ; and the fulfilment of
other royal duties ; but his reign was at
length suddenly terminated, after he had
governed the Lombards for the space of

LOMBARDS.

697

nine years.* He appears to have been
a prince of extraordinary parts, and the
general equity of his conduct endeared
his administration to the subjects of his
conquest. He had been educated in the
principles of Arius, but he renounced the
doctrines of that heresiarch, after his ele-
vation to the throne of the Lombards ;
and his example operated so pow^erfuUy,
that Arianism was gradually abjured by
the generality of the nation.

Garibald, thou2:h considerably younger
than his brother Romuald, w^as appointed
by the late prince to succeed to the crown ;
but his dig-nity was of short duration ; for
Partharit was, almost immediately, re-
called and reinstated in his lawful pos-
sessions ; while Garibald retired to his
brother in Benevento. Partharit, having
governed in perfect tranquillity for eight
years, took his son, Cunipert, for his col-
league in the kingdom, and reigned with
him ten years more ; at the expiration
of which time he died, universally la-
mented by his faithful Lombards.

Upon the demise of this prince, Ala-
chis, duke of Trent, threw off his alle-
giance, and chased Cunipert, the son of
Partharit, from the throne ; however, he
did not long enjoy the fruits of his treach-
ery, for the principal men among the Lom-
bards undertook to recall their lawful
sovereign, and an engagement ensued,
which, after an obstinate resistance, ter-
minated in the death of Alachis, and the
total defeat of his partisans. After this
victory, Cunipert built a magnificent mon-
astery in honor of St. George, and sway-
ed the sceptre in undisturbed tranquillity
till the year 703, when his death occa-
sioned an universal lamentation among a
nation who had ever admired his quahfi-
cations, and reverenced his extraordinary
piety.

The government next devolved upon
Luitbert, son of the deceased monarch,
A. D. 703 ; but, as he was a minor under
the tutelage of Asprand, a person of great
distinction, Ragumbert, duke of Turin,
resolved to embrace so favorable an op-
portunity of gratifying his ambition ; and

* He had been let blood in one of his arms ;
and as he was, nine days after, bending a bow,
the vein burst, and all means for closing it prov-
ing ineffectual, he bled to death.

accordingly caused himself to be pro-
claimed king of the Lombards, after hav-
ing defeated Asprand in a pitched battle ;
however, his career was soon terminated
by death, and the crown descended to
his son Aripert, who caused the lawful
heir to be stifled in a bath, and exercised
the most shocking cruelties on the family
of Asprand, who had himself escaped
destruction by a precipitate flight. At
the expiration of nine years, however,
Asprand returned into Italy, and a bloody
engagement en.sued, which terminated
in the usurper's destruction ; for, his for-
ces being totally routed, he abandoned
Pavia in the utmost confusion, and was
drowned in attempting to ford the river
Tesino. The conqueror was then placed
on the throne by the unanimous consent
of the people, but he died about three
months after his accession.

Luitprand, the son and successor of
Asprand, had scarcely assumed the in-
signia of royalty, A. D. 711, before two
conspiracies were formed against his life ;
but these were rendered abortive by the
courage and foresight of the king, and
the very men who had engaged to im-
brue their hands in his blood were after-
wards converted into sincere friends and
faithful servants. Having taken suitable
precautions for his own safety, Luitprand
strengthened his interest by marrying the
daughter of the duke of Boioarii, and ap-
plied himself so zealously to the promul-
gation of a new code of laws, that he has
been accounted the chief legislator of the
Lombards, next to Rotharis. However,
ambition appears to have been his darling
passion ; for, while the tranquillity of Italy
was disturbed by an edict of liCO Isauri-
cus, relative to the destruction of images
in the church, Luitprand suddenly led
his forces against Ravenna ; and, having
carried it by storm, gave it up to be plun-
dered by his soldiers. The reduction of
this important place, together with the
surrender of several other cities in the
exarchate, greatly alarmed Gregory 11,
bishop of Rome, who immediately wrote
to Ursus, duke of Venice, and used such
pressing arguments on behalf of the dis-
tressed exarch, that the Venetians readily
consented to oppose the Lombards with
all the forces of their repubhc ; and Ra-

698

LOMBARDS,

venna was soon after recovered, while
Luitprand was triumphing in the success
of his projects at Pavia.

Gregory, having contributed so essen-
tially toward the recovery of Ravenna,
persuaded himself that the emperor would
now, from motives of gratitude, attend to
his remonstrances, and consent to revoke
the unpopular edict against the worship
of images ; but Leo, knowing that the
pope had been rather influenced by mo-
tives of interest, than any regard for the
empire, expressed the utmost resentment
at the delay of his commands, and, after
some time, commanded the exarch to
seize on the pontiff, and send him in
chains to Constantinople ; but this design
was frustrated by the interposition of
Luitprand, who justly supposed that, by
assisting sometimes one and sometimes
the other, he might effectually weaken
both parties. Leo, however, still persist-
ed in his resolution, and gave the exarch
such instructions for putting his edict in
execution, that all Italy was convulsed
by feuds and rebellions ; the populace of
Ravenna committed the most daring out-
rages ; and the exarch himself was event-
\ially murdered ; while all the cities of
Pentapolis and of Romagna rcA^olted from
the imperial authority, and tendered their
allegiance to the king of the Lombards,
who took especial care to improve the
discontent of the people to his own ad-
A'antage.

Eutychius, the new exarch, knowing
it would be impossible to reduce the re-
bellious Romans, while they were sup-
ported by the king of the Lombards, em-
ployed all his arts to bring over that prince
to the imperial party ; and, at length, per-
suaded him to attempt, in concert with
Leo's forces, the reduction of Rome.
However, Gregory found means to soften
the royal Lombard so effectually, that he
publicly implored pardon for entering into
an alliance against him; divested himself
of his girdle, mantle, gauntlet, sword, and
crown, in the church of St. Peter, to ex-
press his humiliation ; and, finally, effect-
ed a reconciliation between the pontiff
and the exarch.

On the demise of Leo, his son, Con-
stantino Copronymus, renewed the edict
against images, and even forbade the in-

vocation of saints ; by which means Italy
was again involved in confusion, and the
Romans were confirmed in their resolu-
tion of separating entirely from the empire.

Zachary, who had now succeeded to
the papal chair, despatched a solemn em-
bassy to Luitprand, entreating him to re-
store some cities which Gregory had sur-
rendered upon his raising the siege of
Rome. This request was readily granted,
and Luitprand, on a future occasion, gave
a more convincing proof of his respect to
the pontiff, by abandoning a project which
he had formed for the augmentation of his
dominions. Shortly after these transac-
tions, Luitprand died, in the thirty-second
year of his reign, leaving behind him
the character of an equitable and nmnifi-
cent prince, who always treated his sub-
jects as his own children, and whose only
faults resulted from an insatiate desire of
conquest.

Luitprand was succeeded by his grand-
son Hildebrand, in 743 ; but the Lombards,
finding his abilities inadequate to the cares
of government, deposed him, after an in-
glorious reign of seven months, and be-
stowed the sovereignty on Rachis, duke
of Friuli, who was universally esteemed
for the suavity of his disposition and the
sanctity of his manners. This prince
commenced his reign with confirming
the treaty that had been recently conclu-
ded with the Romans, and publishing a
new code of laws. After some time, he
began to thirst after an aggrandizement
of power, and accordingly led a numerous
army against the Roman dukedom ; but,
Mdiile he was employed in forming the
siege of Perugia, Zachary paid him a visit,
and wrought so effectually upon his pas-
sions, that he not only abandoned all his
warlike projects, but, in the course of the
next year, renounced his kingdom, and,
assuming the habit of St. Benedict, retired
to the monastery of Monte Cassino, where
he ended his days, and where, after his
decease, he was canonized as a saint.

Upon the resignation of Rachis, A. D.
751, the Lombards assembled, and be-
stowed the crown on his brother, Astul-
phus,aman equally admired for his cour-
age in action and his prudence in council.
He concluded a peace with Stephen II,
bishop of Rome, in order to divert that

LOMBARDS.

699

pontifl' from opposing the design lie had
upon the exarchate, which he reduced,
after an obstinate resistance, and event-
ually changed into a dukedom. He then
required the Romans to acknowledge him
for their sovereign, alleging, in justifica-
tion of his demand, that the exarchate,
which he held by right of conquest, gave
him the same power which the emperor
had formerly possessed over that part of
Italy and the Roman dukedom. At the
same time he advanced, with his victo-
rious troops, to the vicinage of Rome,
and proclaimed his intention of plundering
that august city, unless the inhabitants
consented to acknowledge him, by pay-
ing an annual tribute.

The Pope, alarmed at these proceed-
ings, endeavored to divert the enemy from
his purpose by arguments, entreaties, and
sumptuous presents ; but these were all
rejected with contempt, and an applica-
tion to the emperor proved equally un-
successful. At length, however, Stephen
repaired in person to the court of France,
and prevailed on Pepin to espouse his
cause by making war upon the Lombards.
Hereupon Pepin entered Italy at the head
of a numerous army, and invested it so
closely on every side, that Astulphus was
overwhelmed with consternation, and will-
ingly consented to restore the exarcharte,
together with Pentapolis, and all the
places he had seized in the Roman duke-
dom, to the Pope ; and delivered forty
hostages to Pepin for the performance of
these articles. But an immediate viola-
tion of this treaty roused the resentment
of Stephen, and induced him once more
to recur to his powerful protector, who
immediately re-crossed the Alps, and be-
sieged Astulphus so closely in his metro-
polis, that he was compelled to surrender
the exarcharte and the other countries,
according to his former promise, in order
to obtain a cessation of hostilities. His
warlike disposition, however, prompted
him to make some further efforts for the
reduction of Ravenna ; but his ambitious
projects were suddenly terminated by ac-
cidental death.

Upon the demise of this prince, Desi-
derius, duke of Tuscany, assumed the
regal title, in 756, and contrived to fix
the Pope in his interest. He also en-

deavored to strengthen himself by marry-
ing his two daughters to Charles and
Carloman, who had succeeded Pepin on.
the throne of France ; but this alliance
proved of short continuance ; and a dis-
pute with Adrian, who had now succeed-
ed to the pontificate, involved the king in
a serious embarrassment ; for, whilst his
troops were busied in ravaging Pentapo-
lis, and Rome itself was threatened with
destruction, Charlemagne crossed over
into Italy, and attacked the Lombards with
such irresistible fury, that they fled be-
fore him in the utmost consternation, and
Desiderus himself thought proper to take
refuge in Pavia.

Charlemagne, hearing that the king
had retired to his metropolis, ordered his
uncle, Bernard, to besiege that city with
the utmost vigor, whilst himself, with a
select body of troops, should invest Ve-
rona, and pay a visit to Rome, in order to
celebrate the feast of Easter. Verona
was reduced, after an obstinate resis-
tance, and the conqueror was received at
Rome with every demonstration of honor,
gratitude, and esteem. A procession of
judges and magistrates met him at a con-
siderable distance from their city; a
choir of beautiful children , bearing branch-
es of palm and olive in their hands,
chaunted his great achievements ; the
Pope received him with a paternal em-
brace, and the air re-echoed with shouts
of " Blessed is he that cometh in the
name of the Lord."

In 774, after a residence of eight days
in Rome, during which time he had gra-
tified his own curiosity, and confirmed
an ancient donation to the Pope, Charle-
magne returned to the camp before Pavia,
and finding it impossible to effect his de-
j sign by force, turned the siege into a
! blockade. This measure was crowned
with success ; for, a dreadful pestilence
! beginning to rage within the walls, and
the inhabitants being reduced to the most
I pitiable extremities, Desiderus was com-
pelled after a long and intrepid resistance,
to surrender the city to the royal be-
j sieger, who sent him and his unfortunate
; family, prisoners to France, and abolish-
I ed the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy,
j after they had possessed that country for
I the space of two hundred and six years.

700

MAURITANIANS,

MAURITANIANS.

Mauritania, so called from the Mauri,
an ancient people frequently mentioned
by the old historians and geographers,
was bounded by the Mediterranean on
the north ; by the Molucha on the east ;
by Gaetula on the south ; and by the At-
lantic Ocean on the west. It contained
several cities of note ; and was famed for
a luxuriant produce of grapes, apples,
and other hortulan productions. The
islands on the Mauritanian coast were
also so highly esteemed, on account of
their happy climate, fertile soil, and sa-
lubrious air, that the ancients honored
them with the appellation of " Fortune,"
and here fixed their Elysian fields.

With respect to the origin of the Mau-
ritanians, it appears that they were de-
scended from Phut, the son of Ham.
The Phcenicians, however, planted colo-
nies among them in very early ages ; and
it may be inferred, from the testimony
of several respectable writers, that the
Arabs had a place among the most an-
cient inhabitants of their country.

Their government seems to have been
monarchical from the earliest ages ; for
Justin says, that Hanno, a Carthaginian
nobleman, in order to accomplish some
ambitious design, had recourse to the
king of the Mauri ; and the great figure
which the Mauri made in Africa, before
the Romans became formidable in that
country, serves to indicate that most of
them were united under one sovereign ;
though mention is occasionally made of
several reguli, or heads of the Kabyles,
who were engaged in sanguinary wars
with each other.

Their religion cannot now be satisfac-
torily described, its peculiarities having
been, for many ages, buried in oblivion.
It appears, however, that Neptune was
one of their principal objects of adora-
tion; that the sun and moon were worship-
ped after the manner of the other Libyan
nations ; and that human victims were
occasionally sacrificed to their gods.

Their characters appear to have been
the same with the Numidian, and their
language seems to have differed from

that of Numidia in the same manner only
as a dialect of one tongue does from an-
other.

Of their arts and sciences, historians
have said but little. It is evident, how-
ever, that they had some knowledge of
nautical affairs, not only from their inter-
course with the Phoenicians and Cartha-
ginians, but also from the testimony of
Onomacritus, who affirms, that they form-
ed a settlement near Colchis, whither
they came by sea. They applied them-
selves, in the earliest ages, to the study
of magic, sorcery, and divination ; and Ci-
cero informs us, that Atlas first introduc-
ed astrology and the doctrine ofthesphere
into Mauritania — a circumstance which
probably gave rise to the fable of Atlas
bearing the heavens upon his shoulders.
Neptune, who reigned in this country, is
also said to have first fitted out a fleet,
and invented tall ships with sails ; so that
the Mauritanians must have possessed
some ideas of astronomy, astrology, geo-
graphy, and navigation, at a very early
period.

All persons of distinction in Mauri-
tania were richly apparelled ; and took
great pains in cleansing their teeth,
combing their beards, and curling their
hair. The poor class, however, usually
wore a thick garment, and a coarse rough
tunic, which resembled that of their
neighbors the Numidians. They were
strangers to the art of husbandry, and
roved about the country like the ancient
Scythians or Arabes Scenitae. Their
tents or mapalia were so extremely small,
that they could scarcely breathe in them ;
and their principal food consisted of
corn and herbage, which they ate green,
without any preparation. They are said
to have possessed considerable skill in
the preparation of poison ; and perpetual
exercise rendered them very skilful in
hurling the dart. Their soldiers bore a
remarkable savage appearance, being
clad in the skins of lions, bears, or leo-
pards, and carrying targets or bucklers
made of elephants' hides. Their horses
wore small but exceedingly swift, and so

MAURITANIANS.

701

perfectly under command, that they would
follow their riders like dogs.

The two first princes of Mauritania,
except Neptune, mentioned by historians,
were Atlas and Antseus. Several corro-
borative testimonies, however, seem to
justify the opinion that these were but
different names of the same person ; for
they were both the sons of Neptune, who
reigned over Mauritania, Numidia, and a
considerable part of Libya; they both
ruled with despotic authority over a great
part of Africa ; both are said to have
been overcome by Hercules; and both
are celebrated for their superior know-
ledge in the celestial sciences.

Antseus is said to have evinced the
most undaunted bravery and resolution
in his war with Hercules, and to have
achieved some important advantages ; but
that famous warrior, having intercepted
a numerous body of Libyan forces, de-
feated him with great slaughter ; and
thus made himself master of the king-
dom and royal treasures ; hence arose
the fable that Hercules took Atlas' globe
upon his shoulders, vanquished the
dragon that guarded the orchards of the
Hesperides, and took possession of all
the golden fruit.

Nothing worthy of notice is related
of the Mauritanians from the defeat of
Antasus till the time of Bogud, who, in
conjunction with Publius Sittius, con-
tributed very considerably to Caesar's
success in Africa, and rendered him some
important services, when the memorable
victory of Munda annihilated the Roman
republic. After the death of that illus-
trious general, he joined Marc Antony
against Octavius, and endeavored to make
a diversion in favor of the former in
Spain : but, whilst he was engaged in
this expedition, the Tingitanians revolted
from their allegiance, and bestowed the
sovereignty upon Bocchus, who was con-
firmed in his new dignity by the emperor.
After making some unsuccessful efforts
for the recovery of this part of his do-
minions, Bogud was slain by Agrippa, at

Methona; and Tingitania was soon af-
terwards, provinciated.

The younger Juba received the two
Mauritanias from the munificence of Au-
gustus, who also gave him the princess
Cleopatra (daughter of Antony and the
famous queen of Egypt) in marriage.
This prince, having received a liberal
education at Rome, imbibed such a vari-
ety of knowledge, as afterwards enabled
him to vie with the most learned natives
of Greece. He was remarkably well
acquainted with the Assyrian, Arabic,
Greek, Punic, African, and Latin histo-
ries; and wrote some excellent treatises
on grammar, painting, natural history,
&c. ; a few fragments of which are still
extant. His mild and equitable conduct
in the government of Maurtania is honora-
bly mentioned by ancient writers, and con-
ciliated the esteem of his subjects so ef-
fectually, that they ever retained a grate-
ful recollection of his administration,
and erected a statue to his memory.

He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy,
in whose reign Tacfarinas, a native of
Numidia, who had served among the
Roman auxiliaries just before the third
consulate of Tiberius, assembled an army
of barbarians, and committed many de-
predations in Africa : but, after some
time, he was defeated by Dolabella, and
most of his followers put to the sword.
Ptolemy was, soon afterwards, cut off
by Caius, either from a principle of ava-
rice or jealousy, as appears from the
united testimonies of Dio and Suetonius

To revenge the death of his beloved
master, ^demon assembled a body of
his countrymen, and took up arms ; but,
a Roman army being sent against them
by the emperor Claudius, they were com-
pelled to desist from their daring enter-
prise ; and, the following year, a treaty was
concluded between the adverse generals,
by which Mauritania seems to have been
delivered up to the Romans ; for it was,
soon afterwards, divided into two provin-
ces, the one called Mauritania Tangitana,
and the other Mauritania Caesariensis.

702

OSTROGOTHS.

As the origin, customs, and manners
of the Goths, from whom this people dif-
fered only iu their * name and situation,
have been already noticed, we shall, in
order to avoid repetition, commence their
history with the reign of their famous
king Hermanaric, and relate the most
interesting concerns of their nation, from
that period till their iinal expulsion from
Italy.

Hermanaric, king of the Ostrogoths,
was descended from the illustrious family
of Amali, and signalized himself in so
many engagements, that he has been
compared, by the ancients, to Alexander
the Great. The Heruli, the Venedi, the
iEstii, and many other nations, were suc-
cessively reduced by his extraordinary
valor ; and Ablavius has asserted, that he
was obeyed by most of the tribes in Scy-
thia and Germany. This account, how-
ever, is probably exaggerated, as Her-
manaric was so well apprised of his ina-
bility to withstand the Hunns, who inva-
ded his country in 376, that he chose
rather to kill himself than to behold the
calamities that threatened his subjects.

Upon the demise of this prince, his
son Vithimer assumed the regal title ;
and boldly led his troops against the ene-
my ; but he was soon defeated and slain.
His son Vitheric retired, with many of
his countrymen, into the present Podolia,
but nothing farther is recorded of his
transactions.

About the year 453 the Ostrogoths ob-
tained permission to settle in Pannonia,
and received an annual pension, on con-
dition of their guarding the imperial fron-
tiers, and serving, when required, in the
Roman armies. They were scarcely
established in their new territory before
the Hunns fell upon them in the neigh-
borhood of Sirmium ; but Valemir, prince
of the Ostrogoths, defeated the invaders

* The Goths, previously to their leaving Scan-
dinavia, were called Visigoths and Ostrogoths, or
Western and Eastern Goths, from their situation
to the west and east ; the former inhabiting that
part of Scandinavia which borders on Denmark, and
the latter the more eastern parts near the Baltic.

with great slaughter, and compelled them
to take refuge in that part of Scythia
which bordered on the Danube.

In the year 455 the Ostrogoths, being
provoked by Leo, made an irruption into
lUyricum, and committed many depreda-
tions ; but they were repulsed with con-
siderable loss, and a peace was soon after
concluded between the nations.

During the short reign of Glycerius,
the Ostrogoths resolved to make war on
the empire, and accordingly divided their
forces into two bodies, one of which was
to invade Italy under the commaed of
Videmir, while the other marched under
Theodomir against the emperor of the
East. This plan was reduced to execu-
tion ; but Videmir died shortly after his
arrival in Italy, and Theodomir was pre-
vailed on, by a profusion of rich presents,
to abandon his daring enterprise.

Theodoric, the son and successor of
Theodomir, appears to have espoused the
cause of Zeno against Basiliscus with
extraordinary zeal ; but the ungrateful
behavior of that emperor soon obliged
him to renounce his alliance, and to take
up arms in his own defence. However,
on Zeno's yielding him part of Moesia
and Dacia, giving him the command of
the troops of the household, and naming
him consul for the ensuing year, Theo-
doric put a stop to the depredations of
his soldiers, and performed some prodi-
gies of valor against the usurper Leontius,
who was eventually defeated, and driven
to the fortress of Papyra, in Cilicia. A
second disagreement with the emperor
induced Theodoric to retire from Con-
stantinople, to renew his ravages in
Thrace, and even to form the design of
besieging Constantinople ; but whilst the
inhabitants of that city were overwhelmed
with consternation at his approach, he
marched back to Moesia, and, at the em-
peror's request, consented to turn his
arms against Odoacer, who, having put
Orestes to death, and deprived Augustu-
lus of the imperial ensigns, had assumed
I the title of king of Italy.
[ Next year Theodoric, having assem-

OSTROGOTHS.

703

bled a numerous army, and received some
auxiliaries from Constantinople, began
his march towards Italy; and, after de-
feating some troops of Gepidse and Sar-
matians who opposed his passage' came
to an engagement with Odoacer, who
was soon overpowered, and obliged to
shut himself up in Ravenna. Theodoric,
having now no enemy to oppose his pro-
gress, made himself master of Milan, Pa-
via, and some other places of importance ;
but Odoacer, having ventured from his
retreat with a select body of forces, soon
changed the aspect of aflairs, and redu-
ced the Ostrogoth to shut himself up, with
all his followers, in the city of Pasia.
However, Theodoric was relieved by a
re-enforcement from the Visigoths ; Italy
was gradually subjugated ; and Odoacer
was driven to such extremities, that, after
a long siege in Ravenna, he submitted to
the victor, who, notwithstanding a solemn
promise to the contrary, caused him to
be put to death.

Theodoric, having thus delivered Italy
from the insupportable yoke of the bar-
barians, assumed the diadem, amidst the
acclamations of the people ; while the
emperor of the East congratulated him
on his brilliant success, and cheerfully
acknowledged his sovereignty.

To the toils of war succeeded the cares
of domestic government, in which the
conqueror acquitted himself with such
equity and moderation, that the generality
of the Italians were equally fascinated
with his character and government. The
same laws, magistrates, and policy, were
prudently retained. Such of the natives
as had been most zealous in defence of
Odoacer were generously pardoned ; the
Ligurians, who had long groaned beneath
the oppressive yoke of the Burgundians,
were ransomed ; liberty of conscience
was allowed in all matters of religion ;
and the sweets of peace were happily
mingled with those of security.

Theodoric, having visited Rome, and
contributed largely towards the repairs of
that august city, resolved to chase the
Burgundians and Franks out of Gaul, and
re-unite that country to Italy ; but, as the
Burgundians were then a very powerful
nation, and masters of all the passes in
the Alps, he deemed it expedient to con-

ceal part of his intention. Accordingly,
he formed an alliance with Clovis king
of the Franks, and prevailed on him to
invade the Burgundians on one side,
while himself should attack them on the
other — a project which soon put him in
possession of Marseilles, with all the
countries lying between the Alps, the
Durance, the Lower Rhone, and the
Mediterranean. Some years after this
event, Clovis having killed Alaric in bat-
tle, and defeated his army, the king of
the Ostrogoths resolved to check his
progress ; and accordingly compelled
him to raise the siege of Carcassone,
which he had recently invested. Next
year the Franks attempted the reduction
of Aries, then inhabited by the Visigoths ;
but Theodoric sent such powerful suc-
cors to his countrymen, that this project,
like the preceding one, was rendered
abortive.

Some time after these transactions
Theodoric turned his arms against the
Alemans ; but nothing satisfactory has
been recorded of this war, except that
he obliged them to pay an annual tribute ;
and subdued the inhabitants of Suevia.

Hitherto Theodoric had swayed the
sceptre in Italy with such prudence,
justice, and moderation, that (independent
of his religious principles, which were
strongly tinctured with the vile heresy
of Arius) he deserved to be proposed as
an example to all crowned heads ; but
the lustre of all his virtues suffered a
sensible diminution, about this time, by
an act of tyrannic and unwarrantable cru-
elty. Boetius, a man of extraordinary
learning and abilities, who had been twice
honored with the consulate, and was de-
scended from one of the most illustrious
families in Rome ; who had devoted
near eighteen years to the study of phi-
losophy at Athens ; who had translated
the works of Aristotle, Pythagoras, Nico-
machus, Euclid, Archimedes, and Plato,
into the Latin language, for the service
of his countrymen ; and who was equal-
ly venerated by every good man on ac-
count of his erudition and morality. This
man, being accused of treasonable prac-
tices, was unjustly banished to Pavia,
together with his father-in-law Symma-
chus, who, like himself, was universally

704

OSTROGOTHS.

famed for his extraordinary abilities and
unblemished character. The illustrious
exiles submitted with resignation to their
hard fate, and Bcetius calmly undertook
the excellent composition which he enti-
tled De Consolatione. But whilst he was
employed in benefiting mankind by his
labors, fresh accusations were laid against
him at Ravenna, and the emperor, to the
utter astonishment of all Italy, was per-
suaded to pass sentence of death both
upon him and Symmachus. The exe-
cutioner, however, had scarcely perform-
ed his bloody task before Theodoric was
convinced of his own injustice, and
abandoned himself to such inordinate
grief as soon occasioned his death, in
the seventy-second year of his age, and
the thirty-fourth of his reign.

Theodoric had, at the time of his
death, two grandsons, Amalaric, king of
the Visigoths, and Athalaric, son of
Amalasuntha. To the former he deliv-
ered up all the countries in Gaul and
Spain belonging to the Visigoths ; and
declared the latter his successor in Italy,
and in all his other dominions.

As Athalaric was, at that time, too young
to assume the government, his mother,
Amalasuntha, took charge of the public
aftairs, and acted with such prudence
and equity, both towards the inhabitants
of Italy and their allies, that Theodo-
ric was scarcely missed by the public.
Some of the Gothic lords, however, were
highly incensed at her mode of educa-
ting the young prince ; and insisted so
warmly on the dismissal of his Italian
tutors, that she was obliged to submit to
their desires ; and Athalaric, being now
freed from restraint, abandoned himself
to such debaucheries as put a period to
his life in the eighth year of his reign.

Amalasuntha had suffered so severely,
even during her son's life time, from the
factions and discontent of the Ostrogoths,
that she now deemed it indispensably
necessary to take a colleague in the go-
vernment, and accordingly made choice
of her cousin Theodotus, a man of great
erudition, and descended from the illus-
trious house of Amali. In this choice,
however, the queen was peculiarly un-
fortunate ; for Theodotus, notwithstand-
ing his birth and accomplishments, was,

in realitj^ destitute of gratitude, honor, or
probity, and scrupled not to commit the
vilest actions when stimulated by his own
unbridled passions. On his first acces-
sion to the throne he solemnly engaged,
upon oath, that his cousin should exer-
cise her former authority without con-
trol, and, in his letter to the Roman
senate, acknowledged himself entirely
indebted to the queen for his new dig-
nity. But the mask of dissimulation
was soon laid aside, and the ill fated
Amalasuntha was banished to a solitary
island in the lake Bolsena, and there
cruelly put to death.

To revenge the death of this princess,
who had on every occasion testified her
friendship to ihe Constantinopolitan go-
vernment, Justinian resolved to make
war upon the Ostrogoths; and according-
ly ordered Mundas, one of his principal
officers, to march into Dalmatia, and at-
tempt the reduction of Salonaj, in order
to open a passage into Italy, while Beli
sarins, who was invested with the su-
preme command, should make a descent
upon Sicily, with four thousand legion-
aries, and eight thousand auxiliaries.

In 535, the emperor's orders were im-
mediately executed, and crowned with
great success ; for Mundus, after a faint
resistance, made himself master of Sa-
lonse ; and Belisarius effected the reduc-
tion of Sicily with more expedition than
he could possibly have expected. At
Palermo, indeed, he was engaged with
extraordinary fury by the Gothic garri-
son ; but, after some time, he compelled
them to surrender, and, by that exploit,
struck such terror into the neighboring
provinces, that Abrutium, Lucania, Pug-
lia, Samnium, and Calabria, made volun-
tary submissions ; and the city of Naples,
though obstinately defended, was soon
given up to the plunder of the victorious
Romans.

Theodotus, alarmed at this formidable
invasion, which he had neither courage
nor inclination to repress, entered into a
private conference with the Constantino-
politan ambassador, and shamefully con-
sented to resignthe kingdom to Justinian,
on condition of receiving an annual pen-
sion suitable to his dignity. The empe-
ror readily embraced this proposal ; lands

OSTROGOTHS.

705

were assigned to Theodotus out of the
imperial domain ; and Belisarius was or-
dered to take possession of Italy.

This agi'eement, however, was soon
violated; for Theodotus, hearing that the
Roman army in Dalmatia had been sud-
denly attacked and defeated, refused with
great haughtiness, to fulfil the articles of
the treaty, and even threatened Justinian's
ambassador with death for presuming to
expostulate on the impropriety of his
conduct.

Exasperated at this behavior, Justin-
ian despatched Constantianus to levy new
forces in lUyricum, and ordered Belisa-
rius to pursue the war with vigor, and
use his utmost efforts for re-annexing
Italy to the empire. Hereupon Constan-
tianus entered Dalmatia at the head of a
formidable army, and defeated the Ostro-
goths with great slaughter ; while Beli-
sarius, having vanquished all the pro-
vinces which compose the present king-
dom of Naples, maixhed his victorious
troops to the neighborhood of Rome.

In this situation of aflliirs, the Ostro-
goths, having vainly attempted to con-
clude a peace with Belisarius, deposed
their cowardly king Theodotus ; and in-
vested with the regal title one Vitiges,
who, though of mean extraction, had ac-
quired a considerable degree of celebri-
ty by his prudence and valor in some pre-
ceding wars. Theodotus, overwhelmed
with consternation at this occurrence,
quitted Rome with the utmost precipita-
tion, and retired to Ravenna, but he was
soon overtaken and put to death, after an
inglorious reign of about three years.

Theudegisclus shared the fate of his
pusillanimous father, so that the new
king was now firmly established on the
throne without any competitor.

Vitiges, after exhorting his countrymen,
by a circular letter, to exert their ancient
valor in defence of a kingdom which be-
longed to them by right of conquest ;
and obliging the principal inhabitants of
Rome to take an oath of fidelity, remov-
ed to Revenna, where he assembled the
Ostrogoths from all quarters, and formed
an encampment under the city walls.

Meanwhile Belisarius, having taken
suitable precautions for the defence of
his new conouests in Campania, ap-
89

proached the city of Rome, which he
entered without resistance, and reunited
to the empire sixty years after it had been
reduced by Odoacer, and thirty-four after
it had submitted to Theodoric. The
walls and other fortifications of this au-
gust city were now carefully repaired ;
the granaries filled with corn ; and every
precaution taken against a siege which
Vitiges, in the urgency of his affairs,
might probably resolve to form.

Whilst Belisarius was thus employed
at Rome, and the greatest part of Sam-
nium, with many cities of Tuscany, vol-
untarily received Roman garrisons, Viti-
ges formed a confederacy with the Franks,
and marched, at the head of a hundred
and fifty thousand men, to the vicinage
of Rome, where a bloody conflict ensued
between him and Belisarius : but the
latter eventually chased the Ostrogoths
to their camp, and entered the city amidst
univei'sal acclamations.

Vitiges, being now resolved to invest
the city without delay, used every effort
to distress the garrison and inhabitants
for want of water, and showed himself
an able commander both in contriving his
military engines and disposing the at-
tacks. But his adversary made so vigo-
rous a defence, and was attended with
such brilliant success in his occasional
sallies, that, in the space of seven months,
the besiegers lost above forty thousand
men.

The Romans who had long murmured
against Belisarius for involving them in
the calamities of a siege, were so elated
with the success that attended an exer-
tion of some auxiliaries from Constanti-
nople, that they insisted on putting the
whole to the issue of a general engage-
ment— in consequence of which their
forces were defeated with great loss, and
narrowly escaped utter destruction. At
length, however, while the citizens trem-
bled with apprehension at each attack of
the enemy, and their numbers were sadly
reduced by the united scourges of pesti-
lence and famine, a body of auxiliaries,
consisting of three thousand Isaurians,
eight hundred Thracians, and thirteen
hundred horse of other nations, arrived
at Ostia, and entered Rome, by the Osti-
an gate, while the forces of Vitiges were

706

OSTROGOTHS.

fully employed against Belisarius in an-
other quarter.

The Ostrogoths were no sooner in-
formed of the arrival of these troops
than they began to despair of effecting
their purpose, and, after a truce of three
months, which was granted by Belisarius,
they broke up the siege and marched to
Rimini, which had been taken by the
Romans.

Whilst Vitiges was employed before
this city, and Uraia, his sister's son, was
despatched to recover Milan, Narses ar-
rived in Picenum with five thousand Ro-
mans and two thousand Heruli; and,
Belisarius having advanced to meet him,
the two armies joined at Firmum, now
Fermo, where a council of war was held
to consider whether it would be most ex-
pedient to relieve Rimini or to besiege
Auximum, a strong town then in posses-
sion of the enemy. Belisarius, was ap-
prehensive that if they marched to Ri-
mini, the Ostrogoths would sally out of
Auximum, and harass the neighboring
country, which had recently submitted
to the Romans ; but a pathetic letter from
Rimini overbalanced this consideration,
and induced the brave general to succor
his countrymen. Accordingly, having
left a sufficient number of troops to over-
awe the garrison of Auximum, he divided
his army into three bodies, one of which
embarked in a great number of vessels,
another marched along the coast, under
the conduct of Martinus ; and the third
followed Narses and Belisarius across the
mountains. This prudent division of the
forces was crowned with complete suc-
cess ; for Vitiges, alarmed at the appear-
ance of a fleet, and the approach of two dis-
tinct armies, raised the siege, and retreat-
ed with such precipitation, that the great'
est part of his baggage was left behind.

At this important juncture an unfortu-
nate misunderstanding arose between the
Roman generals, and their jealousies
were carried to such a height, that
Narses actually refused to serve under
Belisarius, and a division of the forces
ensued, which consequently retarded the
reduction of the country, and gave the
enemy leisure to provide for their defence.
The cities of Urbinum, Imola, and Urbi-
ventum wexe indeed taken by the im-

perial troops ; but Vitiges, in the mean
time, made himself master of Milan,
massacred the inhabitants, and ravaged
the whole province of Liguria.

Narses being now recalled to Constan-
tinople, and Vitiges employed in negoti-
ation with Chosroes, it was deemed ad-
visable to pursue the war with all possi-
ble vigor. Accordingly Belisarius march-
ed with eleven thousand men to Auxi-
mum, and at the same time sent a strong
detachment, under one of his lieutenants,
to attempt the reduction of Feesulse.

Meanwhile the Franks, supposing
that both nations were materially weak-
ened by hostilities, resolved to attack
them without delay, and seize on the
country, for which so many struggles had
been made. Accordingly Theodebert,
regardless of the solemn oaths he had
taken both to the Romans and Ostrogoths,
passed the Alps, at the head of a hun-
dred and fifty thousand men, and pene-
trated into Liguria. As they had care-
fully abstained from pillaging the country
on their march, the Ostrogoths were elated
at their arrival, and suffered them to en-
ter their camp, near the Po, without op-
position ; but they were soon undeceived,
for the treacherous invaders, falling upon
them by surprise, chased them into the
open country with great slaughter, and
seized on all their baggage. A body of
Romans, who lay at a small distance,
perceiving the sudden flight of the Ostro-
goths, concluded that they had been de-
feated by Belisarius, and, in that opinion,
hastened to the assistance of the victor ;
but the Franks turning suddenly upon
them, they were utterly overthrown, and
compelled to retreat into Tuscany, whence
they sent an account of their disaster to
Belisarius.

The Franks, being now in possession
of both camps, found a considerable
quantity of provisions ; but these being
soon consumed by their numerous army,
and the circumjacent country entirely
exhausted, they were compelled to resign
all thoughts of advancing farther in quest
of new conquests ; and, an expostulatory
letter from Belisarius having demonstra-
ted the absurdity of the enterprise, Theo-
debert gave orders to march, and return-
ed home with an immense booty.

OSTROGOTHS.

707

Some time after the retreat of this re-
doubtable enemy the garrison in Faesulae
surrendered to Cyprian ; and the citizens
of Auximum, after performing the most
astonishing prodigies of valor, followed
their example.

Belisarius, after remunerating the toils
and suffering of his army with half the
spoils of Auximum, marched thence to
Ravenna, which he invested both by sea
and land, in order to prevent the impor-
tation of provisions. The place was
well fortified, and defended by a very nu-
merous garrison, who fought immediately
under the eye of their sovereign ; but
Belisarius commenced the attack, and
carried on his military operations with
such vigor and success, that the inhabi-
tants were overwhelmed with consterna-
tion, and Vitiges despatched ambassadors
to conclude a peace with the emperor
upon the best terms they could obtain.
Justinian readily consented to withdraw
his troops upon condition that the whole
of Italy, except that beyond the Po,
should be re-annexed to the empire, and
that the royal treasures of the Ostrogoths
should be equally divided between him
and themselves. These conditions were
accepted with every demonstration of joy
by Vitiges and his nobles, who were now
reduced to a most pitiable condition ; but
Belisarius, provoked that he should be
thus deprived of the glory of terminating
the war, and leading Vitiges, as a cap-
tive, to Constantinople, positively refused
to sign the treaty, and renewed the siege
with unabated vigor and intrepidity.

The leading men among the Ostro-
goths concluding, from his behavior,
that Belisarius intended to revolt from
the emperor, and being equally weary of
Vitiges and fearful of Justinian, agreed
privately to declare the Roman general
emperor of the west, and accordingly des-
patched a messenger to tender their alle-
giance. Belisarius abhorred the very
name of a traitor ; but in order to facili-
tate the grand object of his wishes, he
pretended to accept of this offer, and,
after acquainting his chief officers with
all that had passed, he was admitted into
the city as king of Italy. He behaved
with great moderation toward the inhabi-
tants, not permitting his troops to offer

them the least violence ; but he seized on
the royal treasures, and secured the per-
son of Vitiges, according to his first re-
solution. It is proper to remark, that the
Roman army appeared so inconsiderable
upon this occasion, that the Gothic women
could not forbear spitting in their hus-
band's faces, and branding them with the
disgraceful epithet of cowards.

Upon the departure of Belisarius,* who
was recalled by Justinian to assume the
management of the war against Chosroes,
the Ostrogoths who resided beyond the
Po, resolved, in a great assembly, to in-
vest one of their own nation with the
regal title. They accordingly chose
Ildebald, at that time governor of Verona,
a man of great experience in military af-
fairs, and nephew to Theudis, king of the
Visigoths. This prince immediately un-
dertook the re-establishment of the Goth-
ic affairs in Italy, and acted with such ex-
traordinary prudence, that his army was
soon augmented, and he was enabled to
take the field against Vitalis, governor of
Venetia, whom he defeated with great
slaughter. After this battle, Ildebald
subdued the whole province of Venetia ;
but, on his causing Uraia (to whom he
was beholden for his crown) to be put to
death, he incurred the hatred of all his
subjects, and was soon taken off by as-
sassination.

Eraric, a Rugian, was next elevated to
the throne ; but the Ostrogoths were so
universally dissatisfied with his govern-
ment, that he was soon deposed and
murdered ; and Totila, nephew to Ilde-
bald, was chosen in his room.

Upon the accession of this prince, the
Roman officers who commanded in Italy,
resolved to make an attempt upon Verona,
the chief city of the Ostrogoths, and,
upon the reduction of that place, march
with their whole army against Totila,
who was at the head of a small body in
Picenum. This design, however, was

* On Belisarius' return to Constantinople, with
the king and royal treasures of the Ostrogoths,
Justinia^n treated him with great respect, and con-
ferred on him the dignity of patrician ; but, as
he neither granted him a triumph, nor suffered
the treasures he had taken to be exposed to pub-
lic view, it seems highly probable that the empe-
ror had entertained some jealousy respecting the
late transactions in Italy.

708

OSTROGOTHS.

totally frustrated ; for the Romans, after
being gallantly repulsed at Verona, Avere
defeated both by sea and land ; several
important fortresses in Tuscany and the
adjacent provinces were successively re-
duced ; even the city of Naples vi^as
taken and dismantled ; and the victorious
Ostrogoths advanced, by rapid marches,
to the neighborhood of Rome itself, which
was now cut off from any communica-
tion with the neighboring country.

The emperor, alarmed at the news of
these proceedings, recalled Belisarius
from Persia, and commanded him to
march without delay to the assistance of
the army in Italy. Belisarius according-
ly departed for the west, and, having
raised above four thousand men at his
own expense, hastened to Ravenna,
whence he sent several detachments
against the cities of Emilia. This at-
tempt proving unsuccessful, the Romans
threw themselves into Auximum, then
besieged by the Goths ; but, finding the
provisisons inadequate to the support of
so numerous a garrison, they marched to
Pisaurus, now Pesaro, which stood at a
small distance, and was still possessed
by their countrymen.

Belisarius, being chiefly concerned
for the safety of Rome, entrusted the
government of the city to Bessas, and
appointed Barbation and Artasiris, per-
sons of approved valor and experience,
to command under him, strictly enjoining
them to hazard no sallies in case the
town should be besieged. He then
wrote to Constantinople, representing his
inability either to check the progress of
the Ostrogoths or to relieve the besieged
cities ; and earnestly pressing for a re-en-
forcement.

Meanwhile Totila, having reduced the
cities of Firmum, Asculum, Auximum,
and Spoletum, marched his victorious
troops to Rome, which he invested on all
sides, after defeating a body of Romans
whom Barbation and Artasiris had im-
prudently persuaded to make a sally.
The Ostrogoths had not long carried on
their operations when a re-enforcement
arrived from Constantinople, and Belisa-
rius hastened to the relief of Rome ; but,
he being disappointed of a farther supply,
and the besieged having struggled for a

long time with every calamity attendant
upon famine, Totila was privately admit-
ted into the city by some mutinous Isau-
rians. Upon the first alarm, Bessas and
most of the other commanders took to
flight, and those who remained, took
sanctuary in the churches. The Gothic
soldiers were then permitted to remune-
rate themselves with plunder, but the citi-
zens, excepting sixty who were killed
at the entrance of Totila, were all spared.
The Ostrogoths were extremely desirous
of putting Rusticiana, the widow of Boe-
tius, to death, because she had excited
the Romans to throw down the statues of
Theodoric, but Totila generously took
both her and all the Roman matrons un-
der his own protection, thereby to secure
them from the insolence of the soldiery.

Totila, having thus recovered the cap-
ital of Italy, in the year of the Christian
era 547, sent an embassy to Justinian,
offering to respect him as a father, and
to assist him upon any future occasion
provided he chose to accept of his alli-
ance ; but threatening, at the same time,
to revenge the rejection of this proposal,
with all imaginable severity on the city
and senate of Rome. Justinian replied,
that Belisarius was fully empowered to
manage all affairs of that nature at dis-
cretion— an answer which incensed To-
tila so highly, that he determined to put
his threats in execution, and actually be-
gan to demolish the walls of Rome, but
on the receipt of an expostulatory letter
from Belisarius he laid aside his designs,
and marched his army into Lucania,
whither he sent the Roman senate, and
all the other inhabitants, under a strong
guard, not leaving an individual in the
city, which he had spared on account of
its magnificence and antiquity.

Totila had no sooner marched towards
Ravenna than the Roman troops made
themselves masters of Tarentum and
Spoletum ; and Belisarius, having under-
taken to repair the fortifications of Rome,
enjoyed the exquisite pleasure of rein-
stating the ancient inhabitants, who had
been dispersed in various parts of Italy,
in their houses and possessions.

Upon the first intelligence of this pro-
ceeding Totila returned to Rome, sup-
posing that Belisarius would immediately

OSTROGOTHS.

709

retire to a place of superior strength ; but
finding himself deceived in this expecta-
tion, he formed an encampment at a small
distance, and commenced an attack with
incredible fury. However, after suffering
three successive defeats from the resist-
less bravery of Belisarius and his troops,
he abandoned the enterprise, and retired
to the city of Tibur, whence he led his
army to form the siege of Perugia.

Upon his departure from Tibur, John,
who had hitherto kept possession of
Otranto, marched into Campania, and, af-
ter defeating a numerous body of Ostro-
goths, set at liberty the Roman senators
and their families. To revenge this ac-
tion, Totila quitted Perugia, and marched !
by a bye-road into Apulia, where John !
then was; but, falling upon him unadvi- I
sedly in the night, the Romans escaped i
with the loss of no more than one hundred
men, and retreated safely to Taretito.

About this time Antonia, the wife of
Belisarius, prevailed on the emperor to
recall her husband and employ him once
more against the Persians, who had now
gained some important advantages in the
East. Belisarius, accordingly, quitted
Italy with much less reputation than he
had gained in his former expedition.
And Totila, having made himself master
of Rusciana, returned before Perugia,
which, after an obstinate struggle, was
added to his other conquests. Meanwhile
the Franks, notwithstanding their solemn
promise to remain neuter, and the many
favors they had occasionally received
both from the Ostrogoths and Romans,
made an irruption into ihe province of
Venetia, and seized it for themselves.

Totila, having received a powerful re-
enforcement from the Lombards, deter-
mined to march to Rome, and attempt
once more the reduction of that famous
city. Accordingly he invested it on all
sides, and by reducing Pontus, cut off all
communication both by sea and land; but
Diogenes, an officer of great bravery and
experience, who had been entrusted with
the command of the garrison, prudently
provided against this evil, by ordering
corn to be sown within the walls ; so
that he might, in all probability, have
held out till the arrival of succors from
Constantinople, had not the place been,

I a second time, betrayed by the Isaurians.
j A body of that nation, who had long been
discontented on account of some arrears,
entered into a private conference with
the beseigers, and at a certain hour open-
ed one of the gates, while the garrison,
j on a false alarm, hastened to the defence
of another.

When the inhabitants perceived that
the enemy was within their walls, they
issued, with the utmost precipitation,
out of the opposite gate towards Cen-
tumcellae, the only strong place held by
the Romans in that neighborhood ; but
great numbers of them, and of the sol-
diers who took the same route, were cut
off in their retreat by an ambuscade of
the enemy. Diogenes, escaped with a
slight wound ; but Paul, a Cilician, whom
Belisarius had nominated to command
under him, retreated, with a body of ca-
valry, to Adrian's tomb, and possessed
himself of the bridge leading to St.
Peter's church. Here they defended them-
selves with incredible bravery against
the enemy's whole army, till all their
provisions were exhausted ; and then re-
solved either to cut their way through the
Ostrogoths or perish in the attempt. But,
on Totila's generously offering them per-
mission either to serve in his army or to
return to Constantinople, they threw down
their arms, and voluntarily enlisted be-
neath the banners of the conqueror.

Totila, having restored the senate to
their rank and estates, repaired and em-
bellished the city, and amused the public
mind by an exhibition of Circensian
games, despatched ambassadors to Con-
stantinople with proposals for peace ; of-
fering, upon the emperor's acknowledg-
ing him sovereign of Italy, to assist him
as a faithful ally against any other nation.
Justinian, however, refused to grant the
envoys an audience ; and Totila was,
consequently, obliged to pursue the war
with redoubled vigor.

Whilst the warlike Ostrogoth was ex-
tending his conquests with surprising ra-
pidity, and those who presumed to op-
pose his progress were punished in the
most exemplary manner, Justinian ap-
pointed his nephew, Germanus, general ,
over the army in Italy, and raised a nu-
merous body of troops for the express

710

OSTROGOTHS,

purpose of effecting the expulsion of
Totila ; but the progress of Germanus
was suddently arrested by death ; and
the advanced state of the season retard-
ed the operations of his successors.

Early in the ensuing spring, John and
Justin, who were now entrusted with the
command of the Roman troops, set out
on their march to Ravenna ; but the
Sclavi, having made an irruption into the
Roman provinces, obliged them to weaken
their army by sending out several de-
tachments. However, they were soon
informed that Narses would march with
all possible expedition to their assistance
at the head of a numerous body of forces.

While John and Justin were waiting
the arrival of Narses in Dalmatia, Totila
blocked up the city of Ancona by sea and
land, and soon reduced it to extremity ;
but John, having put the flower of his
army on board forty vessels, and being
joined by Valerian, with a squadron of
twelve ships, hastened to the relief of
the place, and defeated the besiegers
with great slaughter. At the same time
Artabanes landed in Sicily, and recover-
ed all the fortresses which had been re-
cently garrisoned by the Ostrogoths in
that island.

Discouraged by these losses, Totila
again applied to the emperor, offering to
renounce his pretensions to Sicily and
Dalmatia, to pay an annual tribute for
Italy, and to assist the Romans upon
every emergency. But Justinian remain-
ed inflexible, and Totila renewed his
warlike preparations with greater ardor
than ever. The islands of Corsica and
Sardinia were soon reduced, and the
neighboring cities began to dread a simi-
lar fate ; but the approach of Narses, with
absolute authority, and a formidable army,
soon altered the aspect of aflfairs, and
revived the drooping courage of the Ro-
mans.

Narses having devoted nine days to
repose and refreshment in the city of Ra-
venna, marched toward Rome, and on his
arrival at the village of Tagiria, despatch-
ed a messenger to Totila, desiring him
either to relinquish his pretensions to Ita-
ly, or to appoint a day for a general en-
gagement. Totila replied, without hesi-
tation, that his nretensions must be de-

cided by the sword, and that, eight days
after, he would engage the Roman forces.
Narses suspecting that some secret design
was to be executed within that space of
time, made the necessary preparations
for an immediate battle, and by that
means eluded an overthrow, for Totila
advanced the very next day in battle ar-
ray against him. Both armies fought
for some time with incredible fury and
resolution ; but the Gothic cavalry being
after an obstinate resistance, thrown into
confusion, and recoiling upon the foot,
the enemy was put to flight with the loss
of 6,000 men. Totila, perceiving it im-
possible to retrieve this misfortune, re-
treated precipitately with a few horse-
men ; but he was overtaken and slain by
a commander of the Gepidae named As-
bades. This prince has been highly com-
mended, by all the writers of his age, for
his valor, temperance, and equity ; and
even his enemies have been compelled
to speak with veneration of his humane
behavior to the vanquished. Whenever
he reduced a city, he took especial care
that no insult should be offered to the
softer sex, and is said to have punished
one of his most valiant soldiers with
death for abusing the daughter of a Ro-
man in Calabria.

Such of the Ostrogoths as escaped the
avenging sword of Narses crossed the
Po, and, assembling at Ticinum, now
Pavia, conferred the regal title on Teia,
a man of approved prudence and bravery.
This prince immediately exerted himself
to recall his dismayed countrymen, who
had taken refuge in the several forts be-
yond the Po ; and to secure the royal
treasures which his predecessor had left
in Pavia. He also attempted to draw
over the Franks to his assistance by
some liberal promises ; but this design
was rendered abortive, and he had the
mortification to hear of the reduction of
Narnia, Spoletum, Perugia, and even
Rome itself, by the Romans.

Incensed at the enemy, and despairing
of maintaining their own footing in Italy,
the Ostrogoths now resolved to take ven-
geance on the Romans wherever they
could find them. Accordingly, the sena-
tors who had been confined by Totila, to
Campania were all inhumanly murdered ;

VANDALS.

711

and three hundred children of the Ro-
man citizens, who had been sent as
hostages beyond the Po, were also
doomed to death ; and fifty Roman sol-
diers were literally cut to pieces in Cala-
bria.

These barbarities did not, however,
go unpunished ; for, after some time had
been spent in marches and military evo-
lutions, the hostile armies came to a gen-
eral engagement, which, after a most in-
trepid resistance, terminated in the death
of Tela, and the defeat of his troops, who
consented to lay down their arms on con-
dition of being permitted either to retire
peaceably with all their eft'ects, or to re-

tain their Italian possessions as subjects
of the empire.

Thus ended the dominion of the Os-
trogoths in Italy, in the twenty-sixth
year of Justinian's reign, and of the
Chiistian era, 553, after they had reign-
ed sixty-four years in that country, from
Theodoric to Teia.

It is proper to remark that some com-
motions were afterward raised in Italy by
the Ostrogoths, and the Franks, who un-
der pretence of assisting their neighbors,
designed to seize on the country for
themselves ; but these were speedily
crushed by the valor of Narses, and Italy
was again re-united to the eastern empire.

VANDALS.

The Vandals, according to the most
credible historians, were originally a
Gothic nation, who came out of Scandi-
navia, with the other Goths, under the
command of king Eric, and settled in
the countries now distinguished by the
names of Mecklenburg, and Branden-
burg. Several ages after this migration
another colony settled in Pomerania, un-
der the conduct of a chieftain called
Berig ; and, in process of time, they ex-
tended themselves into Dalmatia, Illyri-
cum, and Dacia.

The government of the Vandals was,
in all probability, monarchical, long be-
fore their nation was known to the Ro-
mans ; but Godegesilus, who led them
into Gaul, about the year 406, is the first
of their kings noticed in ancient history.
This prince, having sustained a bloody
conflict with the Franks, and marched at
the head of a numerous army into Gaul,
committed many depredations on that
country ; and, with the assistance of
some other barbarous nations, overran
all the neighboring provinces. However,
his progress was suddenly arrested by
the emperor Constantine, Avho defeated
him in several pitched battles, and com-
pelled him to sue for peace.

To remunerate themselves for the
losses they had sustained in the Gaulish
expedition, the Vandals crossed the Py-

renese, and entered Spain, where they
soon reduced several important cities and
fortresses ; defeated the Roman troops
who had been sent to quell the rebellion
of Geronicus ; and eventually divided
all the Spanish provinces between them-
selves and their auxiliaries.

About the year 422, Honorius resolved
to attempt the recovery of Spain from
these Barbarians, Avho had recently sus-
tained some lieaA'y losses from Vallia,
king of the Goths ; but, Castinus having
imprudently risked a general engagement,
twenty thousand of the Roman troops
were cut to pieces, and the survivors
compelled to take refuge in the city of
Tarraco. The Vandals having by this
victory firmly established themselves in
Andalusia, committed many depredations
in the adjacent provinces, extended their
conquests even to the Balearic islands,
and returned into Spain with an immense
booty, and an incredible number of cap-
tives.

Shortly after this expedition the Sue-
vians and Vandals quarrelling, Gonderic,
king of the Vandals, gained some signal
advantages over the king of the Suevi-
ans, Avhom he compelled to retire to the
mountains of Biscay, and there blocked
him up, together with all his forces ; but
Gonderic, being suddenly attacked by
Asterius and Mourocelus, was soon

712

VANDALS.

obliged to return to Andalusia, where he
sickened and died.

Genseric, brother of the deceased
prince, renounced the Catholic faith
shortly after his accession, and embraced
the heretical tenets of Arius. He was
however, remarkably courageous, and
well skilled in the art of war. He gain-
ed some signal victories over the Suevi-
ans and Romans, and struck such terror
into the latter by the reduction of Car-
thage and a considerable part of Sicily,
that Valentinian was obliged to conclude
a peace on the dishonorable condition of
surrendering all the countries which the
Barbarians had seized in Africa.

Some years after this event, Endoxia,
the relict of Valentinian HI, despatched
a messenger to Genseric, entreating him
to revenge the death of his late ally, and
rescue her from a tyrant who had forced
her to his detested couch, after imbruing
his hands in the blood of her husband.
Genseric readily embraced the opportu-
nity of invading so wealthy a country as
Italy, and accordingly steered his course
immediately to Rome, which he took, and
plundered.

In the beginning of the reign of Ma-
jorianus, the Vandals made a descent on
the coast of Campania; but the Romans
attacked them with such extraordinary
fury, while they were ravaging the coun-
try, that great numbers of them were cut
to pieces, and the rest compelled to take
refuge on board their fleet. Majorianus,
anxious to improve this advantage, imme-
diately assembled a fleet of three hun-
dred vessels ; engaged a great number of
barbarians to serve in his army, and flat-
tered himself with driving the Vandals
entirely out of Africa ; but, after four
years had been spent in preparations, and
a prodigious sum lavished on this expe-
dition, a squadron of Genseric's best
ships surprised the Roman vessels as they
lay at anchor in the bay of Alicant, and
made such havoc among them, that all the
emperor's measures -were disconcerted,
and Genseric obtained an honorable
peace.

On the demise of Majorianus, the
Vandals renewed their depredations on
the coasts of Italy and Sicily, and ex-
tended their ravages to Peloponnesus

and the Greek islands. Hereupon Leo,
emperor of the East, made such great
preparations for chastising the invaders,
by carrying the war into Africa, that Con-
stantine Manasses observes, " nothing
seemed capable of resisting so powerful
an armament ; and Genseric himself is
said to have entertained some thoughts
of eluding the impending danger by evac-
uating Africa ; but Basiliscus, who had
been entrusted with the command of all
the Roman troops, imprudently consented
to a truce at the very moment in which
he might have made himself master of
Carthage, and effected the entire subju-
gation of the country. Hereupon the
Vandals treacherously set fire to some
empty vessels, which being driven for-
ward, threw the enemy's fleet into the
utmost confusion, and enabled Genseric
to obtain a decisive victory. Basiliscus
returned, with the few ships that escaped
first to Sicily, and afterwards to Constan-
tinople, where he took refuge in the
church of St. Sophia ; but, though his
ill success was universally attributed to
treachery, his life was spared, and he
was permitted to retire to Heraclea, in
Thrace. Such was the unhappy issue
of an expedition which drained both the
eastern and western empires of their
wealth, and was attended with the loss
of fifty thousand valiant men.

Elated by his recent success, and
thirsting after fresh acquisitions, Genseric
put to sea, without loss of time, and re-
duced Sardinia, Sicily, and all the islands
between Italy and Africa, while the Ro-
mans gazed in silent agony on his pro-
ceedings, and actually trembled at his
name. However, in the year of the
Christian era, 475, Genseric concluded
a peace with the emperor Zeno, on con-
dition of his renouncing all claim to the
provinces of Africa. Next year the
royal Vandal ceded the island of Sicily
to Odoacer, and died shortly after the
conclusion of peace with that barbarian.

Nothing farther occurs in history con-
cerning this nation till the time of Justi-
nian ; who, espousing the cause of Hil-
deric against the usurper Gilimer, gained
a complete victory over the Vandals, and
re-united the provinces of Africa to the
empire.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

4004 The Creation of the World, according to

the Hebrew text of the Scriptures
According to the version of the Septuagint,

5872
According to the Samaritan version, 4700
2348 The universal Deluge
2247 The building of Babel. -The dispersion of

mankind, and the confusion of languages
2227 Ninus king of Assyria began to reign
2217 Nimrod supposed to have built Babylon
2188 Menes (in Scripture Misraim) founds the

monarchy of Egypt
2084 The shepherd kings conquer Egypt
2075 Semiramis queen of Assyria
1996 The birth of Abram
1897 Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
1895 Isaac born
1836 Jacob and Esau born
1825 The shepherd kings abandon Egypt
1823 Death of Abraham
1796 The deluge of Oxyges in Attica
1722 Sesostris or Rameses king of Egypt
1635 Joseph dies in Egypt
1582 The chronology of the Arundelian Marbles

begins with this year
1571 Moses born in Egypt
1556 Cecrops founds the kingdom of Athens
1546 Scamander founds the kingdom of Troy
1520 Corinth built

1519 Cadmus builds Thebes, and introduces let-
ters into Greece
1513 The supposed era of the history of Job
1491 Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt
1453 The first Olympic Games celebrated in

Greece
1452 The Pentateuch, or five books of Moses,

written
1451 The Israelites led into the land of Canaan

by Joshua
1415 The book of Joshua supposed to be written

by Phinehas the high priest
1406 Minos reigns in Crete
1263 The Argonautic Expedition.— (According

to the Newtonian chronology 937.)
1257 Theseus unites the cities of Attica
1255 The Israelites delivered by Deborah and

Barak
1252 Tyre, the capital of Phoenicia, built by the

Sidonians
1239 Latinus begins to reign in Italy
1207 Gideon Judge of Israel for forty years
1193 The Trojan war begins
90

1184 Troy taken and burnt by the Greeks.—
(According to the Arundelian Marbles
1209.)
1182 ^neas lands in Italy
1155 Samson born
1099 Samuel delivers Israel
1079 Saul king of Israel
1070 Medon first Archon of Athens
1069 Codrus king of Athens devotes himself for

his country
1055 David king of Israel
1004 Dedication of Solomon's Temple
980 Rehoboam king of Israel
971 Sesac or Sesostris king of Egypt
923 Ahab and Jezebel reign over Israel
886 Homer's poems brought from Asia into

Greece
884 Lycurgus reforms the republic of Lacedae-

mon
869 The city of Carthage built by Dido
825 Jeroboam restores the glory of Israel in a

reign of forty-one years
820 Nineveh taken by Arbaces and Belesis,

which finishes that kingdom
806 Jonah preaches repentance to Nineveh
776 The First Olympiad begins in this year
769 Syracuse built by Archius of Corinth
767 Sardanapalus king of Assyria
752 The foundation of Rome by Romulus
748 Rape of the Sabines
747 Xth Olympiad
724 Hezekiah tenth king of Judah
721 Salmanazar takes Samaria, and carries the
ten tribes into captivity, which puts an
end to the Israelitish kingdom
715 Numa Pompilius, second king of Rome
711 Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invades Ju-

dea
708 Habakkuk prophesied
700 XXth Olympiad
696 Manasseh sixteenth king of Judah
688 Judith kills Holofernes the Assyrian gene-
ral
684 Annual Archons elected at Athens
681 Esarhaddon unites the kingdoms of Baby-
lon and Assyria
667 The combat between the Horatii and Cu-

ratii
660 XXXth Olympiad
658 Byzantium founded
627 The forty years of Ezekiel began
624 Draco, Archon and Legislator of Athens

714

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

620 XLth Olympiad

606 Nebuchadnezzar takes Jerusalem

601 Battle between the Medes and Lydians,

who are separated by a great eclipse of

the sun, predicted by Thales. (Newton

Chron. 585.)
End of the Assyrian empire. Nineveh

taken by Nebuchadnezzar
600 Jeremiah prophesied
599 Birth of Cyrus the Great
694 Solon, Archon and Legislator of Atnens
580 Lth Olympiad
572 Nebuchadnezzar subdues Egypt
562 Comedies first exhibited at Athens by

Thespis
Croesus reigns in Lydia
551 Confucius, the Chinese philosopher, born
548 The ancient temple of Delphos burnt
540 LXth Olympiad
538 Babylon taken by Cyrus. End of the

Babylonian empire.
536 Cyrus ascends the throne of Persia. He puts

an end to the Jewish captivity, which had

lasted seventy years
Daniel prophesied
529 Death of Cyrus the Great. Cambysses

king of Persia
522 Darius, son of Hystaspes, king of Persia
520 The Jews begin to build the second temple,

which is finished in four years
510 Democracy restored in Athens
509 The Tarquins expelled from Rome, and the

regal government abolished
508 The first alliance between the Romans and

Carthaginians
500 LXXth Olympiad
498 The first Dictator created at Rome, (Lar-

tius,)
490 The battle of Marathon

The first tribunes of the people created at

Rome
486 Miltiades dies in prison

Xerxes succeeds his father Darius in the

kingdom of Persia
485 Coriolanus banished from Rome
483 Quffistors instituted at Rome

Aristides banished from Athens
480 The Spartans, under Leonidas, cut to

pieces at Thermopylae
Xerxes leaves Greece
476 Themistocles rebuilds Athens

The Roman citizens numbered at 103,000
A great eruption oi JEtna,
Hiero king of Syracuse
471 Volero, the Roman tribune, obtains a law

for the election of Magistrates in the co-

mitia held by tribes
470 Cimon, son of Miltiades, defeats the Persians
464 Artaxerxes (Longimanus) king of Persia
463 Egypt revolts from the Persians
460 LXXXth Olympiad
456 Cincinnatus Dictator at Rome
455 Commencement of the seventy prophetical

weeks of Daniel
433 The number of the tribunes of the people

at Rome increased from five to ten

452 The two books of Chronicles supposed to

have been written at this time by Ezra
451 Creation of the Decemviri at Rome, and

compilation of the laws of the Twelve

Tables
449 Peace between the Greeks and Persians

concluded by Cimon
445 The law of Canulcius for the intermarriage

of the patricians and plebians at Rome.
Military tribunes created
437 The censorship first instituted at Rome
436 Pericles in high power at Athens
431 The Peloponnesian war begins, which last-
ed twenty-seven years
430 The history of the Old Testament ends

about this time
Great plague at Athens eloquently described

by Thucydides
Malachi the last of the prophets
428 Death of Pericles
420 XCth Olympiad

414 The Athenians defeated before Syracuse
413 Alcibiades, accused at Athens, flies to the

Lacedajmonians
412 A council of 400 governs Athens
405 Lysander defeats the Athenians at ^gos

Potamos
404 End of the Peloponnesian war
403 Lysander takes Athens. Government of

the thirty tyrants
401 Retreat of the ten thousand Greeks
Persecution and death of Socrates
Thrasybulus drives out the thirty tyrants,

and delivers Athens
396 Syracuse unsuccessfully besieged by the

Carthaginians
385 Rome taken by the Gauls under Brennus
380 Pelopidas and Epaminondas deliver Thebes

from the Lacedaemonians
Cth Olympiad
371 Battle of Leuctra, the Lacedaemonians

defeated
363 Battle of Mantinea, Epaminondas is killed
362 Curtius leaps into a gulf in the forum at

Rome
358 War of the allies against Athens

Philip of Macedon takes Amphipolis, Pyd-

na, and Potidea
356 Alexander the Great born at Pella in Ma-
cedonia
The temple of Diana at Ephesus burnt by

Eurostratus
The Phocian or Sacred War begins in

Greece
Philip conquers the Thracians, Paeonians,

and Illyrians
348 Plato died

End of the Sacred War
347 Dionysius restored at Syracuse, after an

exile of ten years
343 Syracuse taken by Timoleon

The war between the Romans and Sam-

nites, which led to the conquest of all

Italy
340 CXth Olympiad

P. Decius devotes himself to his country

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

715

338 Battle of Cheronaea gained by Philip over

the Athenians and Thebans
337 Philip chosen generalissimo of the Greeks
336 Philip murdered by Pausanias

Alexander the Great king of Macedon

Alexander the Great destroys Thebes

335 Alexander chosen generalissimo by the

states of Greece
334 Alexander defeats the Persians on the banks

of the Granicus
333 The Persians defeated by Alexander at

Issus
332 Alexander conquers Egypt and takes Tyre
331 Darius defeated by Alexander at Arbela
330 Darius Codomanus killed. End of the

Persian empire
Alexander takes possession of Susa, and

sets fire to the palace of Persepolis
328 Alexander passes into India, defeats Porus,

founds several cities, penetrates to the

Ganges
324 Alexander the Great dies at Babylon,
321 The Samnites make the Roman army pass

under the yoke at Caudium
320 Ptolemy carries 100,000 Jews captives into

Egypt
303 Demetrius restores the Greek cities to then:

liberty
300 Seleucus founds Antioch, Edessa, and Lao-

dicea
CXXth Olympiad
286 Law of Horlensius, by which the decrees

of the people were allowed the same force

as those of the senate
285 The astronomical era of Dionysius of Alex-
andria
284 Ptolemy Philadelphus king of Egypt
283 The library of Alexandria founded
281 Commencement of the Achean league
280 Pyrrhus invades Italy
277 The translation of the Septuagint made

by the order of Ptolemy Philadelphus.

(Playfair, 285.)
274 Pyrrhus totally defeated by the Romans
272 The Samnites finally subdued by the Ro-
mans
266 Silver money is coined at Rome for the

first time
265 The citizens of Rome numbered at 292,224
264 The first Punic war begins. The chronicle

of Paros composed
260 Provincial Quaestors instituted at Rome
CXXXth Olympiad
First naval victory obtained by the Romans

under the Consul Duilius
255 Regulus defeated and taken prisoner by

the Carthaginians
253 Manasseh chosen high priest of the Jews
241 End of the first Punic war
240 Comedies are first acted at Rome
235 The temple of Janus shut for the first time

since the reign of Numa
228 Hamilcar killed in Spain
225 Great victory of the Romans over the Gauls
220 CXLth Olympiad
219 Hannibal takes Saguntum

B. C.

218 The second Punic war begins

216 Battle of Canaj, in which the Romans are

totally defeated by Hannibal
212 Philip II. of Macedon defeats the .^Etolians
Marcellus takes Syracuse, after a siege of
two years
211 Antiochus the Great conquers Judaea
210 Asdrubal vanquished in Spain by the
Scipios
Publius Scipio sent into Spain, takes New
Carthage
203 The Carthaginians recall Hannibal to Africa
201 Syphax led in triumph to Rome by P.

Scipio
196 The battle of Zama, and end of the second

Punic war
190 The Romans enter Asia, and defeat Anti-

gonus at Magnesia
183 The elder Cato Censor at Rome
180 CLth Olympiad
173 War between the Romans and Perseus

king of Macedon
170 Antiochus Epiphanes takes and plunders

Jerusalem
169 Terence's comedies performed at Rome
167 Perseus defeated by Paulus ^milius, and
brought prisoner to Rome. End of the
kingdom of Macedon
166 Judas Maccabeus drives the Syrians out of

Judea
164 The Roman citizens numbered at 327,032
149 The third Punic war begins
146 Corinth taken by the Consul Mummius
Carthage taken and destroyed by the Ro-
mans
140 CLXth Olympiad
137 The Romans shamefully defeated by the

Numantines
135 The history of the Apocrypha ends

Antiochus besieges Jerusalem
113 Carbo the Consul drives the Cimbri and

Teutones out of Italy
111 The Jugurthine war begins
108 Marius defeats Jugurtha
103 Jugurtha starved to death at Rome
100 CLXXth Olympiad
9 1 The war of the allies against the Romans
90 Sylla defeats the Marsi, Peligni, Sam-
nites, &c.
89 The Mithridatic war begins
88 Civil war between Marius and Sylla—

Sylla takes possession of Rome
86 Mithridates king of Pontus defeated by

Sylla
83 Sylla defeats Norbanus. The capitol burned
82 Sylla perpetual Dictator. His horrible pro-
scription
80 Julius Caesar makes his first campaign
72 Lucullus repeatedly defeats Mithridates,
and reduces Pontus to a Roman province
70 Crassus and Pompey chosen Consuls at

Rome
63 Victories of Pompey -he takes Jerusalem
62 Cataline's conspiracy quelled at Rome by

Cicero
61 Pompey enters Rome in trmmph

716

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

eo" CLXXXth Olympiad

59 The first triumvirate — Pompey, Crassus,

and Caesar
55 Caesar lands in Britain for a short campaign
54 Cajsar invades Britain a second time, and

conquers a part of the country

49 Caesar passes the Rubicon, and marches to

Rome
48 Battle of Pharsalia in which Pompey is de-
feated

The Alexandrian library, of 400,000 vols,
burnt
46 Cato, besieged in Utica, kills himself
45 The Kalendar reformed by Julius Caesar,
by introducing the Solar year instead of
the Lunar. The first Julian Year began
1st January 45 A. C.
44 Julius Cassar killed in the senate-house
43 Second Triumvirate — Octavius, Mark An-
tony, and Lepidus

42 Battle of Philippi, in which Brutus and

Cassius are defeated

40 Herod marries Mariamne, daughter of Hyr-

canus, and obtains from the Romans the

government of Judea
33 Mauritania reduced into a Roman province
31 Battle of Actium, and end of the Roman

Commonwealth
Oclavius emperor of Rome
30 Death of Mark Antony and Cleopatra
27 Octavius receives the title of Augustus
20 CXCth Olympiad
17 Augustus revives the secular games
10 The temple of Janus shut by Augustus for

a short time
5 Augustus ordains a census of all the people

in the Roman empire

4 JESUS CHRIST is born four years before
the commencement of the vulgar era

A. D.
14 Tiberius emperor of Rome

25 Here the Olympiads end
Strabo, the geographer, died

26 John the Baptist preaches in Judea

27 Pilate made governor of Judea
29 JESUS CHRIST is crucified
35 The conversion of St. Paul
37 Caligula emperor of Rome

39 St. Matthew writes his gospel

41 Herod persecutes the Christians

43 Expedition of Claudius into Britain

44 St. Mark writes his gospel

50 St. Paul preaches in the Areopagus at

Athens

51 Caractacus, the British king, is carried

prisoner to Rome
54 Nero emperor of Rome

64 The first persecution of the Christians

raised by Nero

65 Seneca, a celebrated philosopher, put to

death by Nero
67 St. Peter and St. Paul put to death

Joscphus, the Jewish historian, governor of
Galilee

A. D.
70 Vespasian, emperor of Rome

Jerusalem taken and destroyed by Titus,
son of Vespasian
78 A great pestilence at Rome, 10,000 dying
in one day
Herculaneum and Pompeii destroyed by an
eruption of Vesuvius

80 Conquests of Agricola in Britain

81 Domitian emperor of Rome

95 Dreadful persecutions of the Christians
St. John writes his Apocalypse and Gospel

99 St. John died at Ephesus

Cornelius Tacitus, the historian, died
103 Trajan subdued the Dacians,
Pliny the Younger flourishes

118 Adrian emperor of Rome, who renewed,

but afterwards suspended, the persecution
of the Christians

119 Plutarch, the historian, died

120 Adrian's wall built in Britain

138 Antoninus Pius, emperor of Rome

140 Ptolemy, a great geographer, mathematician,

and astronomer flourished
Justin Martyr publishes an apology for the

Christians
161 Marcus Aurelius Antonius, emperor of

Rome
167 Polycarp suflfers martyrdom

Galen, the Greek physician, flourished

about this time
189 Saracens defeat the Romans ; this people

for the first time mentioned in history
195 Byzantium besieged, surrenders to Severus,

emperor of Rome.
203 General persecution of the Christians
The Scots converted to Christianity

211 Caracalla and Geta, emperors of Rome

212 Caracalla murders Geta

222 Alexander Severus emperor of Rome

Romans pay tribute to the Goths
226 Persians totally defeated by Severus

236 The sixth persecution of the Christians

237 Maximinus defeats the Dacians and Sar-

matians

238 Gordian emperor of Rome

248 The secular games celebrated at Rome
St. Cyprian elected bishop of Carthage

249 Decius emperor of Rome

250 The seventh persecution of the Christians,

under Decius, during whose reign the
foundation of monkery was laid in Egypt

251 Gallus emperor of Rome

Great pestilence in Africa, which nearly
depopulated whole towns
254 Origen, an illustrious father of the Chris-
tian church, died
257 The eighth persecution of the Christians
260 Temple of Diana of Ephesus burnt

268 Claudius 2d. emperor of Rome

269 Claudius slays, in several battles, 300,000

Scythians, Goths, &c.

272 Ninth persecution of the Christians

284 Diocletian emperor of Rome

292 Partition of the empire between two em-
perors, and two Ca;sars

302 The tenth persecution of the Christians

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

717

806 Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome

312 Constantine converted to Christianity

Ossian, the poet, died

313 Arius, founder of the Arian sect, flourished
325 Constantine assembles the first general

council at Nice
329 Constantine enlarges Byzantium, names it
Constantinople, and makes it the seat of
the eastern empire

337 Constantine died

338 Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, died

361 Julian, emperor of Rome, abjures Chris-
tianity.
375 Valens emperor of Rome
379 Theodosius the Great, emperor of the east
383 The Huns defeated by the Goths
397 St. Chiysostom chosen patriarch of Con-
stantinople

400 Alaric, the Goth, ravages Italy

401 Bells invented

405 The Vandals, Alans, &c., invade France

and Spain
408 Theodosius 2d, emperor of the east

410 Rome sacked and burned by Alaric

411 The Vandals settled in Spain

416 The secular games celebrated at Rome

421 Republic of Venice founded

426 The Romans withdraw from Britain

432 Christian religion introduced into Ireland

by St. Patrick
439 Genseric, the Vandal, invades Italy

Carthage taken by the Vandals
445 The Britons in vain solicit the Romans to

assist them against the Picts and Scots
448 The Romans engage to pay a tribute of

gold to Attila the Hun

450 Attila ravages Germany and France

451 The Saxojis arrive in Britain

452 Foundation of the city of Venice
460 Rome taken by Genseric

468 Romans driven out of Spain by Euric,king
of the Visigoths

476 Rome taken by Odoacer

Extinction of the western empire of the
Romans, 507 years from the battle of Ac-
tium, and 1224 from the building of Rome

488 Theodric, the Ostrogoth, defeats Odoacer

493 Odoacer put to death by Theodric

497 Clovis, king of France, baptized

499 Alliance between Clovis and Theodric

507 Clovis defeats Alaric

510 Clovis makes Paris the capital of the king-
dom of the Franks

516 Computation of time, by the Christian era,
introduced by Dionysius the monk

525 The Arian bishops deposed by Justin, em-
peror of the east,

529 Belisarius, general of Justinian, defeats the
Persians
The books of the civil law published by
Justinian

534 Belisarius defeats the Vandals in Africa

537 Justinian builds the church of St. Sophia,
at Constantinople
Belisarius subdues the Ostrogoths, in Italy,

543 Totila, the Goth, recovers Italy

A. D.
547 Totila plunders Rome

549 Rome retaken by Belisarius.

550 Commencement of the kingdom of Poland
Rome recovered by Totila

551 Manufacture of silk introduced into Europe
557 Plague all over Europe, Asia, and Africa ;

continues fifty years
565 The Picts converted to Christianity

568 Italy conquered by the Lombards

569 Birth of Mahomet

580 The Latin tongue ceases to he spoken in

Italy
596 Augustine comes into England and con-
verts the Saxons to Christianity
606 Title of Universal Bishop conferred on Pope
Boniface III.

611 Westminster Abbey founded

612 Mahomet begins to publish the Koran
616 Jerusalem taken by the Persians

622 Mahomet flies from Mecca to Medina, in

Arabia. His followers compute their

time from this era, called Hegira, i. e.,

the flight

636 Jerusalem taken by the Saracens, who keep

possession of it 463 years
640 Library of Alexandria burned
664 Glass invented in England by Benalt
669 Sicily ravaged by the Saracens
672 The Saracens besiege Constantinople
685 The Britons subdued by the Saxons
690 Pepin acquires the chief power in France
Willibrod, an English Monk, preaches the
gospel in the Netherlands
707 Justinian 2d, defeated by the Bulgarians
713 Spain conquered by the Saracens
732 Charles Martel, king of France, defeats
the Saracens

743 Constantine emperor of the east ; enemy

to images and saint worship

744 The Huns seize Transylvania

745 Constantine destroys the Saracen fleet
751 Pepin king of France

754 Pope Stephen requests Pepin's assistance
against the Lombards
General council at Constantinople ; wor-
ship of images forbidden

756 Abdalrhaman 1st, founds the dominion of
the Moors, in Spain

762 Almanzor builds Bagdad

770 Constantine dissolves the monasteries

772 Charlemagne, king of France, makes war
against the Saxons

774 He puts an end to the kingdom of the Lom-
bards, which had subsisted 206 years

781 Irene, empress of the east, re-establishes
image worship

785 Charlemagne subdues the Saxons

787 Council of Nice restores image worship
and condemns the council of Constanti-
nople
The Danes land in England

794 Charlemagne extirpates the Huns

797 Saracens ravage Cappadocia, Cyprus,
Rhodes, &c.

800 New empire of the west; Charlemagne
crowned emperor at Rome

718

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

A. D

813 Almamon, caliph of the Saracens, great

encourager of learning
816 The eastern empire ravaged by earthquakes,

famine, conflagrations, &c.
827 Egbert unites the Saxon heptarchy ; be-
ginning of the kingdom of England
829 Missionaries sent to Sweden
843 Kennith M'Alpin, king of Scots, subdues

the Picts
845 The Normans penetrate into Germany
848 The Venetian fleet destroyed by the Sara-
cens
'67 The Danes ravage England

Photius, patriarch of Constantinople, ex-
communicates Pope Adrian
875 Harold unites the provinces of Norway
880 Ravages of the Normans in France
886 Leo the philosopher, emperor of the east
890 Alfred the Great, king of England
896 Alfred founds the University of Oxford
912 The Normans established in Normandy
915 The university of Cambridge founded
931 City of Geneva overrun by the Saracens

940 Howel Dha, king of Wales, an eminent

lawgiver

941 Christianity established in Denmark

963 Pope John deposed by a council of bishops

964 Otho, the Great, conquers Italy

965 The Poles are converted to Christianity

967 Antioch recovered from the Saracens

968 Controversies between the Greek and Latin

churches
975 Pope Boniface VIL deposed and banished
986 Hugh Capet, king of France, and founder

of the third race of French Kings
991 The figures in Arithmetic brought into Eu-
rope, by the Saracens, from Arabia
1002 Massacre of the Danes by the English
1005 Churches first built in Gothic style
1013 The Danes get possession of England

Children forbidden, by law, to be sold by
their parents, in England
1025 Musical characters invented

1039 Macbeth usurps the throne of Scotland
Edward HI, (the Confessor,) king of Eng-
land, restores the Saxon line

1040 The Danes driven from Scotland
1043 The Turks subdue Persia

1049 Pope Leo 9th, the first pope that main-
tained a regular army

1054 Leo 9th taken prisoner by the Normans

1055 The Turks take Bagdad

1058 The Saracens driven out of Sicily

1059 Council at Rome

1061 Rise of the Guelphs and Ghibellines

1065 Jerusalem taken from the Saracens, by the

Turks

1066 Harold 2d, king of England

The battle of Hastings fought between
Harold and William duke of Normandy,
in Prance ; Harold slain, William becomes
king of England
1070 Feudal law introduced into England
1074 Council at Rome forbade marriage
1076 Justices of peace first appointed in England
1080 Doomsday book began

A. D.

1080 Tower of London built

Henry 4th besieges Rome
1086 Kingdom of Bohemia began
1095 lilcie first crxisade to the Holy Land

1098 The crusaders take Antioch

1099 Jerusalem taken by Godfrey
Knights of St. John instituted

1104 Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, takes Ptole-

mais
1110 The order of Knight Templars instituted

1138 The Scots, under David 1st, defeated by

the English

1139 Alphonso 1st, king of Portugal, rescues that

kingdom from the Saracens
1150 The study of the civil law revived at Bo-
logna
1154 The parties of the Guelphs and Ghibellines

disturb Italy
1157 Bank of Venice instituted
1 164 Institution of the order of Teutonic knights,
1171 Becket murdered at Canterbury
1 180 Glass windows began to be used in private
houses, in England

1186 The great conjunction of the sun and moon,

and all the planets in Libra, happened in
September

1187 Jerusalem taken by Saladin

1189 Third crusade under Richard 1st, (Coeur
de Lion,) king of England, and Philip Au-
gustus, king of France

1192 Richard 1st, defeats Saladin, in the battle
of Ascalon, in Judea

1200 Surnames now began to be used ; first
among the nobility

1202 Crusade sets out from Venice

1204 The Inquisition established by Innocent III.

1208 London incorporated, obtains a charter for
electing its mayor and magistrates

1210 Crusade against the Albigenses

1215 General Lateran Council

Magna Ckarta, the foundation and bul-
wark of English liberty, signed

1227 Gengiskan and the Tartars overrun the
Saracen empire

1233 The houses of London thatched with straw
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain

1237 Russia brought under subjection bv the
Tartars

1258 Bagdad taken by the Tartars
End of the Saracen empire

1261 The Greek emperors recover Constantinople
from the French

1263 Norwegians invade Scotland

1264 The deputies of boroughs are first sum-

moned to parliament in England
1282 The Sicilian Vespers, when eight thousand
French were massacred in one night
Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, defeated and
killed by Edward I., who unites that
principality to England

1291 Ptolemais taken by the Turks

End of the crusades

1292 John Baliol, king of Scotland

1293 Jubilee first celebrated at Rome

1296 Interregnum in Scotland for eight years

Wm. Wallace defeats the English at Sterling

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

719

A. D.

1298 Wallace chosen Regent of Scotland; de-

feated at Falkirk

1299 Ottoman, Sultan and founder of the Turk-

ish empire
1302 Mariner^s compass said to be discovered at

Naples
1304 Wallace betrayed and put to death

1307 Establishment of the Swiss republics

1308 The seat of the popes transferred to Avig-

non, for 70 years

1312 Knights Templars suppressed

1314 The Scots defeat the English at Bannock-
burn

1320 Gold first coined in Christendom

1331 Teutonic Knights settle in Prussia

1332 Edward Baliol is crowned king of Scots

1333 The Scots defeated at Halidoun Hill
1340 Gunpowder invented by Swartz, a monk

of Cologne
Oil painting said to be invented
1346 Battle of Cressy, won over the French, by

Edward «f England, who, at this battle,

had four pieces of cannon
1344 Gold first coined in England
1350 Order of the Garter instituted
1352 The Turks first enter Europe

1356 The battle of Poictiers

1357 Coals first brought to London

1362 The law pleadings in England changed

from French to English
1377 The pope's return from Avignon to Rome
John Wickliffc was brought before the
bishop in St. Paul's, and opposes the pope

1380 Tamerlane subdues Chorassan

1381 Wat Tyler's and Jack Straw's insurrection

in England
Bills of exchange first used in England
1386 Tamerlane subdues Georgia
Cards invented in France

1399 Westminster Abbey and Hall, rebuilt
Order of the Bath instituted

1400 Geoff. Chaucer, poet, died

1402 Bajazct, emperor of the Turks, taken

prisoner by Tamerlane
141 1 University of St. Andrews, Scotland, founded
1415 Henry V. defeats the French at Agincourt

John Huss and Jerome, of Prague, burnt
1417 Paper first made from linen rags
1422 Amurath besieges Constantinople
1428 Joan of Arc, the maid of Orleans, defeats

the English
1430 The art of printing invented about this time
1446 The Vatican Library founded at Rome

The sea breaks in at Dort, in Holland, and

drowns 100,000 people

1453 Constantinople taken by the Turks
Extinction of the eastern Roman empire
End of the English government in France

1454 University in Glasgow, Scotland, founded
1460 Engraving in copper invented

1474 The Cape de Verde islands discovered by

the Portuguese
1477 University of Aberdeen founded
1483 Richard HI, king of England, killed at the
battle of Bosworth. End of the civil wars
between the houses of York and Lancaster

A. D.

1491 End of the kingdom of the Moors in Spain

1492 America discovered by Christopher Colum-

bus
1494 Algebra first known in Europe
1497 The Portuguese first sail to the East Indies

by the Cape of Good Hope

1499 Sebastian Cabot lands in North America
S. America discovered by Americus Ves-

pucius

1500 Brazil discovered by the Portuguese
1517 Martin Luther begins the Reformation
1511 Cuba conquered by the Spaniards
1513 Battle of Flodden fatal to the Scots
1516 Barbarossa seizes Algiers

1519 Charles 5th, emperor of Germany '

1521 Cortez completes the conquest of Mexico
Gustavus Vasa,.king of Denmark

1522 First voyage round the world, performed

by a ship of Magellan's squadron
1524 Sweden and Denmark embrace the Pro-
testant faith
1527 Pizarro and Almagro invade Peru

1534 The Reformation takes place in England

1535 Society of Jesuits instituted
1539 Cannon began to be used in ships

1545 Council of Trent begins, which continued

eighteen years
1553 Lady Jane Grey beheaded
1555 Many bishops burnt in England by Queen

Mary
1558 Calais taken by the French
1560 The Reformation completed in Scotland,

by John Kno.^
1564 John Calvin and Michael Angelo died
1572 Massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24
1574 Socinius propagates his opinions

1579 Commencement of the republic of Holland

English East India Company incorporated

1580 The world circumnavigated by Sir Francis

Drake
1582 The new style introduced into Italy, by

Pope Gregory 13th, the 5th of October

being counted the 15th
1585 First attempt to settle Virginia

1587 Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded

1588 Destruction of the Spanish Armada
1591 The university of Dublin created
1594 The Bank of England incorporated

1598 Edict of Nantes, tolerating the Protestants

in France
1603 Queen Elizabeth dies

Union of England and Scotland
1605 Gunpowder-plot discovered
1607 Virginia settled

Canada settled
1614 New- York settled

1619 Circulation of the blood discovered by Dr.

Harvey

1620 African slaves first brought to Virginia
Plymouth settled

1625 Barbadoes planted by the English
1636 Rhode Island settled

1638 Harvard College founded

1639 First printing in North America

1641 Massacre in Ireland of 40,000 protestants

1642 Beginning of the civil war in England

720

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

1643 Archbishop Laud tried and beheaded
1645 Charles I. defeated at Naseby
1649 Charles L beheaded

The Commonwealth of England begins

1652 Tea first brought into Europe

1653 Dutch fleet defeated, Van Tromp killed

1654 End of the Commonwealth of England
Oliver Cromwell Lord Protector

1660 Restoration of monarchy in Great Britain

1665 Plague in London, carries off 68,000 persons

1666 Fire in London, destroyed 13,000 houses
1668 Peace of Aix la Chapelle

1675 King Philip's Indian war in New England
1678 Habeas Corpus act passed in England

1682 Settlement of Pennsylvania by Wm. Penn

1683 Lord Russel and Algernon Sydney executed

1685 Revocation of the edict of Nantes

1686 Newtonian philosophy first published
1688 Revolution in Great Britain ; King James

abdicates the throne, Dec. 23d
1690 Battle of the Boyne
1697 Peter the Great defeats the Turks
1700 Yale College at New Haven founded
1704 Peter the Great founds St. Petersburgh
First newspaper published in America,
Boston News Letter, April 24
1717 Great snow in New England, Feb. 20
1721 First inoculation for the small pox in Ame-
rica performed, in Boston with success
1725 Death of Peter the Great
1741 Carthagena taken by Admiral Vernon
1746 Dreadful earthquake at Lima
1752 Lightning rods invented by Dr. Franklin
New Style introduced in Britain and
America, Sept. 2d reckoned 14th
1755 Braddock defeated near Fort Du Quesne
Lisbon destroyed by an earthquake

1758 The British troops take Louisburgh

1759 Jesuits expelled from Portugal

1760 Canada taken by the British
1762 Havanna taken by the English
1765 Stamp Act of Great Britain

1769 Cook's first discoveries in the South Seas

1772 Poland dismembered

1773 Society of the Jesuits suppressed
Tea destroyed in Boston harbour

1774 First American Congress at Philadelphia

1775 Battle of Lexington, April 19
Battle of Bunker Hill

1776 The Americans declare their Independence

1777 Philadelphia taken by the British, Oct. 3d
Surrender of Gen. Burgoyne, Oct. 17

1778 Treaty of alliance between the United

States and France

1779 Siege of Gibraltar by the Spaniards
Capt. Cook killed at Owyhee

1781 Surrender of the British troops, to the

Americans and French at Yorktown, Oct.

1782 First English Bible printed in America

1783 Peace between England, France, and Spain
1787 Constitution of the United States formed
1789 First Congress under the federal constitu-
tion met at New- York

Gen. Washington inaugurated president
1793 Louis VL beheaded
1795 Cape of Good Hope taken by the British

1799 Bonaparte First Consul of France

Kine pock inoculation discovered by Dr

Jenner
Washington died December 14, aged 68

1801 Battle of Copenhagen ; Danish fleet de-

stroyed by Lord Nelson

1802 Bonaparte declared Chief Consul

1803 War between United States and Tripoli

1804 Bonaparte crowned Emperor of France by

the pope
British and Foreign Bible Society formed

1805 Battle of Austerlitz

Battle of Trafalgar ; Nelson killed

1806 Death of William Pitt

The slave trade abolished by parliament
Bonaparte defeats the Prussians at Jena

1807 Copenhagen bombarded ; the Danish fleet

surrendered to the British
Embargo laid on all shipping in the United

States
First steam boat put in successful operation

by Robert Fulton

1808 Joseph Bonaparte proclaimed king of Spain
1810 Bonaparte divorces Josephine

J 8 12 Destructive earthquake at Caraccas

War declared against Great Britain by the

United States, June 18
The French enter Moscow
Bonaparte retreats from Russia ; arrives at

Paris, Dec. 18
Battle of Lutzen

1813 British squadron on Lake Erie captured by

Commodore Perry

1814 Bonaparte abdicates the throne of France

and Italy, April 5
The pope restores the order of Jesuits
Washington city taken by the British

1815 British defeated at New Orleans by Gen.

Jackson, Jan. 8
News of peace between Great Britain and

U. States arrived at New- York, Feb. 11
Bonaparte sailed from Elba; arrived at

Paris March 21
Memorable battle of Waterloo, June 17, 18
Louis XVIII. entered Paris July 8
Bonaparte arrived at St. Helena, Oct. 13
1817 The Indian or spasmodic cholera appeared

at Jessore, in India
1819 The Erie canal opened, Oct. 22
1821 Bonaparte died at St. Helena

Beginning of the Greek revolution
1824 Lafayette arrived at New- York, Aug. 16

1826 Jefferson and Adams, two ex-presidents,

died, July 4

1827 Battle of Navarino; Turkish fleet destroyed

1830 Algiers taken by the French, July 5
Revolution in Paris, July 26 to 29. Louis

Philip king of France
Revolution in Belgium in September in
Poland, Dec. 1.

1831 Warsaw taken by the Russians
Cholera appeared in England in Oct.

1832 Cholera in Quebec, June 8 ; in New-York,

June 28
1836 Texans declare their independence, March 2
1838 Victoria crowned Queen of Great Britain

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